Portrayal Man Amouage 2019

Anyone who appreciates the simultaneously herb-floral and green-grassy violet leaf will be well served by ‘Portrayal Man’. It is absolutely at the center of the fragrance. Vetiver enhances the fresh and green aspects, while juniper adds a dry spiciness, and woody as well as leathery nuances define the base of ‘Portrayal Man’.

The scent is a reminiscence of similarly violet leaf-centered fragrances like Geoffrey Beene’s ‘Grey Flannel’ (minus the radiant freshness), Dior’s ‘Fahrenheit’ (minus the petrol note), and Guerlain’s unfortunately discontinued ‘Arsène Lupin’ (minus Guerlinade), although it does not reach their character strength and refinement.
‘Portrayal Man’ is indeed a rather linear fragrance that does not develop significantly over time.

Christopher Chong states that the fragrance can be read as an olfactory portrait of the 1920s, inspired by a time of dramatic social change and the people who rebelled against the cultural constraints of their time. The scent is a study of the birth of a new era and the freedoms that came with it.
Well, I would say: typical marketing jargon that finds no correspondence in the fragrance.
For something rebellious or revolutionary, ‘Portrayal Man’ really does not convey that; rather, it gives off something static, stiff - no ‘roaring twenties’, more like English tea-time Biedermeier.

When I think of Mr. Chong’s words, fragrances like Piguet’s ‘Bandit’, Molinard’s ‘Habanita’, or even Chanel’s ‘Bois des Îles’ or ‘Cuir de Russie’ come to mind - fragrances that reflect hedonism and rebellion against traditional gender roles more than this new scent from Amouage. Although it cannot be denied that it has a certain dandy quality: the scent of violet, or rather violet leaf, is also well suited for that: floral-elegant, fresh and green, yet not sweet or indolic at all. Oscar Wilde or Marcel Proust might be the fitting wearers for a violet soliflore, but they were typical turn-of-the-century figures and not representatives of the twenties.

But never mind.

Despite the convoluted connection, ‘Portrayal Man’ is not bad at all. But it is hardly more than that. It is neither modern, nor innovative, and moreover, it has little refinement. It does not surprise with bold contrasts and is completely devoid of inner tension - in short, somewhat of a bore, albeit a pleasantly smelling one. That’s something...
I could have imagined such a fragrance more in the catalog of Penhaligon’s than in that of Amouage. Meanwhile, I still mentally linger on the old Amouage fragrances of oriental opulence: ‘Gold’, ‘Dia’, and ‘Jubilation’. But even the house’s latest creations, ‘Imitation’, ‘Figment’, or ‘Bracken’, had no connection to the original scent DNA at all.
Regardless, the house of Amouage is broadening its scope, wanting to be worn equally worldwide and to be a synonym for fragrant luxury globally. And luxury does not always have to come across as glamorous or even flashy. No, it can also be more understated, with British understatement, so to speak, with ‘Portrayal Man’, for example.

Longevity and projection (I consciously avoid the word ‘sillage’ because it always reminds me of silage: stinking fermented feed in agriculture) are absolutely impeccable, typical of Amouage.

Conclusion: I would have liked ‘Portrayal Man’ to be a bit more exciting, bolder, and more glamorous, in line with the ‘dance on the volcano’ of the twenties. Here, however, there is stiff, somewhat old-fashioned neatness.

Quite nice, but nothing more.