New Perfume Review Pekji Odoon, Battaniye, and Zeybek- Woods, Wool, and Barns

Continuing my reviews, begun yesterday, of the debut releases from Pekji by independent perfumer Omer Ipecki. Today are the remaining three; Odoon, Battaniye, and Zeybek.

Omer Ipecki

As I mentioned yesterday, I received some early efforts by Mr. Ipecki; Odoon was one of them. In its earlier form it was a monolith of wood. Like getting clubbed by a caveman. In the time since Mr. ipecki has taken that unapproachable piece of wood as if he was a sculptor. Discovering shades and texture while carving out a new perfume. In the current form of Odoon Mr. Ipecki has made a perfume of wood in which you can see the individual trees in the woods.

What Mr. Ipecki does is to build a pedestal for this wooden sculpture made of frankincense and fenugreek. The woods within that form are ash, cedar, sandalwood, oak, and pine. What is beautifully realized here is Mr. ipecki makes this as kaleidoscopic as multi-floral perfumes. As Odoon develops on my skin each of those woody ingredients peeks out. They rotate on that framework of maple-syrup tinted resin from the fenugreek and frankincense. This is a simply constructed perfume with a prismatic effect one you rarely encounter in a woody perfume.

Battaniye continues the theme of finding new perspectives for well-known fragrance types; in this case it is amber perfumes. This is an amber perfume, but it is also equal amounts of wet wool and earth. There is a part of Battaniye that reminds me strongly of the wool blanket my mother would wrap me up in when caught in a Florida thunderstorm. Wet wool has a subtle soapy scent from the lanolin which remains after the processing. Mr. Ipecki finds that subtlety with the use of floral ingredient Aurantiol.

Battaniye opens with the honeysuckle quality of Aurantiol infusing a wool accord. It produces a unique animalic effect. Just as I did as a child, I want to pull it closer. When I finally get my nose out of the wool accord what is waiting is dark earthy patchouli along with a simmering amber accord. Musk adds a tailing effect to the animalic aspect of the wool into the amber and patchouli. The base is a set of vetiver and labdanum. Battaniye is a perfume of coziness wrapped in a wool blanket.

These all leads to what I think is the best perfume in the collection; Zeybek. Everything else in the inaugural Pekji collection is Mr. Ipecki altering traditional perfume architectures. In Zeybek he builds a structure all his own; a horse barn. There have been barnyard-style fragrances before. None of the ones I’ve tried has successfully captured the entire milieu so successfully.

It opens with a bunch of sweet hay. Followed by lavender enough to remind one of a fougere. Before that thought can really take hold a mixture of floral and horse-like scents come forward. Mr. Ipecki told me that it is a mixture of cresols which are known for that hint of horsiness. Mr. Ipecki amplifies that while allowing the floral nature of the cresols he is using to provide the contrast. If I needed confirmation of how skilled Mr. Ipecki has become it is finding this balance. Cresols can get easily out of control. It takes a sure hand to make them behave. Mr. Ipecki shows that. The barnyard never overwhelms it finds just the right amount of dirt, hay and horse to become not only pleasant but compelling. There is a strong sea breeze running through this making me imagine this stable is on a cliff overlooking the Mediterranean.

Odoon, Battaniye, and Zeybek all have 14-16 hour longevity and average sillage.

Mr. Ipecki is a new vital voice in independent perfume. He can reinvent the traditional or build something all his own. The success of his first five releases lays down a significant marker for the future.

Disclosure: this review is based on samples I received from Pekji.

–Mark Behnke