Heading to a friend’s place tonight to smoke cigars and hang out, mid 80s in Long Beach but that’s not stopping me. This was a recent pickup at the Amouage boutique in Beverly Hills for my wife’s birthday and it was love at first sniff. Only three notes here, oud, birch tar, and vanilla, but they’re blended incredibly well. Opens raw and animalic, real barnyard oud, and I get why that turns some people off. But as it dries down the vanilla takes over and smooths everything out into this rich, almost chocolatey, gourmand finish. This is one that changed how I think about oud. Perfect one for tonight.

Got a decent haul this week. Sold a few bottles to free up space for these babies. - Amouage Beach Hut Man - this has been on my radar for a couple months and in its current presentation has been discontinued. Rumors of it be re-released in a new bottle, already making this a collectors bottle. Minty, herbal, with a touch of a resinous note in the base - Naxos - don't need describe this beauty. Snagged it locally from FB Marketplace, brought a a sample to compare smell, even one of my Xerjoff caps to confirm it was legit. - Tiziana Terenzi Kirke - fruit basket banger, got to try it when I was in Italy and both wife and I loved it, she said she would share with me. Snagged the bottle in a sweet bundle deal with the Zaharoff Signature Tabac. Very similar to Xerjoff Erba Gold without the musk. Sold the Xerjoff and kept this one. - Zaharoff Signature Tabac - fantastic photo realistic tobacco and surprisingly kinda fresh take on the profile, can be worn year round. - Moschino Toy Boy and Marwah - grab these 2 in a cheap bundle deal. Wife bugged me long enough to get Toy Boy, I just resisted for so long because of the bottle design, haven't worn that one yet. Marwah was also blind, but heard it was dupe of LV Imagination which everyone races about, $35 for both, shoot why not!?

First from the house and i had to go big. This one was in the locker for a bit but now that its the weekend and the weathers a bit cooler I finally decided to try it out. Great opening with some bergamot, saffron and rose. Tried and tested rose-oud combo opener but done nicely. Nothing obnoxious like BR540. Give it a few minutes and the freshness tones down and the leather, “oud” and tonka shows up. Makes everything deeper, warmer and sweeter. At this point i can draw a comparison to Shaghaf oud edp but less jammy and more complex. Once it has fully dried down you get the oakmoss, sugarcane and musk. Imo the best phase of the progression. Everything now is balanced and a bit unique. A great twist on your average rose oud profile done closer to my taste. Apparently most of London smells like this fragrance. At least thats what @Aditya Choksi claimed when i last met him. Performance is good. Easy 7+ hours with strong projection in the initial hours. Closer to skin by hour 7. Id like to mention that this is without any moisturiser so on a regular day its 9+ hrs. No complaints with that. A very gentle sillage on my skin unlike what others say online. Very impressed by the fragrance and the house. I was always a D1 Mancera glazer so obviously i expected greatness from its sister. Safe to say the threshold is met. I remember smelling chocolate greedy in selfridges and my god that was delectable. Probably my next from the house. Any other suggestions are very much appreciated. Overall this one is a very easy 9/10. Loses points on versatility and uniqueness. End of the day they didn’t reinvent the wheel. Just perfected an existing template. But they perfected it well. Price is solid too. 100ml under £100. Definitely a must try in my books. And with this newfound knowledge, ill be a serial sniffer on the streets of london the next time i visit.

https://youtube.com/shorts/BLTP-9yYfC0?is=wWGO8-_WU_N0fk3b My Favorite Fragrance House has a New Fragrance Release

Red Rum Reserve launched today! Grab your sample, 20ml/50ml before they are gone https://www.thirdeyefragranceco.com/shop/p/redrumreserve