Genesis666

I plead guilty. Guilty of judging this fragrance far too early.
But let me start like this. I no longer buy anything blind - period. I've fallen flat on my face so many times now when it comes to blind buys and at some point I thought it made sense to take Einstein's quote to heart: "The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results." and to always test beforehand, even though this also entails the risk of not being able to buy a bottle due to increasingly frequent, severe limitations.

To be honest, there wasn't much for me in Adam's last releases, but as I have been fascinated by Animalika since the beginning of my passion for fragrances, I had to at least test the entire Musk Collection.

So now I tested "Creme de la Creme" and was speechless... speechless because it smelled so boring. Somehow over-seasoned, somehow creamy and somehow like putty and I'm not talking about the physical kind of our main means of payment but about the kind of putty that children use to build strange figures and you get upset about the fact that it is apparently not possible to simply NOT mix the individual colors into a gray lump. Be that as it may, I didn't particularly like it and put the sample to one side, more than unimpressed. A few days later, when I actually wanted to spray Cuirtis, I apparently picked up the wrong sample and completely dipped into it. "Wow, Cuirtis is great but completely different to what I expected". When I put the little atomizer back, my eyes probably briefly resembled the little "we are going to Disneyland" girl in the back seat of the car (EVERYONE KNOWS).

It was CC. I was totally flashed. How could it be that I suddenly perceived the scent so positively? Sure, still a spicy opening, light pepper, a little nutmeg and sage, but at the same time I found myself in the most beautiful cloud of ambergris oud I've ever smelled. No cola, no marzipan, just oud and ambergris in an unprecedented abstinence of any association. The "sinking grade" oud from the Philippines, which basically means that the wood is so infected that the proportion of resin formed as a reaction is so high that it sinks in the water, is, according to Adam, the highest quality oud he has ever used and extracted for a fragrance. It is super prominent on my skin. Completely free of fermentation or animalic notes, it unfolds a wonderfully resinous, slightly mineral "blue" fragrance that complements the main player of this composition extremely well.

Now to the real star of this fragrance. Ambergris. Even in the world-famous novel "Moby Dick", Herman Melvill, in the lyrical guise of Captain Ahab, dedicates an entire chapter (92) to this mysterious and fascinating material in which he writes: "I forgot to say that some hard, round, bony plates were found in this ambergris, which Stubb at first thought might be the buttons of sailors' sweaters; but it afterwards turned out that they were nothing more than pieces of small squid bones embalmed in this way."
That now the imperishability of this most fragrant ambergris is found in the heart of such putrefaction - is that nothing? Remember the words of St. Paul in Corinthians about corruption and incorruption, that we are sown in dishonor but raised in glory. And remember also the saying of Paracelsus about what makes the best musk."

The ambergris still waxy in the whale's belly serves the sole purpose of preventing the sperm whale's digestive tract from being processed into shredded meat by razor-sharp squid beaks. Jaaaaaa... nature. The fact that this stuff now smells extremely appealing to some people probably doesn't matter to the marine mammal on which Moby Dick is based.

In the case of CC, however, white ambergris was used, which floats on the surface of the water for months or even decades and is thus dried out by the sun and "matures" into a stony-looking lump that loses any fecal aspects that are clearly noticeable in fresh ambergris.

Three different tinctures are used. 5%, 10% and Ambergris Resinoid, which is like a 100% concentrate. I contacted Adam about this and he explained that an extremely highly concentrated tincture is heated until all the liquid has evaporated and the result has a beeswax-like consistency.
Call me a windbag, but I maintain that you can get enough of the different concentrations. If you know a little about the raw material, you can clearly recognize countless facets of this diverse raw material. Nuances of tobacco, vanilla, caramel, various resins such as benzoin and incense accompanied by a fine mentholated freshness in combination with an incredibly beautiful, slightly mineral, balancing saltiness that is reminiscent of sun-dried skin on a Caribbean vacation.

