I have been meaning to post here for a while but winters got better of me.
I am bit partial for natural scents and avoid chemical scent notes, if I am able to detect them, but not very smart nose here.
Problem with attars is that despite claims of being au naturel, many perfumers tend to sneak in notes that can consistently come from fixative synthetics only, so of late I found myself leaning on the attars that are standalone composition and made with ingredients that don't cost a leg or arm, for example, Indian Vetiver.
Visiting Ajmals showroom couple of month back, they brought out their most expensive oud oil on counter. The store manager told me they don't really bother bringing it out from closet for people who are just shopping around for 'nice' scents. For uninitiated, Oud oil is anything but nice. I dabbed their top line 'kalakasi' on wrist and immediately ordered 3ml for £100. The reason I lay down £100 within a minute of first smell for this Kalakas because, it matched if not surpassed best of abdul samad al qurashi ouh oil to my nose, at way lower price point.
This Oud oil was their top stuff and it smelled like one. I had Amiri before which was almost animalistic, barnyard and spicy fecal and it would normally take few hours before it settle down to something I like to smell. Kalakasi was something else, think of a Hindi oud and barnyard full of semi decaying wood, muted spicy but not fecal in smell, Kalakasi is just more rounded version of Amiri with deeper woodsy notes, sweetish earthy smoky note but in all a very complex scent. I took a stroll around mall and within 15-20 min, this Oud bloomed into a very likeable and understated smell and the circus of changing notes kept on for about 5-6 hours before it became a skin scent for me.
If you think, full bodied Hindi oud oil, without any fixative or element blending is your thing, do give it a try.