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Opus XV - King Blue 2023

7.7 / 10 287 Ratings
A popular perfume by Amouage for women and men, released in 2023. The scent is woody-oriental. Projection and longevity are above-average. It is being marketed by Sabco Group / Oman Perfumery.
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Main accords

Woody
Oriental
Leathery
Animal
Smoky

Fragrance Pyramid

Top Notes Top Notes
BlackcurrantBlackcurrant Mandarin orangeMandarin orange Pink pepperPink pepper
Heart Notes Heart Notes
AmberAmber FrankincenseFrankincense
Base Notes Base Notes
Assam oudAssam oud LeatherLeather Oak woodOak wood PatchouliPatchouli SandalwoodSandalwood

Perfumers

Videos
Ratings
Scent
7.7287 Ratings
Longevity
8.9262 Ratings
Sillage
8.4261 Ratings
Bottle
8.8258 Ratings
Value for money
6.4216 Ratings
Submitted by Omrfrq, last update on 11/25/2025.
Interesting Facts
The fragrance is part of the The Library Collection collection.

Smells similar

What the fragrance is similar to
Opus XIII - Silver Oud by Amouage
Opus XIII - Silver Oud
Bittersweet Oud by Loewe
Bittersweet Oud
Kingmaker - Master Of Oud by Chris Collins
Kingmaker - Master Of Oud
Mana by Nishane
Mana
Rausch by J.F. Schwarzlose Berlin
Rausch
Fuel0987 by Perfume.Sucks
Fuel0987

Reviews

30 in-depth fragrance descriptions
Merlotsupern

99 Reviews
Merlotsupern
Merlotsupern
Top Review 10  
King Blue, King of Paradox
Crafted in 2023 by Hamid Merati-Kashani (Mr. Layton) and Alexis Grugeon (Mr. Flaming Lemons), King Blue is a surrealist fragrance that thrives on contradiction. It opens with a fresh burst of citrus (mandarin and blackcurrant laced with pink pepper) radiating brightness. But this lightness is fleeting. Almost immediately, a barnyard-tinged oud and smoky resins pull the composition into shadow, creating a tension that will define the scentsperience.

This is where King Blue becomes truly interesting: it is both bold and restrained, abstract yet grounded. The heart reveals a smoky blend of frankincense and amber, while the base unfolds into a textured landscape of Assam oud, sandalwood, oakwood, and patchouli. A leather note emerges not as a dominant force, but as a bonding factor. It gives me the idea of worn suede, with a rubbery, rooibos-like (a.k.a. tea) nuance.

After the 4-hour mark, the dry down reveals an ashy, more refined leather that lingers close to the skin, offering an intimate presence which will last for the rest of the day.

Despite its potent ingredients, King Blue defies the weight typically associated with oud fragrances. It wears surprisingly well in heat, and - in my opinion - its abstract heart renders it genuinely unisex.
This is not a typical oud bomb, nor a traditional leather-based scent. It’s a fragrance of dualities: fresh yet animalic, loud (in the first hour) yet wearable, ideally masculine yet fluid. King Blue is an outstanding olfactory paradox, where disparate elements converge into a composition that is abstract, powerful, and unexpectedly versatile.

PS: if it is the first time that you are trying King Blue, avoid smelling it close immediately after you sprayed it - especially if you are not used to oud in general. Let it sit for a while and smell it in the air.
On hotter days, I usually spray it on skin only just below my lower chest... It works like a charm.
7 Comments
CivetOnly

35 Reviews
CivetOnly
CivetOnly
Very helpful Review 9  
Dirty fruitiness
While King Blue boasts a barnyardy aspect and certainly wasn't created for people who aren't familiar with Indian oud, it's a surprisingly fresh perfume. Yes, it still develops into a dry scent, but it avoids the pitfall of amber-ouds: powderiness.

Even with Assam oud and a 35% oil concentration, projection is good, without any cheesiness. Alexis Grugeon and Hamid Merati-Kashani used a clever combination of bittersweet mandarin, rosy pink pepper and dirty blackcurrant.