The addition of sandalwood and ylang-ylang creates a creamy texture which, in my opinion, contrasts perfectly with the dry, resinous aspects of oud and ambergris. In the meantime, it even creates a very light sun cream character on my skin.
In his presentation video for Musk Collection, Adam says about CC: "I wanted the result to be quite minimalistic". This statement is true in the sense that the main focus of the fragrance is actually on just three ingredients. Amgergris, oud and sandalwood. However, a paradox arises from the incredible complexity that each of these raw materials contains within itself.

I have now spent a week really intensively with the fragrance and with every "wear" it gets even better for me. I can't predict whether the fragrance will continue to mature and to what extent it will change as a result, but even if it stays exactly as it is now, it's a 10/10 for me. Apart from "Rauque", there hasn't been a composition for a long time that has appealed to me as much as Creme de la Creme. I'm already looking for a back-up, even though I disliked it so much at first. This shows me once again that you should never make hasty judgments and that this insight, applied to all areas of life, is a credo that has a positive influence on many things in the long term. Thank you very much for reading.

Phew, quite a pithy announcement that Ensar has knocked out there in his announcement for his latest release "EO N°3". But anyone who has ever dealt with the brand Ensar Oud, knows that Ensar, whose native name, by the way, is "Ensar Tokati", neither lacks self-confidence, nor that he is often stingy in his description with superlatives.

"The best..." here, "the finest..." there. The good is already very convinced of his products and creations and that is of course reflected in the price. 599$ for 30ml "PureParfum" are now standard here. Under it goes hardly what - over it goes fast.

Ensar probably maintained a very close contact with Sultan Qabus (Qaboos) bin Sa'id, who was Sultan of Oman from 23 July 1970 to his death on 10 January 2020. Not least because this had apart from its collection of innumerable luxury cars and rare clocks also a weakness for olfactory treasures. The collection must have contained countless treasures from all over the world. Priceless rarities such as "Sinking Grade Agarwood" from all parts of Asia, decades-old Ambergris chunks weighing tens of kilos, deer musk from Tibet, Kashmir, Mongolia, and even the king of all musks, the virtually non-existent Tonkin musk from Vietnam. Even the main player in the new EO N°3, the "Royal Tai'fi" comes from what he calls the "Royal Archive".

The Taif rose (Rosa damascena trigintipentala), native to Saudi Arabia, is also known as the queen of all flowers. The average price of a "tolah", which is a small glass vial that holds 11.7g of oil, is about $800. And this is not even the best quality grade. The top notch oils, aged for years, are usually sold only to wealthy collectors and royalty and far exceed this value. In the case of Sultan Qaboos' "Royal-Tai'fi", the extraction is dated back to 1980. So you can imagine that this was quite an expensive story. (But you can also just look on the EO website, what you have to put for 2.5g pure Taif oil from this collection on the Pöller)

I am by no stretch of the imagination a gullible person but the recurring mention by name and the use of pictures of the Sultan on the EO website eliminate legitimate doubts about these statements yet quite sustainable. I honestly hardly believe that a sultanate would tolerate a non-legal use of the name of a more than respected head of state for many years.

In addition to the three, already mentioned above musk variants, Ambergris and the royal rose oil finds in EO N°3 also decades long matured Myitkyina Oud from Burma still a small place. I wonder how many of you have pronounced the word "Myitkyina Oud" correctly when reading right now. I am certainly not one of them.

I could still report for hours about the individual ingredients but before the first people here from boredom, I come rather times to the fragrance itself.

I had due to the really DICK applied announcement on the part of EO pretty high expectations of the fragrance, I must confess and not only because of the price almost a little "fear" now to be disappointed. So I hesitantly pull the trigger of the bottle enclosed in handmade leather and.... BOOM..... olfactory mic drop... Short goose bumps.
What flows here in the nose has simply NOTHING to do with the typical Rose-Oud combos, which I knew until Dato.

