Amouage Bracken Man EDP 100ml

So what can Amouage give us in a fougère, that would make it stand out and justify the usual big bucks price tag? At first, it seems, the answer to that question is ‘very little’. A bracing, singing high note of lavender backed by polite lemony citrus establishes the ‘just showered’ feel of the genre, after which it is time for the starched shirt and the business day. Discreet, fragrant coniferous woods and shimmery, refined spices provide a deepening of Bracken’s abiding freshness and give it a more serious, ‘get to work’ demeanour. Down at the bottom there is a grounding scent reminiscent of damp earth with leaf and wood mulch that makes this a bit less boardroom overall and gives the parfumista a little something different to the usual refined barbershop offering that we’ve seen dozens of times before.
There’s a cool-warm theme to this creation what with the spicing balanced against the trad fougère elements, making it a good choice on a lethargic winter day when one is having trouble getting going. And its sillage is expansive and suave, all swept back hair and trimmed fingernails, broadcasting ‘gent’ in olfactory morse. All of which is all very well, but this is still over-mined territory and as I tend to find most fougères a bit of a yawn, not for me.