Opus 1870

This is a truly elegant and very nice composition - a niche-quality offering with excellent ingredients! What I like is how it is so well-blended and the fragrance shows both balance and harmony. Personally, while I feel it could be unisex (if worn by the right woman - confidence, class, sophistication and sassiness required - :-) ), but this is a more of a masculine scent to me as a whole. The coriander and fresh-ground pepper open with just a squeeze of yuzu (one of my favorite citruses) - a sparkling top that is one I really like. The transition into the heart offers plumes of smoky incense that emerges seamlessly with warm ground cinnamon and the brilliant lush rose peaking through. Great stage in the fragrance as all the spices play perfectly together and the incense is very natural - more olibanum than anything overtly "head shop"...refined. The rose incorporated in here is the brilliance (and what allows it to be a possible unisex bottling). Not a deep rose - more of a lighter, closed bud at first with the bloom just starting to open along with the rich dusting of spices on the petals & incense wafting throughout...exquisite. The dry down starts with (from my perspective) the Virginia cedar that has a very natural and fresh-cut quality, with some of the dustiness coming in from the spices and incense which lasts into the base (but lightens - sort of a fade/drifting effect that is natural). Very pretty - I am more impressed as this develops. I then detect a nice clean white musk note that lifts the fragrance as the spices dissipate and the incense is now really no more than a nuance (faint note) in the fragrance. The final note that enters is the warm and smooth sandalwood - a quality ingredient that helps the rose carry through. Sandalwood is now precious and this has a very nice, niche feel to it. Not a rose-dominant scent at all, but a well-incorporated note in the overall scent pyramid - which I wanted to revisit. The rose never fully blooms for me, but it lingers wonderfully with the wood. Overall, I find this to be exceptional! I have been wearing various lighter niche Eau de Colognes that retail for a good amount of money that have excellent top notes, spices (including pepper), incense, and fully-integrated wood including rare varietals. This stands easily at their level and is actually a bit deeper due to its Eau de Toilette strength, which was my main reason of interest - notes that I love with perhaps more richness. No disappointment. Excellent review by Jack_Hunter here and sherapop offers a good perspective as well. It is not a loud scent, but one for the wearer and those very close to enjoy. Very good bottle, indeed. One that I see wearing in Spring and Fall or cooler Summer nights. I think this will work in Winter, but not on the coldest days - it would be a nice, refreshing scent on rainy days for sure here in California. My initial wearing tells me that it would project and last better with a bit of warmth and application to clothing also helps. Overall score - 8.5+/10. Recommended. One of the best from the house...? For me, yes!

Sneaky good stuff. Deceptively complex and performant -- just not loud. Over time, my respect for what Penhaligon's did with this one has only grown. There are no rough edges to Opus 1870, none at all. All its notes -- and I do pick up most of them at various times -- are handled with such delicacy as to almost reduce Opus to being dull and boring. But how could it be, when it's always changing, always revealing something new to its wearer and those near him (or her)? At the opening, I feel lots of pepper (black and some pink) and a smooth hit of yuzu, all with a hovering wisp of embers in the background. There seems to be something decidedly British about its opening, though I'm not sure how to describe it. Over time, that opening merges with some sweetness and soft but pronounced spiciness (cinnamon and clove rose, maybe a touch of cardamom) that brings to mind almost a lightly smoked chai vibe. All the while, a very subtle, almost powdery wood combo under-girds the whole experience, anchoring it for a deceptively long wear. On the whole, I find Opus to be ethereal in its lightness and iridescent in its many subtle facets. It only radiates about arm's length at most, but it does stick around a good 4-6 hours or more, depending on how you wear it. No, it's not a screamer. Performance blah blah blah. Performance be damned. Here's the thing: If you wear fragrances to garner compliments and get noticed, you wear something with "punch" -- but punch does not equate to quality. Sometimes you wear something to please yourself and reward those who venture in close. For me, Opus 1870 is a phenomenal fall/winter/evening scent that is light enough to pull off anytime you want to feel and exude contentment, equanimity and authentic kindness. For those who are familiar, it's like an airy, yuzu-backed blend of Loewe 7 Anonimo and Gucci Pour Homme II. Not the same exactly, but like both in some ways. In spite of the similarities, there is nothing out there that is quite like Opus. I give Penhaligon's high marks for uniqueness and artistic approach for this one. It may not be everyone's cup of tea, but I really appreciate and love it.

Subtly dark and wispy in its lightness, Opus 1870 resides somewhere in that scorchy-woody-spicy space flanked by Azzaro Visit, Loewe 7 Anonimo and Gucci Pour Homme II, yet not blatantly similar to either. The connection others have drawn with Azzaro Visit is absolutely there - that smoky, woody, spicy goodness, though in this case, it's more suggestive of clove and cinnamon than Visit's pronounced nutmeg note. The smoky incense note is also more dry and churchy, bringing Anonimo to mind with that waft of "clove-smoking firebug who just burnt down a church" that is strange and at the same time magnetic. A light layer of very natural cinnamon - again dry, not sweet - reminds me of a very austere take on GPH II. Together, these notes are simply sublime to my nose - though I can imagine it might not be for everyone. Opus 1870 is not a freshie, nor is it a sweetened crowd pleaser. Its projection qualifies as intimate, wispy and ethereal - polite and mysterious, meant to draw the curious closer. This is a masterful execution of subtlety, a muted balance of spicy, scorched wood and a very dry incense. Poor sillage considerations aside, I honestly can't rave enough about this wonderful gem of a fragrance. Do I wish it had a bit more punch? Absolutely. But in every other way, I totally dig it. Definitely not your daily dumb grab, and for this reason I wouldn't recommend a blind buy - not at that cost. But fans of the aforementioned fragrances might very well appreciate the artistry of this unique take on some old favorites.

Reading other reviewers comments, I’m not sure what is meant by poor performance. Is it the longevity or silage? The longevity is what is expected from an EDT and the silage is moderate to heavy for good reasons. Opus 1870 is a woody musky fragrance from Penhaligon’s. The scent starts with a blast of yuzu and black pepper. The pepper does not last long but remains in the background. Throughout the fragrance development the yuzu remains consistent and gives the scent a fresh side. Personally, I don’t get much of the coriander, rose, and cinnamon in the process. The woody incense notes then become prominent and remain for a while. The fragrance ends with a clean musky base that remains the longest. Even though marketed for men I think it is unisex. As for the performance, I get about 4 hours on skin and solid 7-8 hours on clothes. Sometimes I smell the musky woody base on my clothes the next day. The projection however is moderate and I think for good reasons. For this type of scent it would be best to have low silage. At high doses the incense becomes really prominent and sharp. Spray too much and it quickly becomes offensive! Three sprays will do the job. 9/10.

This fragrance holds a very special place in my heart as it was the first fragrance I got after really getting into fragrances. The vibe it gives off is a a very neutral, unisex, clean, fresh but and old school sophisticated feeling with a light woody base, like a “fresh book”. Academia is what I picture. The most obvious top notes is the fresh Yuzu balancing with the pepper. No harshness at all. The middle notes I get most is the rose which is a very fitting touch and not overly feminine. It dries down to a very pleasant sandalwood plain and simple, not too creamy or woody if that makes sense. The performance however of course is not the best and it will only project decent for about 30mins, 1 hour at best if it’s not too hot in your country. And as it dries down to the base it will become almost a skin scent that people in close proximity can smell. Overall a very wearable and easy fragrance, it goes well in almost all occasions and it can be a signature scent as I have not come across anyone that wears this.