The fragrance starts with an incredibly fine citrus note, which is probably one of the special characteristics of the Taif Rose. No sharp citrus reminiscent of bergamot and Co. Much finer, softer and rounder. Only seconds later, the rose unfolds its breathtaking aroma. You can't really break down the profile. It's a combination of citrusy notes, pleasantly light sweetness, a cooling menthol freshness that feels like taking a deep breath through your nose after eating a menthol candy. In this complex mixture of impressions, one can nevertheless clearly recognize the typical, luxurious character that rose brings to a fragrance. The combination of the different musks, each of which has its own character - Tibetan musk is sparkling, tangy / Mongolian musk slightly animalic, earthy and Tonkin musk rather sweet creamy - act as a kind of turbocharger for the rose and amplify its special properties many times over. The ambergris here acts more as a fixative and provides more durability and projection. Those who fear a typically salty, slightly maritime here definitely need not worry. For me personally, the oud only comes out in the heart and base. But even here, it doesn't take a dominant role. At most, it brings a slightly woody, green note to the background, reminiscent of oud distillations of the eaglewood genus walla-patta from Sri Lanka, giving the composition EVEN MORE depth. The other ingredients such as pepper, mandarin and nutmeg are so finely woven that you can hardly smell them out individually. What makes this fragrance special is simply, the combination of these oils and extracts and the intangible quality they exude without inhibition. It feels like this fragrance changes character every few minutes. Sometimes it smells sweet, sometimes fresh, sometimes warm, sometimes cool. All of this is combined with an intangible lightness and elegance that I have never experienced before. The rose is at no point heavy, stale or waxy, as is often the case. The scent is classic yet modern. A paradox bottled in glass and leather that leaves me with a big grin and absolute excitement after each application.

Many will now say again, "How can you spend so much money on a fragrance?" I understand that. It is justified. It's a question I would have asked myself six months ago. I no longer really think of Ensar's work as perfume but rather as art. I can count on one hand the number of days I've worn his works outside of my four walls. I don't wear them to smell good to others, because that's a matter of taste anyway. I look at them like others look at a work of art on the wall of a gallery. Is a Picasso worth millions because the color is so special or the canvas was particularly expensive? Beauty and the personal impact on the mind are in the eye (or nose) of the beholder. This is also the reason why I would never make "buying recommendations" or anything like that. I can only reflect what a fragrance does for me and how it affects me. In the case of EO N°3, I am almost inclined to say that the end of the line has been reached here. I don't think there is any room for improvement in terms of quality and craftsmanship here. In combination with the elaborately handmade bottle from the studio of Habib Dingle, who among other things binds the St. Johns Bible for the Vatican, this fragrance is probably the crown jewel of my collection. On one of the social networks, I was asked, "How would you describe the rose in EO N°3?" I could really only quote Ensar himself, " It's a Rose to end all Roses...once and for all."

I think hype is a curse and a blessing in equal measure for any brand, whether it's perfume, clothing, or even in the music industry.

On the one hand, hype represents a kind of sales guarantee, but on the other hand, it can also have a lot of negative effects if expectations are "not met". In the case of Areej le Doré and the perfumer behind the brand "Russian Adam" I find "The crux with the hype" particularly interesting - but must also admit that it even annoys me a little in part, how it is dealt with.

First of all, I would like to emphasize that in the case of ALD, I definitely think that the hype around their fragrances is not generated by the brand itself, but by US - the consumers. The first creations of Russian Adam were extremely limited - sometimes only 200 bottles - but the reason for this was not the deliberate creation of a certain exclusivity to increase demand, but the limited means of a (then) small "one-man-show". How could the good Adam also suspect that his creations once belong to the most sought-after that the niche world has ever seen.

