Assam

An unpretentious piece of art, this 2022 Assam. Bright notes rinse like cool chalk through hot and dry, ambered woods. These light bits may be the aldehydes, I wouldn't be surprised by an added touch of galbanum. No bergamot for me, I get no top notes at all tbh. Stinky-funky Oud pushes the symmetry, only confirming the perfect balance. The scent is clearly animalic for an experienced nose, yet in an amazingly non disturbing way. Tea? Also not prominent, but probably somehow carefully connecting the dots, along with the slightly earthy aspects of patchouli, where others would have thrown in a heap of cashmeran and tonka beans. This is an individual wood scent no doubt, great work by Mark Sage.

A lovely one. There's amber sitting under there somewhere, and like many other offerings from Clandestine, I feel what has to be its sort of house character: something almost mineral, musky, mysterious, and (for lack of a better word) bright. Still, at the core here is definitely a woody oud, and I like what the oud is doing a lot. Performs great, wonderful winter scent for when you've perspired a bit under a sweater.

All around incredible fragrance. tea centric fragrances often miss the mark but this is the perfect intersection of tea, oud, and incense

Opens with a very smooth oud, but quickly develops a bizarre, plasticky scent that makes me gag. The dry-down and development of the scent remind me way too much of "Oud Noir" by Versace (which I do not like), but with some real oud in it. Excellent longevity and sillage, but not overpowering. Good alternative and price for a better quality version of Oud Noir.

Very nice leathery/saffrony fragrance with woods undertones. The top is promising, but I have to confirm other's opinions that the overall result seems to be a glorified Versace Oud Noir, with a bit less freshness. Somewhat (remotely) reminiscent of Epic Man as well). Not utterly unique then, but very wearable and easy to like. I find the drydown of Epic, that I own, to be more satisfying, to say it all, so no real point for me to eye a bottle, but might very well do the job for who looks for a simply-structured, woody/saffron fragrance for the office.