Epic Man Amouage 2009

Any meal with more than two courses isn't about satisfying hunger, it's about having an experience. I, an American, am fond of the three-course meal, experience-lite. I see the value in a multi-course meal, but I won't go so far as to have a ten-course Titanic dinner, or a twenty one-course Versailles bacchanalia. To my mind, a classic five-course dinner is the height of luxury.

Amouage have been known to imitate French style. God knows they have made a few ten-course perfumes. Epic man is their five course meal. It is the perfect middle ground between opulent and edited.

Even the choral top notes tell you that there is an emphasis on bass: amber, frankincense, oud, tea. Tea? In a smart twist, Amouage do in fact include a tea-like note in Epic Man. It's the perfect modifier to the five course perfume, it enhances the smoky and aromatic qualities of the other basenotes without adding additional weight, or, stretching the analogy, a few more courses.

I tend to berate Amouage for their tedious male/female perfume releases, and I think they deserve it. Please, let’s spare perfume the his/hers baggage. Perfume at its abstract heart defies gender, and in specific, Epic Man raises gender neutrality to a peak by combining fine ingredients and the best of both eastern and western traditions in the service of simply making a beautiful fragrance. The resulting hybrid treats gender as it does ethnic culture. It acknowledges it at the same time that it refuses to be encumbered by it. Epic Man is a reminder to ignore the marketing and smell the perfume. If we must have a gender pairing, Epic Man should more likely be paired with Jubilation 25 for women. Both are the perfect examples Amouage’s stated mission to pair eastern materials and sensibilities with classical French perfumery. It's no wonder that Epic Man smells first and foremost like success.

from scent hurdle.com

A bestseller in Amouage's catalogue, so it must be remarkably good, right? But then you remember that many Amouage fragrances have suffered heavy reformulations along the years. Then you remember that when a niche fragrance gets the spotlight for so long, it hints at mass-appeal and a pedestrian construction, the exact opposite of what niche should be. And unfortunately for people like me, Epic Man lacks an exciting factor, as it suffers heavily of the aforementioned realities. But that doesn't make it a bad fragrance overall.

First and foremost, it's quite spicy. But spicy-fresh. There's an airy quality to it that gives the spices a volatile, light nuance despite there being quite a handful of different spices mixed together. Berry-like pepper, nutmeg warmth, culinary cumin, dried mace and somewhat hay-ish saffron... Like walking down the spice market, there's all sorts of facets here. The cardamom leans heavier on its refreshing, minty-cool accents which forms a great duet with the myrtle that introduces a herbal, somewhat eucalyptus-like clarity. Really, it's quite fresher than you'd expect. Not even the gentle veil of incense that subtly covers these spices manages to add a substantial heaviness, but certainly some depth with its soothing smokiness.

The myrrh here contributes with a bitter balsamic accord, hardly sweet, and somewhat rougher/woodier than in other iterations of myrrh. It earns my respect for not leaning on a sticky-sweet direction, though. Hence, it also manages to give a somewhat dirty, rough feel to the overall composition, but it's not enough to spark any more interest in me; by now, the fragrance has already largely lost me. The base arrives with a rather clean leather softness, accompanied by dry woodiness and sparkling musks. Not much oud to be detected in current batches, nor much castoreum apart from a heavier dosage on the musky side of things. However, there's a particular sparkling, mineralic quality that is present from the start and only seems to intensify with time. I'm hesitant to say it's (only) ambroxan, but it is very much a clear and rather loud synthetic stream. It's louder than what I'd expect in a composition like this, or in a niche fragrance for that matter, and that really ruins the anyways middling impression Epic Man was making on me.

Performance is also on the weaker side for an Amouage fragrance. Lasted about 8 hours on my skin, which is far from terrible, but far from the expected numbers from Amouage. Projection was equally moderate, pushing gently for the first two hours without ever feeling particularly strong. Unless you move around and let the sillage do its thing, pushing power alone will hardly make it to people's nostrils. It would close in as a skin scent around 4 hours in, take or leave.

Since the scent profile is so pedestrian and the performance is so "well-mannered", Epic Man makes for arguably one of the easiest Amouage fragrances to wear, and the most office-ready entry from the house. No one would ever suspect you are wearing a €300-ish niche fragrance when smelling Epic Man. It has no imposing qualities to come off as special or difficult, hence why it is so popular - it's very mass-appealing.

But see, that's exactly its biggest issue. Niche is not supposed to be this mass-appealing, and it's certainly isn't meant to be this synthetic, as even though it's not screechy synthetic or highly unbalanced as most designers, you can tell that Epic Man is not even trying to mask that up by at least attempting to feel more natural and composed. In essence, there's nothing 'epic' about Epic Man. Maybe it once was, before reformulations, but I cannot say for sure. In the end, this is what we get now, and what we get now does not warrant its high asking price. The masses will like it, the cash will keep flowing, but please, do not make the mistake of thinking that this is true niche perfumery. This is designer perfumery in disguise, and it is proof that nowadays, the terms "niche" and "designer" do not really have the same significance as they did. It doesn't matter if it's $100 or $500, designer or artisanal; only the juice matters. The label or price range doesn't mean crap anymore.

Overall Rating: 6/10

I LOVE this fragrance so much!

The pepper and incense seem to be the most dominant ingredients with the woods being the secondary elements. It's slightly sweet and slightly powdery as well.

Sillage and Longevity are tremendous and I can smell it on myself for many hours without becoming anosmic to it. Two or three sprays is all you need. Expect a minimum of 10-12 hours out of it.

Amouage seems to be hit or miss in their releases to me and while some may think Jubilation is their crowning achievement, in my opinion, Epic Man is their masterpiece.

The only drawback to Epic Man is the price. I realize that $290 for a 100ml does seem to be a bit crazy but on the plus side, it will take a very long time to use the bottle up.

Is it worth it? To me, it is. I've spent quite a bit of money on other things that I enjoyed far less. Would I rebuy? Without question, yes.

Epic Man will always have a welcome place in my collection.

Epic opens with slightly green notes, perhaps due to myrtle.

Quickly you can smell the notes of frankincense and pepper, that last for a long time.

Arise in the drydown, very harmonious, notes of oud, leather and musk, with a hint of incense.

The combination works very well, making this scent into something unique and truly epic.

Two sprays are sufficient for the whole day.

Artwork.

It's from Amouage, so it's undoubtedly wonderful stuff, with all the strength and longevity I enjoy in a perfume. But to be frank, it's simply not the way I want to smell, nor does it project the sort of personal image I believe I could pull off, nor want to pull off. Others have said that it's macho, and while that might not be quite the right term, I suspect "distinguished" fits the bill, and as a lighter-hearted older guy, I'm simply not interested in ever seeming this distinguished.

Perhaps the sort of thing to wear if you are an established politician stepping out of your Rolls Royce, but carrying with it the same sort of air of high-powered unapproachability that such mindfully-serious men often project. I find it terrifically conservative, and probably not worn by sort of man you might initially consider fun to pal around with.

But exactly the sort of thing to wear if you find yourself in a situation where that's the image you need to project, and probably the perfect stuff to wear if you should find yourself in the position of, say, needing to make an advantageous business deal with a bunch of stone-faced Soviets.

So not the greatest date frag, unless you happen to be into those sorts of women, that is.