Moroccan Spices, Essaouira, a photo by beatdrifter on Flickr.

Morocco’s legendary Ras el Hanout is the inspiration for the luxurious spicy-oriental Parfum de Maroc by Aftelier. The magic of spice mixture is mingling the familiar with the foreign, and dissecting its aromatic components is part of its charm.

The familiarity of citrus welcomes you first with bitter orange – tart and invigorating, along with freshly grated black pepper. Galangal, however, brings the exotic into the bouquet of top notes, and while similar to ginger, it brings with it an edgy warmth.

Homely cinnamon brings us back to familiar grounds; yet jasmine vines crawl upwards as the spices progress, and with intoxicating nutmeg make it venture back into the exotic. The rose is far more muted than I have expected, but it is there, bringing soft harmony to the sharpness of some of the spices, and lingering towards the base notes, where aromatic cardamom absolute and resinous myrrh reign.