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It's truly knocked me for six how shockingly good this fragrance and the new comer Interlude really are. They're so complex it's thought provoking trying to pinpoint the notes and ultimately a fruitless and demanding task. The usual suspects in Amouage, sandalwood & incense, rich resins... frankincense are obvious as well as Oud in this one. The rest are an apparent mixture that is ever changing and gives you little bits like a revolving fragrant curry sampler...it's remarkable stuff. This too has more than a touch of nobility about it and makes you feel a sense of importance when wearing it. It's king juice really. My only regret is that I never gave this a proper trial or I'd probably be as in love with this one as I am with interlude. Interlude is just madness and a bolder than this effort which is marginally more refined.
Very brief second review now I've had a bit more time to get to know Epic. It's stunning! Heady and easily the most masculine of the Amouage I've tried so far it has a real gentlemanly dignity about it. The opening is great once more, complex lots & lots going on...pepper, Oud, spices. It's a very dark smoky outing too which continues to get smokier on my skin, also with a slight petrol/diesel vibe to it as well which when subtle is actually really enjoyable. It's developing really nicely now and I have a real appreciation for this instead of comparing it to interlude...which for me was the benchmark due to being the first Amouage I tried. If I had the money this would be on my list...it's definitely short listed for the future. Update: Wow!!! Just when i thought it had given up all its secrets, Deep into the Drydown the smoke completely clears then you're left with a really sweet, woody scent, the real heart with no smoke wonderful.
Released in 2009
Classified as an Oriental Woody
Nose behind this composition is Randa Hammami, who's CV also contains a number of fragrances from the Guerlain house.
Little bit of a background regarding Epic Man, this fragrance was inspired by the Silk Road, especially the route from China to Arabia. The Silk Road was an ancient trade route, where goods were traded between a number of countries and cultures such as gold, pearls, tea, silk, jade, spices and incense, and the aim of this fragrance was to invoke that along with the signature Amouage DNA. So as a history buff and as well as a fragrance buff this fragrance really intrigued me.
Top Notes: Pink Pepper, Cardamon, Saffron, Nutmeg, Caraway, Myrtle, Mace and Olibanum. Heart Notes: Geranium and Myrrh Base Notes: Oud, Patchouli, Incense, Leather, Sandalwood, Styrax, Cedarwood, Musk and Castoreum.
So what does this fragrance smell like? This is a very regal and luxurious fragrance, it's rich and so incredibly deep, it smells high class, like a scent you would expect from ancient royalty in the eastern world, be it from China, India or Arabia to wear, whilst wearing silk robes, with gold jewellery, this is what the scent invokes. This scent like many from Amouage such as Interlude and Jubilation is very complex with a lot of layers.
Overall what you get from Epic man is some spices, different variety of spices such as fresh spice from the pink pepper, some green herb like fresh spice from the cardamon, dry spice naunce in the from the nutmeg and some warm spice from the saffron. Along with the different variety of spices you get the woodiness of epic man, most prominently from the oud, which in this fragrance the ultra dry and dusty variety. Theres also a very subtle funkiness to the scent, which is done so so well from the note of the castoreum. Along with all of this, surrounding this whole composition is the famous Amouge smokey incense, which comes across very dry smokey unlike Interlude Man which is more of that wet incense.
Like previously mentioned this fragrance has a lot of layers and complexities. Amouage wanted to create a fragrance inspired by the silk road and they completely pulled it off in my opinion, it really invokes the silk road. Its a fragrance with a lot of artistic craft but is also very wearable, amouage really pulled it off on this one. A lot of fragrance houses try to make artistic fragrance but they lack wearability, for example Beaver by Zoologist, but Epic Man has the perfect balance of art and wearability, for me this is a masterpiece.
In terms of performance this is excellent, i get around 10 hours of longevity with projection being excellent also, it doesn't scream off your skin but is very strong, with a great scent cloud and sillage.
In terms of occasions this is best worn during night for formal situations, during the fall and winter.
Overall rating 5/5, a masterpiece. This is Amouage's Citizen Kane imo, Jubilation XXV may be my favourite.