Launched in 1976 by Caron, Yatagan is named for the curved sabre used by the Ottomans to carve out their empire from the mid-16th to late 19th centuries. Like its namesake, the perfume is strong, bold and exotic.

Yatagan opens with an aromatic burst of lavender leaf and bitter petitgrain backed with the peppery warmth of geranium leaf. Then, out of nowhere comes a robust and sharp wormwood/artemisia accord – amped up absinth – so green, so herbal that it just about takes your breath away. Pine needles add depth and bolster the green, giving it a hint of turpentine. At this point, it smells like celery - a refined, multi-faceted celery. But the ride isn’t over yet as Yatagan keeps moving from strength to strength when vetiver makes it darker, and patchouli makes it earthy and musty.  At the base, leather and castoreum give it a warm, animalic dirtiness – a kind of swarthiness -  while styrax adds an exotic oriental/incense note.

Dry, with no hint of sweetness, it is assertive and swarthy yet has a masculine beauty - the glorious smell of the conqueror – but never crude or overpowering, so it never wanes but stays strong through each phase.

 Yatagan is an uncompromising, unrelenting, unapologetic, no-holds-barred, take-no-prisoners-scent. There is nothing else like it anywhere.

Notes: lavender, petitgrain, geranium leaf, wormwood, artemisia, pine needles, vetiver, patchouli, leather, castoreum, styrax.