Iris Ghalia

‘Ghalia’ traditionally denotes Royalty. Perfume made for kings and caliphs, where no expense is spared. Although I’ve added an Oud Man’s iris-inspired, blue lotus-heavy, drunk-on-too-much-musk twist to this revered tradition, Iris Ghalia lives up to this royal legacy ten times over.

No expenses spared, months and months of revision, tweaking, and back to the drawing board, and all of Earth’s most precious aromatics, bottled and showcased in our new EO presentation.

The savory sweetness of blackcurrant lavished with violet and peach is tempered by desert spices, vintage bakul attar, carnation, and Himalayan costus root.

Generous doses of orris butter and creamy olde Mysore punctuate each chord that went into the composition, each one uniquely supported by the cast of deer musk and ambergris. Each chord was designed like a movement in a grand symphony, with rare flowers & animalics supporting the irises.

This edition incorporates hyraceum, castoreum, and muskrat (all three were absent in the previous release) while the carrier is entirely composed of royal ambergris and Tibetan musk tinctures.

A ghalia is at heart rooted in musk. So, to compose a grand ghalia, I played with the idea of even forgoing the ambergris altogether and have an entirely musk-centered iris showpiece.

But there’s no way—I cannot imagine iris without ambergris, and by now can barely imagine ambergris without iris. The harmony between these chords is just unmatched.

So many people loved the first edition, yet loved how its successor got amped up with that musk-ambergris combo that adds to IG’s already tenacious projection. So, that’s what I did: Joined the best of both editions to give you the original – doused in ancient musk and precious grey ambergris.

The return to showcasing the entire cast of exalting fixatives, combined with a lot more musk to enhance projection, sillage, and floral tonalities, the overall creamier aroma dances even more dazzlingly with one of the other stars of the show…

The buttery scent of iris wouldn’t be complete—nor the ghalia concept fully realized—without that rare potion olfactory mavens fight over every year come harvest time: blue water lily (aka blue lotus). Including this age-old narcotic works on so many levels, I’m surprised it’s never been done before. Hook up ancient Egypt’s favorite aphrodisiac with the pheromonal oomph of Siberian deer musk, the royal air of vintage Maroke filarias… and you know what to expect!

With the release of the previous Iris Ghalia, I explained how the price doesn’t match the product. When we ran the calculations, it quickly turned into a four-figure perfume, as I’m sure anyone experienced with these ingredients would appreciate. That’s why nobody uses the likes of blue lotus, musk, oud, or iris in their natural form—never mind with such abandon.

All these additions mean that this exclusive edition was even costlier to produce (the actual cost of the perfume puts it closer to Private Blend pricing) than before. Not to mention, your bottle shows off Habib Dingle’s peerless leather work – full-grain Italian calf hide – and yet the price remains unchanged.

From all my perfumes, there hasn’t been as much demand for an encore as there’s been for Iris Ghalia. So, to everyone in the audience who heard this song before… here’s the curtain call—with the volume cranked up! And if this is going to be your first spritz of Iris Ghalia, take a spritz and smell why the scent of iris has been the end of many a perfumer—why they’re willing to go mad trying to bottle its secret.

Featured Testimonials…

This beauty is an absolute Masterpiece.

—Arti A.

This new Iris Ghalia is breathtaking, quite possibly the best perfume I’ve ever tried.

—Greg Z. / USA

A smooth, floral spice (completely intoxicating), masculine and dark; musk is intense. I can not wait for my second sitting with this masterpiece as there is so much more to discover. As far as aesthetics go, the leather pouch wins hands down.

—Adeel B. / UK

“1 spray on the left arm, and 1 spray of the OG on the right arm. Let me just say this out loud now….Ensar has succeeded in bringing back the OG!! WOW. Same tenacity, same beautiful Iris in the opening, the alluring animalic punch, the spices, vivacious, with a bit of that cola-like undertone, same hint of fruitiness in the background, even the Tibetan musk here has the same bite as the Siberian from the OG, all the meat and potatoes are all here. OMG…….😲

The animalic note is identical, neither one of them is overpowering at all, they are being used as fixatives to lift the composition and to fill in the gaps, it’s very well behaved and balanced. I hope Ensar would use more of these animalic notes in future/new compositions, they are so well done here and they’re inoffensive. With that said, I’m comparing a fresh juice to something released back in 2018, the OG has more age to it, even then, i’m VERY surprised of the similarity here.

