Papyrus Oud 71

Bit of a riddler: why can't I love it with my whole heart? Friendly, warm, light, sweetish, bone-dry papery-dusty sandalwood sawdust, in the nicest possible way. Or is it really just a great big slush of generic Iso E Super, that anonymous every-wood that's everywhere on nearly everyone in nearly everything? At first I was afraid (but not petrified) that this might be too dark or acrid or butch or niche for me, but not a bit of it; there's a lovely lightly herbal tang but nothing too weird, drifts of spice waft by every now and then, but nothing gets too punchy. Vetiver and patchouli held in such perfect balance that I can't even pick them out - the best sort of treatment for those two often-bullying notes imho. It's got a fine and steady hand, then - evokes some of the best bits of, say, Xerjoff Ivory Route or Santal 33, but somehow there's ... something missing, and I don't even know what it is. It's classily nuanced, true unisex to my nose (as long as you like dry-woody scents), boasts strong-to-solid performance... robust arm's length sillage and longevity up to 7-8 on skin, an absolute AGE on me. So it's a really really strong like, and yet I can't figure out just what the missing ingredient would be to make it GREAT. Will wear out my decant of it perfectly happily but it somehow just doesn't motivate me to chase after it with more gusto. Perhaps a case of "Nice - very nice indeed - but dull."

Not a big fan as its way closer to Bentley absolute than to GPH. This shows Tom Ford was spot on to change and edit Almairacs original recipe for GPH as both of Almairacs creations (Bentley and this one) are by far not as good as GPH. I think Ford did a great decision to cross out oud in GPH. Now Almairac has created two fragrances without Ford to interfere and both creations are inferior to Fords GPH because of Almairacs use of that plasticy oud accord in both creations.

SEASONS: Definately suitable for cold and cooler weather but I won't vote on seasons yet. I am in South China and the hot, sticky summer hasn't started yet. I will try this on a hot day though, see how it goes. It's spring now and has worked fine in the evenings here. Hope it works in the summer evenings too. SCENT: I was actually looking for a summer fragrance for high humidity but was curious about PO (a seasonal distraction). Basically I finished off a 2ml decant and loved it. I ordered a 100ml bottle that turned up today. I showered and sprayed 6 times. This full bottle is 10 times better than the sample. I LOVE this. The olibanum is perfect, so pronounced. And the cedar makes it incredibly sexy. I notice a dark chocoloate thing later in the performance. The vetiver is nice and dry, the whole thing is dry. I enjoyed Private Label by Jovoy and this shares some of the same qualities, but this offers much more. Papyrus Oud has quickly becomes a top 10 fragrance for me. PERFORMANCE: I can smell myself without trying for a solid 3 hours, after that it stays closer to the skin. Not sure if other people can smell me or not. Will update this review at a later date.

I find this honestly enchanting. It is dry, papery, as papyrus would suggest. But it does smell like a plant, almost as much as it smells like an ancient library. Definitely woody and resinous as well, with the olibanum making itself known and a bit of that certain floral/spicy note from pink pepper. It is dry but warm, cozy, not cold-- and yet I still get the sense that this would do just as well in warm weather as in cool. To me it has a note reminiscent of the creosote plants you can smell on a hot day in some deserts, when the heat makes the resins in the plant disperse into the air. It's one of the only ones in my recent batch of samples that I had to keep going back for, to try again and see what nuance I will catch on the next try. And, though I don't normally count this as a good thing, I'd describe this as very accessible-- I really think most people will like it, few will turn their noses at such a lovely fragrance. Performance is solid too, for something so affordable.

Received sample of Papyrus Oud 71 today and wow! For those who have loved and longed for the glory days of Gucci Pour Homme... there back. Dusty, smoky, boozy, sweet heaven in a bottle. Bless you and your family Michel Almairac.