Manly Areej Le Doré 2021

On my skin, Manly opens with a boozy accord, similar to the one in Chinese Oud, but that doesn’t mean that it smells exactly the same. In Chinese Oud it was paired with orange and it lasted for a very short time, but here it leans more towards Rum with raisin like sweetness and it is paired with heavier notes. I also detect oakmoss absolute, now oakmoss usually forms a part of a fougere accord or a chypre accord and you usually need to wait until the late drydown to detect it in isolation, but here, it doesn’t feel like a part of an accord, just pure oakmoss with its green mossy slightly bitter nuances. I also detect a short lived Indian oud note from the opening, it is sweet resinous woody with hay-like nuances and is slightly barnyardy. In the heart the spices appear, at first I could only detect nutmeg and cinnamon, but after a few wearings I started detecting the beautiful realistic sweet spicy leathery saffron note, two or three wearings more and the heart became saffron heavy on me. The sandalwood is also present in the heart, it is very creamy, the same sandalwood that is present in Russian Musk II. The spices are further sweetened by the caramellic dry sweetness of tonka. The patchouli was very prominent on the first few wearings but now, it plays a secondary role in the heart, it has a dark sweet earthy dusty profile, without any herbal or mentholated nuances. The tobacco doesn’t appear until the second hour, it has a rich dry bitter cigarette-like profile that reminds me of the tobacco accord in some Amouage fragrances. The tobacco is combined with smoke (that reminds me of Interlude) and a non-animalic leather accord that feels like suede. I only detect the castoreum after 2 or 3 hours along with subtle vanillic sweetness. Now I don’t consider it as one of the best releases from the house. It is pleasant but doesn’t live up to the Areej le Dore standard IMO. The fragrance feels a bit familiar. Also, it lacks airiness; you are bombarded with all these heavy notes: Oakmoss, patchouli, leather, tobacco, booze, saffron, you name it! but nothing creates a contrast like a fresh aromatic note or a floral accord. The quality of ingredients is on par with any other Areej le Dore to my nose.