Animalic tinge is noticeable during the first hour, but only on skin. In the air, it comes off as a fruity perfume with a Middle Eastern twist. The interplay between forest fruit and Assam oud has a fermented quality to it, reminiscent of slightly overripe fruit, or fruit that fell down from the trees and should be thrown into a compost.

Eventually, earthy and smoky woodiness of Assam and oak intertwines with a warm and dry amber accord. However, the lingering, still somehow juicy fruitiness prevents it from turning into the usual dustiness of your average amber-oud.

Furthermore, once leather and sandalwood start working their magic, they offer a smooth, almost velvety contrast. Add chocolaty patchouli to the mix and you're in for a long-lasting drydown (10+ hours) which feels like a textbook Amouage.

King Blue is an amber-oud with a mild animalic edge that's balanced by fruitiness. Definitely sample it first if you don't have much experience with Indian oud. If you're familiar with the ranch life and/or dated a horse girl, you might quickly fall in love with this fragrance.
8 Comments
Omnipotato

412 Reviews
Omnipotato
Omnipotato
Helpful Review 7  
A Leather Oud for Kings!
The press statements for King Blue are pervaded with language of contradictions - the real and the unreal, the impossible and the mundane, fire and nightshade. The main oxymoron present in this fragrance is the meeting of sweet fruits and amber, and smoky leathery oud.

On first spray, you get a whiff of the mandarin and blackcurrant. However, these are not juicy photorealistic fruits but rather bitter and dark representations. A little later, the saffron-y amber emerges and adds a bit of sweetness, but not a vanillic creaminess, more like the sharp burnt cotton candy vibe of Baccarat Rouge 540 Eau de Parfum.

Then the real star of the show appears: a smoky and leathery oud that in my head seems like a combination of Epic Man and Opus XIII - Silver Oud. Many have already compared King Blue to Silver Oud and there is definitely significant overlap in the oud accord in both. However, King Blue adds so many more dimensions. Another fragrance that is similar is Haltane which has a similar saffron note that gives the BR540 impression. However, the oud in King Blue is of a much higher quality.

Overall, I think this latest addition to the Library Collection is a worthy successor to Silver Oud, and I can see it becoming one of my favorite oud scents of all time. The oud is toned down enough by the other accords to not be in-your-face and heavily animalic, but it is also not the clearly synthetic ouds used in Haltane, "Oud for Greatness | Initio", Oud Wood Eau de Parfum, etc. One of my new favorites from the house of Amouage.

EDIT 8/23/23: Each time I put this on I'm getting another dimension of this fragrance. The first time, which is when I wrote this review, I mostly only got the leather and oud from the start and the fruitiness was not that apparent. The next time, I got more of the mandarin orange. When I put it on today, I got juicy, almost bubblegum-y blackcurrant! Which dried down into the wonderful smoky oud that is of course the star of the show. I am loving this fragrance more and more with each wear. Possibly one of my favorites of all time now.
0 Comments
Majid114

128 Reviews
Majid114
Majid114
Very helpful Review 4  
KING BLUE


Opus XV - King Blue from the Arab House of Haute Luxury Niche Perfumery Amouage of the Sultanate of Oman is the latest member of the new Library Collection.
It is an Eau De Parfum that with its 35% Concentration of Essential Oils to Amouage well it could have classified as a Parfum or Extrait. King Blue is a 'Oud Amber Fruity Woody Shareable' Perfume. This is a new fragrance that was launched in mid-2023. The noses behind this fragrance are Hamid Merati-Kashani and Alexis Grugeon.

Opens slightly fruity fermented bubbling, sweet citrus, spicy spice and already with a 'Oud of 'Assam here minimally animalic/ faded woody barn of great provenance (by Ajmal) giving the faces, already adding-It is a harmony with the also excellent incense and amber that bring the traditional signature of Amouage.
A super woody and leathery base is my favorite part with precious sandalwood woods adding creaminess that counterstain with a more woody oak and a soft leather without roughness seal this fragrance. I confess that I had a low expectation regarding this perfume, it was an excellent surprise!

