Black Opal Gissah / قصة 2020

I have been eyeing this for a couple of years since I purchased Modern Heritage by Gissah, but I just got around to buying it now. Part of the reason is there are so few reviews of the brand, not to mention most of them are middle of the road. That said, the bottle, not the notes, drew me in, though I had some idea of what it might smell like.

Black Opal opens with a blast of saffron. Actually, my bottle begins with an explosion of fragrance unlike any I've seen before. It comes screaming out of the bottle like a firehose. I'm unsure if it's just something from the pressure change during shipping, but I don't quite like it because it's so concentrated in one area. The saffron, thankfully, isn't hardcore like in Arabian Oud's Resala, which can be a bit of a turn-off if sprayed too close to the skin (better to do it from a distance.)

The saffron is joined by caramel and incense, and the combination in the early stages, which lasts a good while, gives it a smokey appeal. The caramel isn't too sweet; it almost has a burnt characteristic, not quite like caramel corn, but something of the effect. The Frankincense is well-blended and isn't intrusive, giving it an Eastern feel.

Ambergris is listed here, which gives a bit of a salted caramel vibe, and the scent becomes a bit woodier over time. However, to my nose, it's rather indistinctive and not cedar-like though there is a phase mixed with the caramel where the two seem to be in harmony where a cedar-like quality is perceived. The vanilla is also noticeable, though more so after several hours when the scent dries down to a lighter caramel-vanilla scent.

Although this is unisex, I find it leans masculine and wears a little heavier, making it better suited for fall and winter. I'm not blown away with it as I was with Modern Heritage, but it's a cozy gourmand that isn't typically my favorite. The quality is there, and I look forward to wearing it more come fall. A side note: my purchase came in the newer-styled boxes, which feel like a slight step down from the originals, though they do retain nearly the same dimensions and magnetic closure.

EDIT: It's been cooler here recently, so I've been wearing this, and I have to say, it's addictive. It's definitely a cooler/colder weather scent, and it smells and feels like it could very well be a phase of Amouage's Royal Tobacco. No, there's no tobacco here, but if you've experienced that scent, this has a similar vibe to a phase of that fragrance.