Stunning opening smells absolutely amazing right out of the bottle... Must be the plum and orange whatever it is it's wonderfully fruity. That lasts for all of 30 seconds (shame) and what you're left with is a woody floral musk (to quote the description) and nothing more really. A good scent for a guy I think, quite masculine, very clean soapy vetiver dry down a little bit of smoke but again that's gone quite quickly. The spicing is tame by Amouage standards but well balanced and actually a nice wearable scent. Yep dia is alright in my book.

Awful!!! I'm not a knee jerk reaction sort of guy I like to give fragrances a chance to charm me. Also I'm a massive fan of Amouage on the whole and even the ones I don't like I appreciate the craft and how nuanced and generally complex the fragrances are and what they have to offer. Ciel however has an accord that I will describe very simply and please folks don't think I'm a philistine but I can help the imagery my nose conjures up! The smell of a men's toilet when you urinate directly onto a BLUE URINAL CAKE (I think that's what they're called?) and some of the fragrant lavender scented blocks give off pungent vapour mixed with the smell of your own juice. So sorry for the powerful imagery but I can't get past that...was going to say worst Amouage ever but then I remembered Gold man! It's a complex one and is better in the dry down there's something nice behind the awful smell that I'm trying to sniff beyond but I just can't! Shame.

I tried this a while back but reserved judgement for when I had a wearable sample. Just not to my taste Opus III. The mimosa although not entirely unpleasant, is just not my bag baby. It's quite vanilla really I get the ylang ylang too and all in all it's a complex fragrance. It reminds me of when I used to collect samples on a weekly basis from a wet wipe company to test in my lab. This is very reminiscent of what the factory smelled like...and I'm not be cruel to Opus III the smell was complex and quite nice really. It's a clean smell which has not spicy tricks up its sleeve like the typical Amouage thing, also this has a vague synthetic banana thing much like reflection man. Luckily that goes away in the dry down in fact everything dies down and you're left with an agreeable if not a little floral smell.

Wowee!!! What a little stunner this is! For me the jewel in the crown of the Opus collection...reminds me a little of Fate man with the strong cardamom and other cooking spices. But that takes a few minutes to develop and like many Amouage fragrances the transitions are frequent as the mixing pot swills around and settles itself down on your skin. The opening is supreme, heavenly I get a huge fruity, juicy, refreshing mandarin and citrus then comes the typical cumin/fenugreek/caraway/cardamom etc... spices and ton of incense, also floral sweetness coming from something all this with a musky base. This fragrance is complex but somehow peaceful and has a mellow meditative vibe about it. I'm a fan!

Hmmm...Kind of boozy right out of the bottle, reminded me of a kilian rum opening that dies away quickly and it becomes an all too familiar amber/incense fragrance. I think that booziness is the amber and sharpness from the labnanum perhaps? Stings my nose a little but I quite like it, has that kingly vibe. Could've sworn there would be oud & rose in here but not according to the notes listed. Not up to par for Amouage's flair for individuality but as a fragrance very nice and they(by they I mean different perfumers everytime) can't come up with something totally unique on each outing...and I completely understand it. For me this is quite similar to two recent additions to my collection, By Kilian Incense Oud and striaght to heaven which share some similar notes (including cardamom which I think is in here.) As this dries down it's less like a rose/oud thing and more of deep amber vibe on reflection.

Ahhh...A nice surprise in the Opus collection. This is reminiscent of L'artisan Perfumeur Fou D'Absinthe to me and that's a very good thing! Fresh with lavander and wormwood but well balanced, tiniest amount of smoked incense with spice from cardamom and a hint of cinnamon. It's really good...I love the opening...flip flopped a little about it...then decided it was nice again. Amouage for me are big occasion fragrances that would struggle to work as a regular scent...with some exceptions of course Jubilation XXV springs to mind. Opus II however is similar in that it's very wearable and for me although perfectly unisex does lean toward the masculine ever so slightly.

Okay so Opus I has a massively floral opening I thought it was like a lily maybe and definitely tuberose! The cardamom is present but not over the top unfortunately the florals most certainly are, at least in the opening. There's something I want to like about the floral element, probably the jasmine but in combination with tuberose doesn't sit right with my nose. Whoever first mentioned the musty book smell below is totally spot on. Opus I does have that strange quality to it, very apt considering it's from the Library collection. It's not a good start, with that opening but as it dries down it becomes sweeter the florals become more settled and a slight tonka bean thickness starts to come in. For me though this is not something I'd wear nor does it appeal but an interesting smell if you're prepared to give it a chance.

When I first applied this fragrance I thought I'd found some heavenly stuff the opening few seconds are fresh and you definitely get a brief citrus blast..at least I did anyway and it was not what I was expecting. Then within seconds it starts to develop from the mouth watering...to the headache inducing! A VERY PETROLEUM like vibe starts to develop and as much as I kind of like the smell of petrol in a Pervy sort of way, I would never understand a desire to smell like it! Now except for my beloved Fahrenheit of course but that is different from this Xerjoff signature effect I've observed in a few others now. It has a hint of smoke too and between that and the stinging petrol note you can just about make out the pleasant powdery scent underneath. I'm saying petrol, it's a kind of grubby diesel. The petrol dies down and the fragrance improves a little to a leathery type scent in the dry down. Despite not smelling it at all at first it has the lavender and gernaium/carnation powder of a Rive Gauche, pleasant shave soap, type scent, Alfra's review below comparing it to Knize Ten but I don't think it's as floral. It's a little harsh at first but challenging to my olfactory system and keeps me sniffing which I like.

This is a serene, peaceful fragrance...the pine and birch tar perfectly complement the frankincense, this is the last stop on my CDG Incense trail and it's been an eye opening, whistle stop tour around the world. I've reached the conclusion that I love incense when surrounded by other notes in complex compositions the likes of Amouage epic, memoir and interlude. Another reason I like them is they have a smokiness, I honestly couldn't describe any of these as being smokey with the exception of Kyoto and Zagorsk which have a mild smokey texture but I was expecting more. Again, not that I'm complaining this collection has more than delivered and educated me about different faiths and the smells associated with them. Hats off to Comme de Garçons!!!

Great review below from Dr Kool. :) I have no idea what authentic Orthodox Russian church incense smells of? I'd assumed CDG had done some research? maybe they had? Perhaps the sample churches they chose smelled like this? or maybe a cock up and this incense range was labelled incorrectly? maybe zagorsk is supposed to be jaisalmer as he suggests....I love this one all the same and has been a recent addition to my wardrobe but I can't wear it yet as for me it's not warming enough for winter...will be lovely in spring I reckon.

Bright almost lemony/Limey citrus (from the labdanum perhaps?) in this is so invigorating! Very woody and then as you inhale deeper you get a spicy edge of incense and pepper. Drys down to a lovely close scent which is unlikely to offend anyone...incense lover or not. Ouarzazate was not what I was expecting at all. I thought I wanted this collection to go in a Stronger, harder direction but this much lighter offering is just the tonic and my favourite so far, from an interesting bunch. This collection truly takes you on a unique journey with each fragrance and this one is probably the most conventional, and accessible wearable amongst them.