Areej Le Doré War and Peace 2: The Rose That Went to War

Snow has settled over a field where guns were fired that morning, and the cold air still holds their smoke, resinous and sharp, like pine branches thrown on a fire. An officer's greatcoat lies half buried in it, dark wool with a stiff fur collar and a black leather belt still buckled. Someone has laid a red rose across the chest. Bend close and the rose reaches you first, honeyed and cool. Under it the coat smells of fur and black leather, and faintly of the body that wore it.

Russian Adam composed War and Peace 2 for Areej Le Doré, the house he founded, and it came out in 2020 as an extrait de parfum. The peace in it is orris with Ruh Gulab, an Indian rose, and the war is deer musk and castoreum. It is the second chapter of a perfume that sold out in 2019.

Sold out by November

The first War and Peace came out in the house's 5th Collection, and it went fast. On 6 October 2019, when Kafkaesque first wrote about it, bottles were already running low. By 14 October the house page read "on hold", and by 14 November "SOLD OUT". No Areej Le Doré perfume has sold out faster.

The same November page carried a short notice: a second part was in the works and might be ready in around three months. Once an Areej Le Doré perfume sells out, most of it cannot be recreated, because of the unique nature of the rare materials in it. Russian Adam made War and Peace 2 as a continuation. He kept the whole frame, the same amber resin on top, the same two roses, orris and patchouli in the heart, his deer musk and castoreum underneath, and shifted the balance: slightly more resinous, sweeter and less powdery than the original.

Smoke from a fossil

The oldest thing in War and Peace 2 is the first thing you smell. The top is Himalayan fossil amber more than 35 million years old, dry distilled, and it rises as a smoky, balsamic resin incense with a slight edge of pine, laid straight over the freshly distilled Indian rose. DrB1414, a reviewer on Parfumo, calls the opening a "gunpowder accord".

Under the smoke is a 2019 Ruh Gulab, with Taif rose beside it, velvety and jammy. Orris root absolute, powdery and sticky-sweet, holds the rose up and then pulls it down into the heart, where an aged Indian patchouli waits, soothing and chocolaty.

The war in the base

The war comes from animals. At the centre of the base is Russian Adam's co-absolute of wild Siberian deer musk and castoreum, extracted together as one: the musk urinous and furry, the castoreum dirty black leather. Indian oakmoss, Indonesian vetiver absolute and more amber resin lie beneath them, with a synthetic civet.

Russian Adam built it as a battle of life and death between opposite materials, black against white. They clash first, and for a while the animal side is loud and deadly, then they settle into balance. When the battle has finally mellowed, what remains to dominate the base is dry, heavy, animalic leather.

Grains from Siberia

The deer musk in War and Peace 2 comes as grains from wild Siberian deer, bought through a legal institution that deals only with registered hunters, each allowed by the Russian government a set number of wild deer a season.

Even by that route there is very little to go round: legal musk grains exist only in very limited amounts, and they usually go to traditional medicine, one reason natural musk grains left large-scale perfumery. In War and Peace 2 those grains go into the co-absolute at the centre of the war.

A rose with fur on it

War and Peace 2 belongs to people who want their rose with fur on it, and who are happy to end the evening smelling of dry leather and animal. The rose sits in the middle of the story, with resin smoke before it and the animals after it. DrB1414 on Parfumo puts the plainest warning on the sequel: "You wear this in public at your own risk."

Three chapters of one battle

At the house, the sequel went the way of the original: on the Areej Le Doré history page it sits beside the first War and Peace with "SOLD OUT" after its name. Russian Adam went back to the battle a third time. War and Peace 3, released in 2025, adds oud, natural vintage civet and vintage musk to the same frame.

Of the first two chapters this is the sweeter and more resinous, with less powder. The Indian rose comes up through the amber smoke, sticky orris pulls it down into patchouli, and the deer musk and castoreum carry what is left to dry animalic leather. It sits between the other two, after the powder of the original and before the oud of the third.

The first chapter, and the more powdery of the two. The fossil amber opens as smoky resin incense, two roses sit under a heavy veil of orris, and the deer musk and castoreum co-absolute builds a dense, leathery animal base that oakmoss and vetiver keep dry. Set beside the sequel, it shows exactly where Russian Adam moved the balance.

The 2025 chapter keeps the fossil amber and the rose and orris heart, now vintage Taif rose with Rose Alba, and takes the war further with Indian oud and vintage deer musk, and with a natural vintage civet where the first two chapters had only a synthetic one. It opens on fossil resin and embers and settles into musky fur and soft suede, with a faint trace of rose left over from the peace.

Frequently asked questions

What are the notes in Areej Le Doré War and Peace 2?

It opens on Himalayan amber resin more than 35 million years old. The heart is Ruh Gulab 2019, Taif rose, Indian patchouli and orris root absolute, and the base is Russian Adam's co-absolute of deer musk and castoreum with Indian oakmoss, Indonesian vetiver absolute, synthetic civet and amber resin.

How is War and Peace 2 different from the original War and Peace?

War and Peace 2 is a continuation of the 2019 original, built on the same heart of Ruh Gulab, Taif rose, Indian patchouli and orris root absolute. Areej Le Doré made it slightly more resinous, sweeter and less powdery, and it arrived in 2020 after the original sold out.

Does War and Peace 2 contain real musk?

Yes. Its base is built around a co-absolute of wild Siberian deer musk and castoreum that Russian Adam made himself, from legally obtained deer musk grains. The civet on its note list is synthetic.

Is War and Peace 2 still made?

It is sold out at Areej Le Doré, where it sits on the history page with the rest of the 5th Collection. The story continued in 2025 with War and Peace 3, which adds oud, natural vintage civet and vintage musk.