Roberto Capucci - Punjab

Roberto Capucci ‘s Punjab: Getting hold of this scent is as good as getting hold of shalimar. extremely hard to find vintage by the house of Capucci.

Punjab is a no holds barred, vegetal, herbal, amber based scent with a unique touch of floral. I do not get the connection with Leonard Ph but, I can very safely say it has a lot in common with Nina Ricci's Phileas. Only slighltly lighter than Phileas in the vegetal herbal department, nevertheless, not for the light hearted.Would be an overkill to have both in the same wardrobe, saying that, if you like these kind of herbal scents, then it cant get better. Punjab opens with a very warm, powdery smooth note of amber and dust. Very soon the herbal overtones are pretty clear...it stays pretty warm and herbal for an hour or so before moving into second phase where the herbal accord is slightly toned down to make way for exquisite floral accord coupled with cinnamon (the cinnamon init quite clearly reminds me of Creeds seminal release, Baie de Genievere)..the floral elements along with the touch of spice gives this scent a sense of contrast (against herbal notes)…this also helps form the heart notes of Punjab and never falls into the trap of being a one dimensional, herbal scent. What we get towards the base notes is where scents of this era shines...luxurious accords of amber and incense spilled on used leather kind of feel. Such soft use of incense in the accords, very visible, yet, never taking the center stage. The herbal feel is quite toned down by now and makes Punjab a scent which is quite versatile. In the sense, its developments are seamless and enjoyable at every phase.

It’s pretty obvious that Serge Lutens Ambre Sultan derived it's structure from Punjab...and by saying so, I salute SL, for releasing a scent which offers its customers top quality. Although, Punjab smells much more opulent in the amber department..Even Tom fords Amber absolute kind of pales in comparison...which goes on to show the kind of quality that went into this scent.

This is not a pleasant scent, people who don’t like (vegetal) herbal scents can safely stay away from this release but, if you like Nina Ricci's seminal release Phileas, then definitely give this one a shot.