The case of "MANLY".
"Manly" is the latest creation from the house of ALD. As actually before each new release ALD publishes in advance Sufficient info about the fragrances themselves, the idea behind it, the raw materials used and the associated prices. Even a Q&A is offered.
"MANLY" was created in collaboration with Adam's younger brother. Or was it half-brother? Never mind.
It was communicated quite clearly up front "The formula belongs to my brother Aton, I merely refined it and replaced some ingredients with higher quality variants." Here it MUST already be clear. IT WILL NOT BE A TYPICAL AREEJ LE DORE FRAGRANCE.
The second point: the price. The 30ml was declared here with 220$, which is about 180€. Of course, this is a lot of money but compared to the previous creations, this is still comparatively "cheap". Adam also emphasized that this fragrance is also limited due to the natural, limited ingredients but the batch is big enough so that "everyone" gets their bottle.

Now first to the fragrance itself.
"MANLY" starts for me at first slightly alcoholic. In combination with the oak moss and the earthy patchouli arises for me the impression of an old, stored in oak barrels, peaty whiskey. The top note doesn't last too long. Five, maybe ten minutes. The elaborate, hand-extracted saffron oil is also already noticeable. In my opinion, the Hindi oud also comes into play quite early. This wonderfully smoky, leathery interplay even gives me slight "oud-zhen" vibes in places at first.

In the heart opens an oriental spice drawer. The cinnamon has here quite clearly the nose in front! It may seem a bit spicy at first, but it softens up quite a bit over time, and the tonka bean does its part. Normally, I'm not a big fan of tonka as it often just comes across as overly sweet. In this case though, it does a great job of rounding out the tart notes in this creation a bit. Now the tobacco comes into play as well. On the whole, you can say that the scent comes across smoky, leathery from start to finish. Sometimes more, sometimes less. The tobacco is dry for me. More reminiscent of cigar tobacco than moist pipe tobacco. An open shirted, cigar smoking Tony Montana in his overly decadent leather chair. If you don't have a smell in your nose now, I don't know. :-)

I like the base extremely well. The vanilla and the sandalwood go an extremely harmonious combination with oud and leather. Here no note drowns out the other. Everything is very balanced and neither too sweet nor too tart. I must confess that I personally wouldn't have needed the cashmeran. On the other hand, I don't find it as disturbing as some others. Perhaps it is also a kind of "autosuggestive" problem to think that this synthetic fragrance in the midst of so many natural ingredients just "MUST" disturb?!

Longevity and sillage are just absolutely brutal on my skin. Even after 12 hours and two showers, the scent is still noticeable. No, I do not exaggerate here. More than 2-3 sprays are definitely not necessary here. I would even say - Not appropriate. :-D I think that many destroy themselves the fragrance experience in the case also by partly habitual "Overspraying".

My conclusion after 2 days with "MANLY":
I personally find the fragrance really good. Is he a typical ALD fragrance? No! But that was never the speech. I have so far really only positive feedback received and my girlfriend loves him on me.

On some forums, people were "shocked" that this release didn't sell out in minutes like some others and are rating it based on that without having smelled it. "Well that can't be anything if there are so many fakes." "Still not sold out?" "Good thing I didn't order one." The fragrance was pretty much "ripped" in parts. If in the future we judge fragrances only on the basis of their exclusivity and place our expectations, generated by a hype that WE ourselves have created, above any objectivity, perfumers will have quite a hard time still inspiring us in the future. Finding the fine line between uniformity and "too far away" from the own brand character with every new release is certainly not an easy task and from my point of view it was solved well here, especially considering the price. I am satisfied with my purchase and recommend everyone to convince themselves and not to put too much value on opinions of others. Not even on mine!

Monsieur. was actually the first fragrance from FM that I tested. To my shame I must confess - so far also the only one. :-D

I have me the filling also not consciously procured, but had the luck to have got it as an addition to an order.

I had never heard of the fragrance before, so I didn't know what notes it was based on.
With completely unfounded, low expectations I have "so incidentally" times 2 sprays placed on the back of the hand.
"Whew - what is that? That smells like stale Sprite?" Smelled it again and with the words "Why should you wear something like that?" in connection with most likely quite expansive facial firmness went to the sink and washed off with LOTS of soap. After that, the sample flew to the back corner of my "collection box" for now.

