Amouage
A unique visual signature based on accords, character, and seasonality
The Sichuan pepper hits with genuine heat, an almost metallic tingle that makes the bitter orange feel more peel than juice. Cardamom weaves through with green-brown warmth whilst bergamot hovers at the edges, more suggestion than statement—this is a citrus opening filtered through smoke and spice.
Frankincense takes centre stage with its cool, resinous smoke, threading through tobacco leaf that's dry and slightly bitter rather than honeyed. The juniper berry adds a gin-like sharpness that prevents the composition from becoming too solemn, whilst geraniol brings an almost herbal rosy quality that shouldn't work but does, adding unexpected lift to the resinous base.
Cypriol's woody, earthy character dominates, smelling almost like vetiver's quieter cousin, whilst ambrox provides a skin-close radiance that's never loud. The leather is subtle, more suggestion than statement, with tonka bean adding just enough warmth to prevent the finish from turning austere—what remains is woody, slightly sweet, indefinably smoky.
Journey Man announces itself with an electric jolt of Sichuan pepper that tingles against bitter orange peel, creating an opening that's less Mediterranean citrus and more spice merchant's leather satchel. Alberto Morillas has crafted something restless here—a fragrance that refuses to settle into comfortable orientalism despite its Omani heritage. The neroli and bergamot are there, but they're supporting players, almost reluctant, letting the cardamom and pepper drive the narrative forward with an insistent, prickling warmth.
What makes this compelling is the way frankincense smoke weaves through tobacco leaf in the heart, neither sweet nor acrid but somewhere monastically contemplative. This isn't pipe tobacco at a gentleman's club; it's raw leaf drying in shadowed rooms, resinous and slightly green. The geraniol adds an unexpected rosy-minty brightness that keeps the composition from disappearing into typical oud-house territory. By the time cypriol's earthy, almost vetiver-like quality emerges alongside that diffusive ambrox glow, you're left with something that walks the line between ascetic and sensual.
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3.8/5 (235)