Antique Oak

Smelling ATO from the atomizer was a jarring experience for me. It smelled of dry, bitter, slightly rotten wood and old leather car seats. However, on skin it blossomed into a gorgeous masculine dark woody fragrance. A smooth dark wood and leather accentuated with a subtle almost muted syrupy sappy sweetness. It’s not sexy or alluring nor is it overly aggressive or mature. It’s a scent of pure class and masculine sophistication. For a stylish gentleman who doesn’t look for or need any attention but gets it everywhere he goes. He’s not trying to impress anyone but is still quite impressive. For the guy who won’t sweep you off you feet with grand gestures of romance and passion but the guy who remembers little things about you and tends to his woman in practical consistent ways. This fragrance smells like a great husband and father figure. Women of a certain pedigree will love and appreciate this fragrance. Definitely not blind buy worthy but if you’re a guy the fits the bill of the aforementioned, you’re going to need this in your collection. This is a fragrance of true personal expression, not the mass appeal mass produced copy and paste fragrances they’re pushing on us these days.

#1023 in my "Tour de Fragrance" I really don't get Jomashop selling this as a "ladies" scent. As a woody leather it's definitely more masculine than unisex. Just yesterday I reviewed Armani Cuir Noir, which is quite similar to this but about $100 more, and I'd choose this over the Armani even the prices were equal. What sets this apart from the Tom Ford "Ebene Fume" others are smelling are the papyrus and cade oil notes which hold on all day. What sets apart Tom Ford "Ebene Fume" from this are the palo santo and incense notes. I shower every morning with Cremo Palo Santo shower gel. I think it's the god of all notes in a man's fragrance and I'm addicted to a churchy incense note, so I slightly prefer the Ebene Fume to this, but not by much, as everything about this scent works for me, and it's different enough from what I already own that I'm in for a bottle. For me this is more date wear than business wear, but used modestly you can get away with this in a business environment. Strong sillage. All day longevity. And it's not a crazy price for this quality.

What does this smell like? Depends on who you are. For me this smells like a nice dense hard wood, it's deep rich, mysterious but the distinctive smell of hardwoods is the driver for me. If you've been in a wood shop where hard woods are being worked on, this could be very familiar for you. What does my wife smell? Maple Syrup. Yep, that's it until hours in and she picks up some leather too. So what you smell depends totally on who you are and there may be other profiles that people smell as well.. Currently there is a reliable source for this on Ebay, but outside of that I've struggled to find it and pricing is high. This skyrocketed to my top five fragrances because I love smelling like hardwood and my wife loves me smelling like Maple Syrup. For some this may seem like a cool weather or nighttime scent, I think it works year round, personally. Don't blind buy this, but definitely try it if you get a chance, just be prepared for high price tags to get bottles of it. The oud in this is very pleasant and not fecal or rotten to our noses.

It smells like smoky woods with a touch of leather and oud, I guess. I blindly bought a 150ml bottle (10%) and realized that it was too serious, dark, mysterious and formal for my taste and unfortunately it can only be worn during the colder weather. It is nowhere close to vanilla-dominating Raghba, which I had a bottle of back in the days. I cannot compare it to anything in my collection that is how unique it smells. Scent: 8/10 Longevity: 8/10 Projection: 8/10

Magical, mystical, unique (although I think the DNA is similar to Baccarat Rouge 540) However, I am not surprised, as the designer is the same. A wonderful fragrance! 10/10