Haute Shamama

Haute Shamama

I have spent the better part of two decades searching for the perfect shamama, and in that time I have come to understand why the master attarwallahs of Kannauj speak of their craft as though it were a form of prayer. Shamama is not simply a perfume. It is a philosophy rendered in scent, an attempt to capture the totality of existence within a single vessel. When I finally resolved to create our own interpretation, I knew it would become the most demanding work I had ever undertaken.

The word shamama derives from the Arabic for comprehensiveness, and traditionally these compositions contain dozens upon dozens of ingredients united through the ancient process of deg bhapka distillation, where precious botanicals surrender their essence into a receiving vessel of sandalwood oil over fires tended through the night. The attarwallahs of Lucknow and Kannauj have guarded these formulations for generations, passing them from father to son alongside the understanding that a true shamama must contain something of everything, a microcosm of the sensory world distilled into amber liquid.

Haute Shamama is my tribute to these artisans and to the extraordinary tradition they have preserved against all odds. I have worked with materials spanning the full spectrum of the perfumer's palette. There are musks here, both the animalic richness of genuine deer musk and the cleaner whisper of botanical alternatives. There are spices sourced from the same traders who supply the temple incense makers of Varanasi. There are resins gathered from trees that were ancient when the Mughal emperors commissioned their own shamamas for the courts of Delhi and Agra.

The composition unfolds across many hours, and I confess that even now, having lived with it for so long, I still discover new facets emerging at unexpected moments. The opening carries warmth and spice, a gentle announcement that something significant has arrived. As it settles against the skin, the heart reveals itself in layers, with the resins and woods interweaving in patterns that shift depending on the weather, the time of day, and some mysterious quality of the wearer's own chemistry that I have never been able to predict or explain.

What I am most proud of is the way the composition holds together despite its complexity. A shamama must never feel like a collection of ingredients but rather like a single living thing that breathes and changes. The musks provide a through line, a kind of golden thread that connects the brighter top notes to the profound depths of the base. The spices add interest without ever becoming sharp or aggressive. The resins give body and longevity while contributing a meditative quality that I find deeply calming.

This is the most complex perfume we have ever created, and I suspect it may remain so. Some works demand everything you have to give, and Haute Shamama demanded more than that. It asked me to set aside my Western training and surrender to a way of working that privileges intuition over formula, patience over efficiency, and soulfulness over technical perfection. I hope that when you wear it, you will sense something of the centuries of accumulated wisdom that made it possible.

Volume: Available in a 15ml or 30ml glass bottle