A Dance Of Shadows

Off the record Opening with green mandarin cut clean against something immediately darker, whisky warming in a glass, burnt caramel browned to the edge of bitterness, oakwood CO2 giving the whole thing a barrel-deep grain. In the heart, Isparta rose appears like a dark stain on polished wood, and tobacco absolute unfurls dry and authoritative. Then the coffee takes over: Arabica CO2, dense and unsweetened, pushed to the extreme and melded with sandalwood and Hiba wood, with oud and gurjun adding a tarred depth. Ciste, labdanum, Peru balsam, and Siam benzoin build a resinous varnish; cypriol, vetiver, patchouli, oakmoss, decalepis, musks, and woody ambers leave a blackened, elegant trail.