Amouage: Planning My Trek Down the Silk Road

Image: JHP Design

During my sniffing trip last Summer in San Francisco, we made it into Jacqueline's Perfumery that features rare and vintage perfumes that is located down the street from Neiman Marcus. Even though I wasn't terribly impressed with the customer service I did get a whiff of Lyric by Amouage. It was a fleeting smell that stuck in my head and I kept wishing rather selfishly that she had shelled out the 260 bucks for the bottle.

The hesitation was understandable because we share the preference for pure parfums or extraits over edp or edt. If we are going to invest in perfumes, why not hold out for the best purity. Amouage seems to be an exception though. Often Heather and I would speak of Lyric in day-dreamy, unfinished sentences.

I would see 10 ml vial decants on Ebay for them and was wondering if I should really pay 60 bucks for 10ml. I broke down for Christmas and bought myself a vial only to find I accidentally ordered Epic. How did I do that. It was purely my fault as I saw a fragrance ending in "ic" and pushed the confirm button. This is filed under the heading, "Why Mommy Can't Read?"

When I received the decant I put a tiny, tiny droplet on the top of my hand and was amazed at the strength and longevity - not to mention the breathtaking beauty of Epic. Pepper, tea, spices do this intricate dance amongst the damask rose floral and it really does take you on this intoxicating journey down ancient silk road. It is a grand perfume that I will wear tomorrow night for New Years' Eve. This is not a work or perfume you go about your day with. I am not sure if it is a sexy perfume except in the context you imagine yourself captured as part of a harum on your journey along the silk road. It is more a special occasion scent or a scent to daydream to (or dream to). Epic is a commitment of most of your day. It is a statement perfume saying that you chose this occasion to wear the most precious and exotic ingredients expertly put together.

Since rose perfumes are great companions to culinary garlic in meals, it is a pairing I should try with this.

My memory of Lyric didn't jibe with its origins at a Perfumery stated by the Sultan of Oman using precious materials from the Middle East. Lyric seemed to me to be very French and western more so than Epic.

It's longevity may make the price a bit more tolerable -- a 100ml bottle is $300.00. For $59.00 you can have 10 ml from a seller on Ebay, Mudassir. He also has a direct store which he prefers we use and what a nice selection he has. It looks like I found a great source for fumes with him. He has kindly offered me a sample of Amouage Reflection (which is awesome because it seems it will be a nice addition for the coming spring) with today's order of Amouage Lyric. So I will be adding my reviews of all three Amouage fragrances soon. Now, if only I can manage to try Amouage's Attars...