Arabiyat Prestige Hamdan The Sheikh: Citrus, Sandalwood and Frankincense

Hamdan The Sheikh by Arabiyat Prestige is a warm woody eau de parfum: bergamot, mandarin and elemi on top, sandalwood, amber, cedar and patchouli in the heart, and frankincense, tonka bean, vanilla and musk underneath. It smells like polished wood in a room where incense burned an hour earlier, opened by a flash of bright citrus.

It arrived in 2024 as part of a small Hamdan series, and it comes in 75 ml rather than the 100 ml most of its shelf neighbours use, which is worth remembering when you compare prices. The note to understand first is elemi, because almost nobody has smelled it by name.

Arabiyat Prestige HAMDAN THE SHEIKH Fragrance notes:

• Top Notes: Bergamot, Mandarin, elemi.
• Middle Notes: Sandalwood, Amber, Cedar, Patchouli.
• Base Notes: Olibanum, Tonka Bean, Musk, Vanilla.

Notice where the woods sit. Sandalwood and cedar are in the heart, and resin holds the bottom. That is the reverse of most woody fragrances, and it explains why the drydown smells more of incense than of timber.

Hamdan The Sheikh: the short version

• Profile: Bright citrus and peppery resin, creamy sandalwood, dry cedar, frankincense and soft vanilla.
• Sweetness: 4 out of 10. Tonka and vanilla soften the woods without turning it into a gourmand.
• Strength: Hamdan The Sheikh is a 75 ml eau de parfum on a woody, resinous base built for long wear.
• Best for: Autumn and winter, evenings, formal occasions, cooler-weather office days.
• Skip if: You want oud, or the loud sweet-spicy Gulf style.

What does Hamdan The Sheikh smell like?

The first minute of Hamdan The Sheikh is bright. Bergamot and mandarin arrive sweet and clean, and elemi cuts across them with a lemon-pepper edge that keeps the opening from reading as a plain citrus cologne.

Woods take over quickly. Sandalwood supplies the creamy part, cedar the dry pencil-sharp part, patchouli the weight underneath, and amber rounds the edges. Most wearers will recognise this middle as classic Gulf masculine perfumery. 

The base turns resinous. Frankincense gives a dry, faintly smoky lift while tonka and vanilla soften it and musk carries it along. Hours in, Hamdan The Sheikh smells warm and clean, closer to incense smoke in a quiet room than to a woodshop.

What is elemi, and why is it in the top notes?

Elemi is the note most people cannot place, and it is why the Hamdan The Sheikh opening works. It is a resin tapped from Canarium luzonicum, a tree native to the Philippines, harvested by cutting the bark between January and June. A single tree yields four or five kilograms a year.

Elemi does not smell like incense. Elemi oil runs between roughly a third and a half limonene, the same molecule that makes citrus peel smell of citrus, with alpha-phellandrene alongside it bringing pepper and pine.

So the top of Hamdan The Sheikh is not citrus plus a resin. The resin is part of the citrus, which is why the opening manages to feel bright and sharp at the same time without ever turning fruity.

There is a second connection. Elemi belongs to the same botanical family as frankincense and myrrh, so the sharp resin at the top and the smoky resin at the bottom are relatives: one bright, one dark, bookending the same composition.

Which Hamdan should you choose?

Arabiyat Prestige released two Hamdan fragrances in 2024, and they share more than a name. Both open on citrus, and both finish on cedar, patchouli, amber and musk.

The difference sits in the middle. Hamdan The Sheikh goes creamy and resinous, with sandalwood, frankincense, tonka and vanilla. The Hero goes spicy and fresh instead, built on pepper, cardamom, nutmeg, clove and a marine calone note. 

Choose Hamdan The Sheikh for cold weather, formal wear and incense. Choose The Hero if you want spice and something that breathes in heat.

How long does Hamdan The Sheikh last, and when should you wear it?

Sandalwood, patchouli, frankincense, tonka and musk are all long-life materials, and together they make up most of the composition. Only the citrus and the elemi move quickly.

Autumn and winter suit Hamdan The Sheikh best, along with cool spring evenings. Heat pushes the resin and vanilla forward and can make the whole thing feel heavy by mid-afternoon.

For occasions, treat it as formal: dinners, weddings, Friday gatherings, meetings where you want to read as composed rather than noticed.

Who should buy Hamdan The Sheikh, and who should skip it?

Buy Hamdan The Sheikh if you want a warm, woody, incense-led fragrance that stays formal without shouting. It is marketed to men and leans that way, though nothing in citrus, sandalwood and frankincense is closed to anyone.

Skip it if you expected oud, because there is none and the smoke comes from frankincense instead. Skip it too if you like your Gulf perfumery loud and sugared, since this one holds back by comparison.

For a far more concentrated Arabiyat Prestige option, Marwa Extrait carries several times the oil. For frankincense in a fresher setting, Moondrift Blue Intense pairs it with grapefruit.