Fortis

This is one I needed to come back to and let develop on my skin. The initial test on strip was absolutely nothing representative of how it behaves on me. On strip, the initial spray was all about deep, near skanky oud and smoke. Nothing else. It kind of broke my nose, honestly. I liked it but I was kind of left indifferent, it didn't "wow" me. On skin, this is a completely different beast. The first time I tested it, it was humid out and that was a mistake. It pushed out like crazy, choking everyone out in harsh incense and wood smoke. It was overwhelming. I told myself this wasn't for me. I gave it a second chance on an unexpectedly cold rainy day and I that's when I had an epiphany. Yes, it's smoky. The opening oud note is slightly harsh, a bit like PDM's Haltane but to my surprise, it quickly faded and I was left with a deep, deep conifer smoke note (cypriol) with incense smoke and... vanilla? Sure enough, an hour two in, it became vanillic. Not overly sweet vanilla, just a grounding, almost sexy, very pleasant resinous smoky vanilla (guessing vetiver played into this as well). I was loving it. Later on in the drydown, it turned a bit ashier with sandalwood coming in gaining that trademark powdery quality sandalwood is known for. In total, I got about 7-8 hours wear time, which is good for LLI although it stuck close to skin after 2-3 hours, like many of the house's fragrances. So yes, to put it briefly: oudy cypress smoke then burning cypress, incense and vanilla and later on sandalwood. This is one I feel I will enjoy for meditation sessions. It's almost transcendental. It invites renewal. I'm not familiar with Black Afgano but I need to this change since if this is "Black Afgano" lite like I've seen it described as, I might enjoy that a lot as well.

Sampling Liquides Imaginaires Fortis, originally released in 2011, a dark, smoky, resinous, woody blend, with featured notes of oud, cumin, cypriol, saffron, mixed woods, vetiver, and musk, yielding a bit of a dark, funky, cannabis-adjacent concoction that, while reasonably intense, is not overbearing, though I imagine it would prove challenging for some that prefer only lighter/fresher woody/spicy scents. Despite its boldness, it’s smooth despite being a little sharp and heady. Its similarities to Nasomatto Black Afgano, which was launched two years prior, are palpable to me, with the main difference being that Black Afgano has more of a cannabis vibe than Fortis, though both are similarly smoky/ashy, resinous, dark, spicy, sharp, and somewhat funky. Concentration is EDP and official retail points of sale in the US include great boutiques like Perfumology, in which the pricing is $200 for 100ml. It performs very well, albeit not as well as Black Afgano, so perhaps there’s somewhat of a tradeoff of potency for pricing. Overall, I’m really impressed by this as a dark, complex, interesting but still wearable option, a slightly less extreme alternative to Black Afgano. 8 out of 10

Reviewing a bottle from 2024. Fortis was launched in 2011. There is a touch of leather and spiceness. The cumin is thankfully subtle. The focus is on aromatic woods and resins with some patchouli and vanillic musk to soften the rough edges. Very well blended. Yes, it is reminiscent of Black Afgano although softer and perhaps more wearable. I don't think this is a deliberate copy as others have suggested. My reasoning is that it takes years to create and market a scent like this and Black Afgano only launched 2 years prior ( it took 6 years to create BA) . Also, it took some time for Black Afgano to catch on so why take a risk by copying such an unusual scent profile. BTW, Terroni was launched in 2017 after Fortis and Black Afgano. Quality- excellent 4/5 Unisex- leans masculine performance- very good 4/5 Overall a fascinating dark resinous aromatic wood/oud fragrance for the adventurous out there. 8.5/10

For me, Fortis is a rich dark seductive strong scent. It's starts with a strong boozy accord, the oud is there but is not in your face, is more in the background providing support to other notes. It's spicy but not over the top, earthy but well balanced, woody but not in your face, all in all a well crafted fragrance. I like oud based fragrances, and I own alot of them. It does resemble with a few of them, such as Black Afgano(but smoother than it), Red Tobacco(but not as strong), Tobacco Oud(but more rounded than it), Oud Wood(but a little bit more spicy than it), Terroni(very close to it but more powerful). So, if you like all the above mentioned fragrances, you will like Fortis. This scent holds a very special place in my fragrance collection/journey, it takes me back to my niche beginnings so needless to say, I love this scent Longevity ~ 10 hours Projection ~ 2-3 hours Scent 10

Straight up, this is to my nose a very close sibling of Black Afgano wow! Even the juice color is similar. That being said, Fortis is unique in its own right, in that it dries down into something distinctively spectacular. Though it bears semblance, it doesn't have that intense earthy and pleasantly animalistic vibe you get straight from Black Afgano, everything else is just the same. Suffice to say that Fortis is a slightly softer (and like I said unique) version of Afgano no doubt. Sillage and projection are quite good but could be better. Scent is just beautiful - the oud, spices an woodiness are just very well blended. Very niche. Oozes class. Smells expensive, and is VERY masculine! I fail to see how this could even be considered unisex in any way. One of the well respected fragrances in my collection. impressive 9/10