Serge Lutens — Muscs Koublai Khan

Decanting from 2005 bottle (exactly like the one on the image).

The most notorious fragrance in the house — and it earns it. Civet, castoreum, ambergris, costus, and cumin layered into something genuinely animalic and unapologetically carnal, balanced by rose, labdanum, and vanilla that keep it from tipping into outright provocation. The famous description — "the armpit of a camel driver who has not bathed in a week" — is both accurate and misleading: yes, it's dirty, but Sheldrake keeps it restrained, warm, and surprisingly wearable in the drydown, when patchouli and soft musk take over into something deeply skin-like and erotic. Not a blind buy under any circumstances. But for those who love animalic perfumery at its most sophisticated, this is the benchmark everything else is measured against.

Notes:

Top notes: Guaiac Wood, Oak, Ebony
Middle notes: Honey, Hawthorn
Base notes: Beeswax, Iris, Musk