Top Notes 
Coffee
Pine
Coriander
Juniper
Labdanum
Pink pepper
Lemon
Heart Notes 
Cedarwood
Cashmeran
Frankincense
Patchouli
Base Notes 
Cypriol
Gaiac wood
Musk
Vanilla08/15/2025
NicheOnly
90 Reviews
NicheOnly
Helpful Review
3
More mainstream product from Amouage
Another day, another Harrods exclusive. However, this time around I feel like the product isn't underwhelming, it's just a bit simple by Amouage standards.
Reception opens with a fairly intense spicy-sweet-resinous feel where, based on my notes without looking at the scent pyramid, I detect incense and/or labdanum opposed by cinnamon and/or cardamom. At first, the scent appears fairly strong, yet not particularly complex note/accord wise as the aforementioned notes essentially cover the whole experience with the aromatic notes listed, incl. the coriander and pine, having very short stints in the opening. Overall, it feels fairly simple & even linear with the accords initially reminding me of a scent like Xerjoff's Golden Dallah. The primary comparisons that I had for this in the opening were various cinnamon-clove combos (e.g. Clive Christian's E: Gourmande Oriental), yet this scent steers away from that resinous-spicy feel into a more mainstream territory in the heart.
And that territory is the one offered by scents like Eight & Bob's Agneta as well as Kilian's Intoxicated. That is to say the subsequent dry-down loses the resinous qualities and goes into a creamy-spicy-sweet-woody heart. At this point, it becomes fairly clear that there's no actual cinnamon or cardamom here, it is indeed coffee. That coffee is opposed by the oriental notes (incense and labdanum) as well as the notes giving Reception a creamy & woody feel, likely the cashmeran and gaiac wood.
I've actually gone through a full-wear on this, incl. outdoors in summer weather, and the performance is leaning below average after the initial blast. I am placing it around 6 hours of longevity as I am writing this review, but would say there's more potential on the downside than on the upside. Harrods has this scent listed at €450 which is the same price that other Essences fragrances (e.g. Outlands) are listed at, but given the competitors this scent has, €450 feels a bit rich.
Final accords: creamy-spicy-sweet-woody-resinous
Lastly, where does Reception product sit in Amouage's offering? Well, it certainly fits within the Essences collection where you have other more mainstream examples of Amouage products, esp. with scents like Lustre that also feels like an alternative to scents like Bois d'Ébène or even Gris Charnel Extrait. Furthermore, it's an example of Amouage's catalogue leaning in a safer direction under Renaud Salmon. For me, it's somewhere in the middle: the scent clearly lacks a wow factor, the originality isn't there, and overall there's very little depth here to allow me to appreciate it as an Amouage product.
It's definitely Amouage, but in a way, I guess it's also kinda not.
Reception opens with a fairly intense spicy-sweet-resinous feel where, based on my notes without looking at the scent pyramid, I detect incense and/or labdanum opposed by cinnamon and/or cardamom. At first, the scent appears fairly strong, yet not particularly complex note/accord wise as the aforementioned notes essentially cover the whole experience with the aromatic notes listed, incl. the coriander and pine, having very short stints in the opening. Overall, it feels fairly simple & even linear with the accords initially reminding me of a scent like Xerjoff's Golden Dallah. The primary comparisons that I had for this in the opening were various cinnamon-clove combos (e.g. Clive Christian's E: Gourmande Oriental), yet this scent steers away from that resinous-spicy feel into a more mainstream territory in the heart.
And that territory is the one offered by scents like Eight & Bob's Agneta as well as Kilian's Intoxicated. That is to say the subsequent dry-down loses the resinous qualities and goes into a creamy-spicy-sweet-woody heart. At this point, it becomes fairly clear that there's no actual cinnamon or cardamom here, it is indeed coffee. That coffee is opposed by the oriental notes (incense and labdanum) as well as the notes giving Reception a creamy & woody feel, likely the cashmeran and gaiac wood.
I've actually gone through a full-wear on this, incl. outdoors in summer weather, and the performance is leaning below average after the initial blast. I am placing it around 6 hours of longevity as I am writing this review, but would say there's more potential on the downside than on the upside. Harrods has this scent listed at €450 which is the same price that other Essences fragrances (e.g. Outlands) are listed at, but given the competitors this scent has, €450 feels a bit rich.
Final accords: creamy-spicy-sweet-woody-resinous
Lastly, where does Reception product sit in Amouage's offering? Well, it certainly fits within the Essences collection where you have other more mainstream examples of Amouage products, esp. with scents like Lustre that also feels like an alternative to scents like Bois d'Ébène or even Gris Charnel Extrait. Furthermore, it's an example of Amouage's catalogue leaning in a safer direction under Renaud Salmon. For me, it's somewhere in the middle: the scent clearly lacks a wow factor, the originality isn't there, and overall there's very little depth here to allow me to appreciate it as an Amouage product.
It's definitely Amouage, but in a way, I guess it's also kinda not.
NicheOnly
