Camel was launched in 2017 by Zoologist Perfumes, a Canadian niche fragrance line that is making some of the best fragrances of the last few years: Hummingbird, Bat, Civet, Beaver, and Rhinoceros. Camel is a fabulous addition to the Zoologist stable.

It opens with the smell of dried fruits – apricots and raisins for sure – that soon mixes with resinous, balsamic-spicy Frankincense from Oman, rounded out with the warm, honey-sweet smell of palm date. A note of lush rose completes it. This is what I smell on my arm, but what I feel is an exotic journey unfolding on my wrist. Warm, resinous and sweet-smelling amber is up next, along with the balsamy woody smell of cedar. A note of aromatic cinnamon keeps the mix warm and spicy as it evolves.

There’s more incense here, too, this time from India. Two different types of incense give Camel two different dimensions of the note, making the fragrance even more compelling. Bitter, pungent myrrh, warm and woody, just the way I like it, brackets the incense beautifully. Sweet, heady jasmine, wafts through the smoky incense, as orange blossom adds a lovely fresh floral counterpoint to it.

At the base, there’s civet, not enough to make it skanky, just enough to give it animalic warmth, before a sweet, rich, woody note of oud appears resting on creamy sandalwood and bolstered by vetiver. Tonka bean and vanilla sweeten it just perfectly.  The drydown is smooth and seductive, resinous, spicy and woody and that OUD! It lasts and lasts on my skin.

Victor Wong, creative director of Zoologist Perfumes, never skimps on quality, and nowhere is that more evident than with Camel. And what makes it extra-lux is the extrait de parfum concentration.

Notes: Dried fruits, Frankincense, palm date, rose, amber, cedar, cinnamon, incense, jasmine, myrrh, orange blossom, civet, musk, oud, sandalwood, Tonka bean, vanilla, vetiver.