Opus XV - King Blue by Amouage

Opus XV - King Blue 2023

CivetOnly
12/11/2024 - 01:00 AM
8
Very helpful Review
6
Pricing
10
Bottle
7
Sillage
9
Longevity
10
Scent

Dirty fruitiness

While King Blue boasts a stern barnyardy aspect and certainly wasn't created for users who aren't familiar with Indian oud, it's a surprisingly fresh blend. Yes, it still develops into a dry scent profile, but manages to avoid the pitfall of amber-ouds: powderiness.

Somehow, even with Assam oud and a high, 35% oil concentration, it doesn't smell cheesy and projects well. Alexis Grugeon and Hamid Merati-Kashani used a clever combination of bittersweet mandarin, rosy pink pepper and dirty blackcurrant.

A barnyardy tinge is noticeable during the initial 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 certain fermented quality to it, reminiscent of overripe fruit, or fruit that fell from the trees and should be thrown into a compost.

Eventually, the earthy, smoky woodiness of Assam and oak wood intertwines with a warm, but rather dry amber accord. However, the lingering, somewhat 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 and smells like a textbook Amouage.

King Blue is an amber-oud with an animalic edge, balanced by a dirty fruitiness. Definitely sample it first if you don't have enough experience with Indian oud. If you're familiar with the ranch life and/or ever dated a horse girl, you might fall in love with this juice.
8 Comments
EzroniEzroni 3 months ago
1
Beautifully written! I'm finding aspects of this fragrance that I didn't even realize existed until I read them, the forest fruit aspect for example. Makes me want to spray it again!
CivetOnlyCivetOnly 3 months ago
@Ezroni I feel you, as you know my KB bottle was a looong time coming!
And yes, I've found it to be surprisingly "mass-appealing" as well, it's not edgy enough to be off-putting. The blackcurrant does its thing.
EzroniEzroni 3 months ago
1
@Wusubi It's got the right amount of funk to not turn me away. Even a coworker who at first hated it came around when I wore it on Thursday šŸ˜‚šŸ‘. Sadly a full bottle will have to wait for a while!!
CivetOnlyCivetOnly 3 months ago
1
@Ezroni Hahaha, working as intended then, thank you sir.
Oh jeez, would you look at the time, it's King-o'clock!
kitteakittea 5 months ago
1
This really sounds fantastic. I agree with Ceesie that you make it sound blind-buy worthy, even though I am sure it's a sample first sort of thing.
CeesieCeesie 10 months ago
1
Wow the enthusiasm drips from this review. I’d almost blind buy it. But I better get used to Oud some more first.
SmirkySmirky 10 months ago
1
Yeah great review. About the same experience as me. Amouage has two real winners with King Blue and Silver Oud - different but complimentary fragrances in the Library Collection.
@Ceesie the problem with progressing in your experience with oud fragrances is that you soon discover how deficient the fake oud scents are. But, that's what credit cards are for, right? hahahaha
CivetOnlyCivetOnly 10 months ago
Thank you! It's definitely an acquired taste, but I'd say the fact that you enjoy Haltane is a great starting point. I consider Haltane to be one of the edgier "fake ouds."