Nicolas de Barry - L`eau de Shah Jahan
L`eau de Shah Jahan by Maison Nicolas de Barry is a Oriental Woody fragrance for men.
For this imperial fragrance, Nicolas de Barry reconstituted an oud attar according to princely traditions of Kannauj’s master perfumers who blends rose with woody scents of sandalwood and aloe. The rose gives a fresh note to the oriental bouquet and creates a truly Indian masculine fragrance. To wear the passionate L’eau de Shah Jahan, is becoming a gallant man inspired by love who maneuvers in the glitz and utmost refinements; a man of power who listens to his heart despite of all expectations.
The Shah Jahan's reign was at the peak of the Mughal empire in India. When his wife Mumtaz died in 1631 while giving birth to their fourteenth child, he decided to pay tribute to her by having the famous Taj Mahal constructed according to the plans that he himself had drawn up representing the image of paradise : a Memorial in pure white marble.
The dynasty brought to India the art and know-how of the Attars, including Arabic-Persian Perfumes. A city of perfumes was created in Kannauj, in order to supply the Court in Agra. When I visited the city I discovered that the same ancestral techniques are still used to create Attars ( click on the link to discover more about Attars in my book "L' Inde des parfums"). It was necessary to adapt these ancient techniques to the modern constraints of perfumery whilst employing the same raw materials. The Shah's perfume and that of his beloved wife are the same (at the time there were no great differences) but there is a little drop of oud included in the formula for the emperor.
The classical Imperial Attar is an accord with rose from Kannauj, sandalwood and ambergris which is distilled all together.
Oriental Woody
Top note is rose
Heart note is sandalwood
Base note is agarwood (oud).