I’m really having a hard time telling them apart, the new one is just as potent, projection is just as beastly, the same muskiness, and it is just as pretty, as the OG. This may be a perception thing, but if I really focus really really hard, the OG seems to be half a shade darker, but when i keep sniffing back and forth between the two, they equalized and smell the same, the perception is most likely due to the age of the juice along with the difference between the musks, but they smell 99.99% identical to me.

As of now, there’s zero chance of me knowing which one is which if I were to do a blind test. Ensar Oud, thank you so much for reviving the OG glory, this is absolutely a stunner, through and through!! note:I only have 9ml left of the OG, and have been reluctant to use it because for over a year I couldn’t find a full bottle of the OG anywhere, the reintroduction of 3.0 is a dream come true to me personally, the hunt is officially over.

Edit #1:
5hr later: This is when 3.0 pulling away from the OG.

OG: still great, creamy orris butter, the musk, florals and fruits, and animalics are still doing great. Though leaning a bit on the darker side in comparison to the 3.0, I think it’s the Siberian Musk having this effect.

3.0: still going strong, overall more intense than the OG, with more pronounced Orris butter upfront, and the floral and fruity note is very much still loud and clear, especially the blue lotus, slightly more powdery, all these accords are keeping the muskiness and animalic notes in check. Ensar said he has the volume cranked up on this new version, yes indeed, this new one definitely has improved projection and strength, up a notch he did, over the OG!!

It’s pretty safe to sum this up. If you love the OG, or the 2.0, you would love this just as much, if not more. If you didn’t like either of the previous two versions, you ain’t going to like this one either, because it smells almost identical to the OG, with enhanced endurance and tenacity. Like the Tonkin Musk PP, I don’t think anybody would need more than 2 sprays with this IG3. It’s a nuclear concoction. 1 spray and I’m good to go, and it would project for hours!

Edit #2:
A lot of other perfumes would start tapering off if not losing steam at around 5 to 6hr mark, this new IG3 is still singing pretty dang loud and clear. Ensar wasn’t kidding when he said he got the volume cranked up on this new version. Those of you who have the OG, you know how potent that stuff was, now take that….and crank it up another notch, at 5hr mark!! You have to be an Iris fan to love this, and man, is this gorgeous, none of that lipstick vibe type BS, just a slight powderiness (or dusty) quality to it, this is good stuff!!”

Ben W. • USA

Original FB Post

“The new Iris Ghalia 3.0 is THAT good, a picture is worth a thousand words right? 🥰”

This also happens to be one of my wife’s favourites on me so … it should be backed up.

—Ryan L. / Canada

A true Masterpiece, just love it. ❤️

—Ashiqul Hoque S. / Bangladesh

I absolutely love the new Iris Ghalia! the original was great, but this one works even better for me personally. It does turn too dark and masculine mid-stage. But regardless of gender, the composition itself is just special. That blackcurrant gets me giddy with happiness each time I smell it. I totally understand why Ben got 4 bottles. I would get 10 if I could. No EO collection is complete without IG.

—Svetlana M. / Russia

Note from a Customer

Original FB Post

I think it was back in June, when I first tried IG from a Sample I got from Lorenz. It was the second Version and I remember it did not really catch me at first sniff. But somehow I always kept smelling even when the little decanter was empty, I could not let go of it. The more I kept smelling the more I started to like it. I was searching for a bottle a long time because even the second one was already sold out as soon as I started loving it.

So as soon as EO released the latest Version I did not even hesitate to order a bottle. Especially because it was based on the OG Formula, containing Castoreum, Hyraceum and Muskrat. Wrapping it up in that beautiful leather-jacket, has only been the cherry on the cake.

I kind of tried to visualize my impressions with a digital Paintbrush I made and used as the Background of the picture.

Unfortunately I can not compare this one to the OG Version but in comparison to the 2nd one this one seems to be a little less floral, powdery but more dark and saturated in it’s purple and blue colors. To my nose it’s also way, way muskier.

It opens up with this floral but also fruity, buttery and at the same time juicy Orris and Blue Lotus Combination which is almost mouthwatering to me. The musky sweetness from the Tibetan Musk is already lurking behind this Curtain of Purple and Blue Flowers.

The Musk is very much comparable to the one in EO3. Slightly powdery but effervescent at the same time. It adds kind of a sparkling effect to the Opening which is also extremely potent in projection. One spray on my forearm and I’m able to smell it all the time even when I don’t put it to my nose. After like 30 Minutes I get this „Peach ice-tea“ Vibe. Unbelievably uplifting and delicious. It COULD go a little bit to sweet for me here if there wasn’t this dark tonality in the Background, probably created by this Trio of animalics (Castoreum, Hyraceum and Muskrat) which put it into a perfect balance again.

