IAM: Imperial Asiatic Musk

I'm so happy I bought this. It wasn't what I expected but exactly what I wanted. Story time: I'm a huge fan of Geoffrey Beene's Grey Flannel. When I heard about Bowling Green, I delightedly bought a bottle and I loved it...till I put it on. My skin LOVES ebanol. It amps it to a ridiculous degree. It also put the aquatic notes on megaphone. I hate aquatics. Pulled the scent right out of shape, so instead of being a fresh green scent with woody undertones and a hint of aquatic, it became Godzilla synthetic sandalwood mates with fresh men's sport body products with a hint of green. I ended up giving it to my husband, who is the dermal equivalent of a supermodel. Everything wears on him as the manufacturer intended. It smells great on him. So when I received Imperial Asian Musk (IAM) and it smelled exactly like what I had hoped Bowling Green to be. A beautiful, manicured garden on a sunny morning, just after the sprinkler have finished. IAM adds a small grove of trees and rain instead of sprinklers. It is an excellent blend of crunchy, stemmy, greens and damp wood/forest, a little sandalwood, way, way down the back. Sadly I do not get any honey from this at all. I love the AKAF honey note. The longevity is excellent. Projection too. If you liked Oud Assam from AKAF, you should like this.

Love this musk attar reminds me of aventus but nicer if you like aventus for men this might be a good one to mix with

Prominent mint note in opening trailed by floral notes and musk. Next comes the rose and very softer amber notes. Musky sandalwood in the base

As this has recently been brought back by AKAF, and I acquired a bottle on a blind-buy, let me just be the first to review it here. This is pretty awesome. A lush, damp woody fragrance. A very noticeable mint note adds some freshness. I was a bit disappointed when a thin, synthetic smelling sandalwood came in (disappointed only because AKAF's Islamabad has an authentic sandal and is one of the best sandal frags on the market, period), but once the florals and agarwood blend everything, the perfume smooths out and becomes beautiful indeed. And as I was wearing it, I kept thinking "This reminds me of something," and I couldn't figure out what. And then it hit me: Diptyque Tam Dao. This is Tam Dao....but more complex and better, for 1/4 the price. I'm completely serious. Aside from the sandal note, the rest of the fragrance smells natural and well-blended. Wet, oily, alive, masculine...before turning austere and woody, with great longevity. Yet another winner from AKAF. I really don't know how he does it.

I was in confusion whether i should buy it now but had to pull the triigger reading the review below mine where it’s said one would love if he loves oud assam from the same house...just reading this line i said to myself man u have to go for it:)