Opus XV - King Blue Amouage 2023

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!