Opus V – Woods Symphony

Here is my overly long relationship with amouage’s woods symphony if anyone’s interested: I bought woods symphony 6 months ago without ever smelling it. The notes looked promising, I love Amouage as a house. And the price I got it at was pretty unbeatable. When I first tested the perfume, I had no idea what to make of it. It was so dry and buttery, the orris was the dominant note and it wasn’t even close. The rose and jasmine didn’t come out much until a couple hours in, and the oud/animalic notes were very very light and barely detectable. It lasted a decent time, but was very weak and sat close to the skin. I enjoyed it, but it did not do anything for me. It seemed okay, like it was missing something. It just wasn’t interesting. It was, however, gorgeously blended of course. I wore it about 4 times, and I did begin to enjoy the perfume, but it just wasn’t pulling me in like so many of the other amouage’s did. I ended up selling my bottle at a pretty low price (around $130) , and I don’t know whether I regret that decision or not. Seeing any amouage go is hard for me, because they’re so beautiful crafted and so well made. Anyways, I’ve been without the bottle for about 4 months now, and I pretty much forgot about the perfume until a couple days ago. I was in a Neiman Marcus (I don’t have any major stores where I live, so this was like being a kid in a candy shop for me) and as I was testing a lot of amouage’s that I hadn’t been able to test in the past, I came across woods symphony-my old friend. I smelled it, just from the cap (I wanted open spots to test new perfumes) and it brought back so many memories. That dry parchment-like orris and rum, those light but slightly sweet florals and that barely noticeable animalic base all pulled me into memory lane. To be honest; I miss woods symphony. I enjoyed it, and it was fun to have, but I don’t regret selling it. In fact, It’s my least favorite amouage in the library collection which is saying a lot because that’s my favorite collection in all of perfumery that I’ve gotten to try (haven’t tried timber yet though, that has some mixed reviews). Woods symphony is good, but it’s short from being great. It lacks that uniqueness, and most importantly the performance that Amouage had perfected, and for that reason, unless millions of dollars fall from the sky into my pockets, woods symphony will sit as a memory rather than a bottle on my shelf.

One of the dislikes below me mention "watery facet" This put a smile on my face and prompted me to finally write a musing on this scent I own this fragrance for a year and I still am reserved in really expressing how impressive this is. Now this is a good example of even how someone with different taste and nose distinguishes this magical watery feel that perfumer JCB has. (look up his other work outside LV) No other Amouage I have has this feeling. Picture this: A juxtaposition of a floral-powdery-pollen feeling and watery essence that travels through it. Many people get hung up on "woods" for me the word "symphony" is where the emphasis should be. Where a combination of different tempo and timbre, silence and sound create this ephemeral quality to existence. I have mused on this name, almost like a koan before you spray this on. For now, I would say regarding the perfume brief: technology and how information travels is exactly this...... This moment happening here; Some person typing on their keyboard, going nowhere. Yet some other person elsewhere sitting down reading, getting inspired or maybe upset by some glyphs on a screen. How ephemeral/fleeting and yet whimsical is this encounter? So, as the website blurb states: Opus V is a floral and woody fragrance inspired by the classical and modern methods of disseminating knowledge. Maybe we don't see classical ways like books or the woods because we are too focused on the screen or the florals. Or maybe I am among the chosen few that can smell the symphony between these elements. Anyway, this scent is haunting, textured and unique. I get weak in the knees every time I sniff the atomizer. Opus scents are meant to be special, So if you are reading this hoping to "quickly" get an idea of what this smells like, sorry I won't spoil that surprise. However, If you are still interested in trying this, get a sample. If you (like me) love iris, just get the bottle if you can afford it. Remember, Opus scents (Chong era) are not meant to be a daily driver or easy to digest. They even stand separate to the main line, because they are special and different. If you want easy-like-on-first-sniff fragrance, look somewhere else. PS: After hunting down an Opus X bottle. I think it's funny that opus V survived the discontinuation...so maybe it is a mainstream-easy-to-like fragrance??

