MAAI
extrait de parfum – 2014
Maai is a stunning accomplishment in modern perfumery as it marries the very best of old-school chypre glamour and bold animalics with a refined elegance and smoothness. It opens with a burst of incredibly mossy greenness, fused with roses, jasmine, and green tuberose, all sprinkled with a transparent veil of golden, glittering aldehydes. The plush bouquet is mesmerizing in its depth, and it’s truly heart-stopping when combined with the animalic elements.
Musky, leathered, and skanky, they cast a mighty roar that transforms the delicate swirl of feminine florals into something more unisex with a masculine touch that will appeal to fans of the legendary Kouros or Muscs Koublai Khan. As Maai unfolds, balsamic resins awaken in the base to add subtle streaks of smokiness and honeyed sweetness. At the same time, the amber slowly turns the whole fragrance deeper, richer, and softer, coating the musky leather in its warmth and taming its skanky cry. In its drydown, Maai transforms into golden velvet with a smooth, plush mix of amber, musk, and oakmoss.
Maai is one of the boldest, most sophisticated chypres created in a while. A symphonic masterpiece in the vein of Jubilation 25 and Kouros, it is not a fragrance for the faint of heart but for those who have mourned the loss of vintage glamour with an animalic edge. Black-tie galas seem like a perfect occasion for this incredibly opulent, concentrated scent, but so are moments when you want to seduce with naked sensuality. Maai’s unconventional heart beats with such wildness and passion, it feel almost alive. Yet, at the end of the day, everything pales before that luxurious oakmoss which is piled on in such lavish layers that it took our breath away. Maai is the epitome of sophistication in the grandest tradition of haute perfumery, and we’re sure its timeless beauty will impress even the most jaded connoisseur.
“I remember the French designer Philippe Starck explaining once in an interview that the only two countries where he did not need to pint out to production people the finest points of texture and detail of his objects were Japan and Italy. The exquisite packaging of Bogue perfumes sets a standard of luxury that many other niche firms would do well to emulate. MAAI is a tremendous blast from the past, very much like a vintage fragrance from pre-WWII years, something like the original Dandy (D’Orsay, 1925). It even looks the part, properly golden brown the way perfumes used to be. I cannot overstate the joy that smelling something like this provides. It’s like sitting in the front row at the Vienna Philharmonic after listening to two months’ worth of ringtones; the sound is so glorious you don’t care if they play Die Fledermaus. And MAAI is far better than that even, a big-boned, animalic woody chypre seemingly laden with every magnificent material we knew and loved before the End of History set in: musks, oakmoss, eucalyptus, cedar, bergamot, patchouli, sandalwood, jasmine, ylang, rose, tuberose, etc. Unusually, all are listed on the paper that comes with it. If you are thoroughly tired of smelling the work of Swiss organic chemists filtered through the edicts of Danish dermatologists, this is the fragrance for you.” (MAAI review from “PERFUMES, THE GUIDE” by Luca Turin”)
Notes:
Tuberose, rose, jasmine, ylang ylang, civet, castoreum, hyraceum, dried fruits, sandalwood, oakmoss, Siam benzoin, rosewood, sandalwood