It seems to be so rich and buttery but fresh and light at the same time. This is always one of the most fascinating things I explore in most EO creations. This perfect Paradox in the Profile. Nothing overpowers, nothing steals the Show even though you always know what takes the Center-Stage.

The more it drys down, the muskier it gets to me. During the whole lifetime of the fragrance it never gets „animalic“ to me in the traditional meaning. It’s this alluring, attracting animalic undertone, that keep other people guessing and want them to get closer to you. There is also a hint of smoke in the background. Something similar to Smokey Vanilla-tobacco which I also detect somewhere deep, deep down in the base of Homeros. This beautifully contrasts the florals.

Not that I would care but this one is BY FAR the most complimented EO Parfum I own. Even more so than EO3. It’s already my Girlfriends most favorite and I honestly have to say, that EO3, which has been the Queen next to the King EO2: Kashmir, has to back down from the throne to make space for Iris Ghalia.

Another thing, I noticed while testing it: It seems like it adapts itself to the person who wears it. More like to it’s gender. Because on me it seems to be very masculine but when i sprayed it on my GF it kind of underlined her femininity. So I guess it’s PERFECTLY UNISEX.

This one you can wear in any weather and any occasion. I imagine this wearing it all dressed up, you’d leave an impression like no-one else.

Wrapped up in this beautiful leather jacket, it makes it even more of a gem.

There is so much going on in it’s evolution that I won’t even try to go into every detail. All I can say is, that it’s a perfect example of Ying & Yang. The Ultimate Balance.

—Marvin G. / Germany

Replies

This IG3 is a legendary release for sure.… This IG3 is an upgrade to the OG and 2.0 for me. 😉… Tonkin Musk and IG are must-have.

—Ben W. / USA

So good that you made me buy it. Great fragrance. 🤤💪🏻💪🏻

—Chris A. / Germany

I haven’t worn IG3 for a while, put on a spray on my arm, and was immediately reminded of why I have so many backups of this gem.

Juicy peach and blackcurrant in the opening, then came the beautiful Iris accord with the buttery Orris backbone. It is nowhere near as powdery as I wore it last time in the Winter, I think the summer heat may have something to do with how it performed, it is more buttery and creamy than powdery now.

The base has plenty of animalics, boosted by a good amount of musk, layered beneath them is the beautiful ambergris lending an ethereal and sparkling feel to the entire scent profile. IG3 is beautiful, it’s regal, it’s well behaved and playful at the same time, it’s classy, and it’s versatile to boot. Yep, this is the very reason why IG3 has remained the ONE and ONLY Iris Ghalia I ever wanted and need, there’s simply no replacement for this gem.

I still have 9ml of Iris Ghalia OG, this IG3 is pretty much the OG on steroid! IG2 always felt thin to me, with a huge gap in the base due to the missing animalics, while IG3 brought back all the OG glory and then some! Personally, I wouldn’t trade 3x Purple Rain (based on IG2) for 1x IG3. My Purple Rain is long gone now, while IG3 is here to stay, sharing the same throne as Oud Sultani Terengganu, Oud SQ, Homeros OG, Musc Gardenia BK, Tahitian Gardenia, Kinam Rouge, and many other beloved releases.

IG3 is, and always will be my reference, my benchmark, and THE golden standard for me to evaluate and judge all other Iris/Orris perfumes. I’m pretty sure 140ml of IG3 would last me several lifetimes over.

—Ben W / USA

Juicy peach ice tea, black currant, musk and Iris butter… a ton of musk and Iris butter, that’s what comes to my mind when I think about Iris ghalia.

I’d go so far and say that this is the best Iris perfume from the house of EO. A dark, juicy and animalic cocktail with a buttery and creamy topping. Iris ghalia is one of the perfumes that gives me pure satisfaction with every spray, it’s pure perfection and I can’t say it enough, the peach note in this perfume is legendary.

It’s probably the most animalic Iris perfume in the trio of Iris releases from EO. The musk, muskrat and civet have been blended so well into this composition, it’s like these animalic have been made specially for it. Blue lotus and sandalwood compliment the buttery facets of the Iris butter perfectly.

I could keep on praising this legendary scent but I think you should try it for yourself.

—Chris A / Germany

Best scent ever.

—Andi F / Germany

Featured Testimonials…

Note from a Customer

Replies

Related to Iris Ghalia...