This is honestly waaay more on the feminine side of Amouage's "men's" fragrances. Upon first spray, the Orris/Iris has that granny/mom floral Sunday-church vibe with Jasmine and Rose acting as carriers of the Orris/Iris. The Rum is wrapped around all of the florals with VERY little wood in sight. The oud is hidden and nonexistent to my nose, almost as if they barely used any wood in their ingredients. The drydown becomes a more unisex fragrance with the sharp florals toned down to a boozy sharp Orris, making it an easy fragrance to pull off in a white tee or casual wear on an outing to a golf course, church, beach-side breakfast, or a nice hike. I was genuinely thrown off the first week of owning it but the more time I spent with it, I began to fall in love (a common thing with Amouage fragrances). If a woman would be wearing this, it would be a 10/10 no doubt; but for a man...a 9/10. It's beautiful and full bottle-worthy if you're a collector but if you're not into unisex fragrances and want a more masculine scent, this isn't for you. There's a lot to love about this one, just let it dry down because that initial blast smells like a woman's fragrance. Scent: 9 oofs (more than likely a 10-oof rating over time just because I end up calling all of my Amouage's masterpieces after a couple of wearings) -The dry down is beautiful, bright, sensual, and comforting. Gorgeous, I tell you! *chefs kiss* Longevity: 7 oofs -I was able to detect it for 5 hours on my skin and way longer on clothes. Sillage: 7 oofs -It doesn't radiate like other Amouage's but for the low price of $149 that I paid I think it's 100% worth the money.

Very dry and woody orris opening with a touch of rum. Feels like you’re an old and abandoned basement but it’s cozy at the same time. Dry down loses the rum, mellows down the orris, and brings in an equally dry woody note that almost leaves you gasping for air (almost a similar feeling to how it’s harder to breathe in humid weather, but this isn’t a bad thing for this fragrance). A gorgeous and very very soft rose and jasmine begin to contrast the dry woodiness and orris root, and bring an extremely smooth and gorgeous sweetness to perfectly balance the fragrance out. There is something in here that reminds me of a note in Versace Eros for women, and I’m suspecting the jasmine note, although they are extremely different fragrances. This fragrance also has a very light touch of animalics, but it’s not an immediate “stank face” reaction, it’s an added depth to the fragrance to keep it from being too one dimensional. Anyways, this fragrance isn’t for everyone. In fact, it’s not for most people, but it is for me (although it took me about 4 months to fully appreciate and understand this fragrance). If I had no idea what the notes were in here, and I was listing accords that I smelled, I would list it as such: Orris, Woody notes, light floral, animalic. That is really all that is in this beautiful creation. Woods symphony is a quiet but bold beast in the way that it lasts 8-10 hours on skin but projects very softly. And that’s what makes this fragrance so special. It’s not going to attack you, but it will allure you if you get close enough to people around you. Sample before you buy, 8.9/10.

Opus V – Woods Symphony Amouage (A37655H096 batch) Credit to Jacques Cavallier the LV perfumer and creator of many of our lovely classics. Woods Symphony is a very wearable and is suitable for the iris/orris lovers. It opens with prominent orris that is not as powdery as some other iris prominent frags, the rum and booziness is kinda light weight I feel despite others saying it's strong. I definitely get the rose more than jasmine but the rose doesn't last long enough before it gets overwhelmed by the muskiness which on my skin it starts to dominate and this has to come from the civet. The amber is there too. There is no musk and amber listed as notes so it has to come from the civet note. The civet note really starts to dominate after about an hour and a half probably 90mins in with the orris still hanging around in the background. This happens about 90 minutes after my sprays and I think I prefer the opening hour or so before the drydown amber muskiness starts to stay primarily there. The oud and dry wood seems to be an undertone under the civet on my skin. This polarizing change is rather obvious for me as I did overspray. Judging from the strength of the juice on my skin, for now I think it's gonna last at least 8 hours. It isn't a big projector but has the longetivity. This said I think everyone should test it at the stores or get a decant first because I don't think it is blind buy safe unless you adores frags that are seemingly a hybrid of rose-orris muskiness with woodiness. I'll probably need to give this another wear or two before I decide if I want to keep it.