A few days later, I didn't really know what scent to wear that day and decided to just wear the scent again, against all reality. This time not only on the back of the hand but as SOTD at work. "Let's see what the colleagues say about it."

Sprayed on... "Huh?" Looked at the vial. Not mistaken, it was Monsieur. .
What had happened? Why did I suddenly have this impossibly high-quality, medicinal (though still a bit stale) impossibly masculine scent in my nose. No more trace of face goulash. Directly 2 sprays after it. WOW!
I could not get enough of the opening. Really extremely medicinal, earthy but at the same time almost tingling in the nose, like the smell that comes to your nose when you open a bottle of fresh mineral water, mind you from the glass and not the plastic bottle. Yes, I think it makes a difference! :D

But now I had to take a look directly at the notes. Patchouli? How can that be patchouli? In such concentrated and almost isolated form I had never smelled the herb. Wouldn't have identified it as such without the info either. So far I've only ever known it as a rather chocolaty, only slightly earthy note. But this is different. In the positive! All at once?!

I can not explain it to me but I wore him 2 days and HAD to get me directly a full bottle, so good I found Him suddenly.

He reminds me somehow of a forest walk. A forest somewhere in the mountains, foggy, damp and vllt. even a bit creepy. At the beginning of the drydown, after the somewhat sharp, medicinal has subsided a little, I smell the cedar, the incense but still a fat package patchouli. But so perfectly harmonious that you really have to concentrate to find the individual nuances. Rum and tangerine I perceive only very, very slightly. In general, the fragrance is for me about as fruity as a bag of cement.

At the end of the drydown then come an incredibly authentic, masculine but still gentle leather in combination with musk. In between, you get an additional light touch of paper or old books in the nose, reminiscent of a stylish university library such as the "Bodleian Library". Like I've been there before...pff. But at least I imagine that's what it smells like there. :D

Durability and sillage I would describe as "good" but not "outstanding". Numbers that means about 6-7 hours on my skin.

Do you get compliments for this fragrance? I myself so far less. But what is more important to me personally than compliments; He provides for conversation! Meaning - You are often addressed to the fragrance because he just absolutely polarizes. And by now I'm convinced that in the world of niche fragrances, that's exactly what it's all about. To polarize and to stand out. I guess with Monsieur. there are exactly two camps. The ones that love it and the ones that hate it. In between, there are only wooded mountains... foggy... damp... and maybe even a little scary.

Quite so blatantly I would perhaps not express it but I must say that with a fragrance has never been so conflicted as with OFG.

The fact is: the fragrance is good. But "Great?" From my perspective, there are a few things that keep it from being truly "Great".

The opening definitely deserves the title! It really smells outrageously good. Lots of saffron, lots of wood, complexity! Oud? Rather less. But a tiny little impression into the world of the precious "black gold" you get anyway. So definitely suitable for beginners, as there is no trace of animalic or anything like that here. I have made in relation to my fellow men and colleagues really no negative experience with the fragrance.

I'm not really a big fan of linear scents but in the case of OFG, THAT would have been the quality that would have given the scent a 9 or even 10.

Why? Because I find that he, the more he goes into the drydown in character and complexity and thus unfortunately loses its appeal. After the really exceptionally good opening, it drifts relatively quickly in a mainly sweet, almost boring direction, which then has no recognition value for me. Alas. Where has the saffron gone? Where are the woods? And where did all the cotton candy come from all of a sudden? After a few hours, I'm mainly left with a rather indefinable sweetness on my skin that lacks the depth and darkness you'd expect from most oud scents, and which I think could come from a good but random designer scent.

Please don't get me wrong. The fragrance is by no means bad! Maybe I just expected too much from it because of the hype or the fragrance does not work on my skin. Because I would also describe the durability rather than "OK".

I'm also not a big fan of putting fragrances in relation to the price but in this case I just have to say that I just expected more in the price range. The fragrance DNA is super for "beginners" in the niche world. The related price DNA rather not. :D