Ajmal Kuro : Most Honest Review on the internet

Short review (for lazy people like myself):

Ajmal Kuro is like a 'Curry made in Hurry'. Don't buy it. It's not a good fragnance for the price. ₹2000 for 90ml of kuro is not justified when you have so many other better options. It's the red flag of perfumes, it smells bad, it smells pungent, it smells like boric acid. Avoid it, if possible.

Detailed review (For upvotes) :

So I wrote a review of Ajmal Kuro along with nine other perfumes a few days ago, which you can check out here(if this link doesn't works, you can check my profile too). https://www.reddit.com/r/DesiFragranceAddicts/s/9v1FSahMXT

That review was based on my initial impression on the fragnances and some people in the comments suggested to macerate the perfume and wear only one perfume in a day, to properly judge it. So that's what I did and here's a more detailed review of Ajmal Kuro.

Since my last review, Kuro has grown(macerated/matured) as a fragnance in my almirah and I have also grown as a person (Olfactory skills). So my opinions about Kuro have also evolved a bit.

On Amazon Kuro is priced at around 2400₹ for 90ml and in grey market you can get it under 2000₹ maybe for 90ml.

With the first whiff I can understand kuro is a combination of some intense spices and wood and some other smell in the background which I am not able to identify along with oud, it's a new smell for my nose(the complex opening).

The opening is extremely spicy. It opens with some combination of cardamom and black pepper. I made few people around me smell it and asked them which spice can you smell and none of them was able to identify black pepper. But, I can identify it. Infact the opening is black pepper dominant. The complete complex opening becomes like boric acid due to the combination but if you try to identify them seperately, I would say black pepper is dominant.

I saw some other reviews of kuro and they mentioned the opening contains saffron as well but I can't smell any saffron in the opening. Also, it doesn't contain any 'richness' as mentioned by few. If I compare it with Lataffa Asad which is also known for the spices that it contains, Asad smells much more premium and rich compared to kuro. Kuro smells like a cheap perfume to me. If I do a blind test, according to me most people would say Asad is expensive than Kuro.

Some reviews also say there's a floral heart note and they mention flowers like rose and lavender, which seems like a joke to me. I can't smell them at all. I really like lavender but I think it's anyways incompatible with the other notes of kuro, so it's good if they have unnoticable presence.

In the dry down, there's something citrus in the middle and base notes, not leamon, something like bergamot which is not going well at all with the top note.

Kuro is an extremely heavy scent. Suitable with formal wear for an old fashioned or atleast for an older and mature guy. It's extremely masculine scent. I don't recommend it but if you are stubborn I would say only extremly masculine/mature men and women who ride Bullet motorcycle should wear it.

To me it's an example of a poor craftsmanship. Like a chief who will make 'curry in a hurry'. The chief will put random quantity of ingredients to meet the deadline, it seems like that's how Kuro was created.

It's not a mass pleaser at all. It's really shocking to me because some people say it's a copy of Dior Sauvage which is a mass pleaser as per the reviews(I have never smelled Sauvage) .

In my humble opinion, kuro might be an accuired taste for some people just like black coffee. You have to brainwash yourself until you start liking it.

It's so harsh, strong and masala intense that when I smell it closely from my wrist, it creates a burning sensation in my nose like the hair inside my nose are burning. If you spray more, it might even be suffocating for you and people around you.

It doesn't has any 'freshness' elements atleast in the opening. Which is another negative aspect about it.

It contains some Oud as well. I have an attar which is called Purple oud (combination of lavender and oud), I bought that attar from a local shop and the oud in it smells so calming and pleasant but the oud in kuro is too pungent or animalic and off putting. I don't know if it's due to the quality of oud they have used(I don't think they have used bad quality oud because my attar costs like 300₹ for 6ml and kuro is for 2000₹+ ) or is it because of the overall combination they have used.

They have used the Right bottle for perfume, dark. Because I can imagine a old and mature masculine man in black suit who choose not to marry ever wearing something like this). They can use my photo as well that's actually a better representation of how it smells. Like some black pepper heavy masala box. I am sure It's a turn off for women as well.

In the later Drydown stage, some new pungent smell starts to come maybe due to ambroxan (a synthetic ambergris molecule) or i don't know what smell it is, it's new smell for me which I am not liking at all.

The only good thing about it is Longevity is amazing, projection is also amazing. I did one spray on each wrist and I was able to smell it after 8hr+ if I take my nose closer to my wrist.

I don't know why few people are saying it's versatile perfume according to me it's for , Colder season and it's a night perfume because it's so warm.

I asked three people how I smelled while I was wearing it, one of them said I smell like vomit. Another person said you are smelling really bad and it's better to not wear any perfume than wearing this and finally my sister who has really good olfactory skills she can identify many notes which I can't, she said I smell disgusting what are you wearing.

Final rating: Earlier I gave it -10/10 now I don't think it's as bad, the boric acid aspect of it has reduced a bit. I would give it -8/10 now.

Final Conclusion: Not recommended.

Note: I am new to fragrances, and I have only smelled some 50 fragnances till now so take my reviews with a pinch of salt and my nose is not a trained nose as well. You can ask to experts of this sub before coming to the decision of buying/not buying Kuro.