A Great Perfume, Delicious, Addictive! Ingredients of very high quality as usual in this series. But as the youngest of the collection, the Opus XV King Blue is more shy, more restrained compared to its predecessors Opus XIII Silver Oud and Opus XIV Royal Tobacco.
For those looking for something a little lighter and soft than their older brothers maybe is a great option of a smoky dark perfume a bit more wearable/ versatile. I still prefer the previous two!
But King Blue has a fermented start invigorating and an excellent woody dry down, passionate!

Why Blue? Does it have any nuance that refers to blue?
In a few brief moments and with more attention [with more uses] you can notice some breath of freshness that refers very briefly to something marine, has some flashes that it is possible to remember some traces of Layton and the smokier Aventus or even to try to better illustrate a 'Bleu De Chanel Arab'. As said earlier, it is more airy than its predecessors in the Library Collection.
But in fact Opus XV-King Blue is a Perfume Dark Woody Fruity Oily Smoky!

1 Comment
Smirky

483 Reviews
Smirky
Smirky
Helpful Review 5  
King Blue - magnificent oud fragrance
King Blue is liquid gold - very, very good. Opening is oud-y and challenging, although in my case I did not get fecal, manure pile or barnyard. King Blue opened with a very strong cheesy odor and you can throw in some stinky feet too lol. The challenging phase for me only lasted about 5 minutes which was a surprise. (Or maybe I'm just getting used to these challenging openings lol). Then a smooth, very ripe/fruity accord appeared over the oud base. As the life of King Blue progressed (in terms of hours) the ripe fruity accord diminished as did the oud and it became a more smooth creamy sandalwood/woody fragrance. (By "sandalwood" I don't mean a pickle scent.) In comparison, especially with the woody accord, King Blue is smooth and creamy while Silver Oud is sharper and has more of an edge.

Performance is phenomenal. Longevity is over 12 hours on skin. I noticed that even at the 10 and 12 hour marks I picked up whiffs without having to move around. However, the next morning it was gone from my skin. But it came back strong when I put on yesterday's t-shirt for my morning cardio. I hadn't sprayed my t-shirt but King Blue absorbed into the shirt. King Blue is quite oily and leaves a sheen on the skin. Sillage and projection are quite strong.

King Blue is a very masculine fragrance. To market this as unisex is ridiculous. If you're new to oud or have only experienced "oud" via something like Gucci Intense Oud, be careful. This is the real thing and at a 35% concentration. That explains the price which I still rated as OK because of the ingredients. King Blue is not for the bubblegum boys or cotton candy callants.

I'm gonna have to look where I can get the best price now with the holiday sales going on. I need this juice. It's addictive!
2 Comments
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Statements

83 short views on the fragrance
4
2
A stormy start: stable-like oud, scorched leather, fermented dark berries and thick incense. Creamy sandalwood and amber soften the scent.
2 Comments
4
Assam oud in its animalic glory with nuances of forest fruit and amber. Barnyardy for 1-2 hours, dries down to smooth sandalwood & leather.
0 Comments
4
Very nice oud combined with a touch fruitiness. To me, it’s not as fecal or animalic as some people say.
0 Comments
2 years ago
3
Not at all similar to “Bacarat Rouge 540”….I will say, this is very similar to “Silver Oud” from Amouge. OUD IS HEAVY here.
0 Comments
3
Peppery soft juicy top sitting on a soft oudy ambery woody base. Not dirty nor animalic though pleasing.
0 Comments
3
Addictive barnyard opening knocks you out. You come to greeted by beautiful oriental, fruity sweetness, smoky, creamy woods and resins.
0 Comments
2
An approachable yet complex oud and frankincense combo, intoxicating, rounded. Balancing cooling twist with juicy sparkling dark fruit.
0 Comments
2
fecal fecal fecal oud, smells like a cowshed
0 Comments
2
My previous statement was removed, so i will write it again in a kinder manner. It smells like stuff you leave behind after a morning coffee
0 Comments
2
2
Animalic, sweet, oud, great scent.
2 Comments
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