Agar Musk

This is an unpretentious little gem. The opening reminds me a lot of The Different Company's Sel de Vetiver, but when Sel de Vetiver leaves me cold with its rather harsh, flat, and chemical approach to salty vetiver (swimming hall impressions, anyone?), Agar Musk has more in it. The cool and green vetiver-salt opening gradually warms to a very balanced dryish woody-resinous accord with an understated warmth and freshness from the nutmeg, tied together with green/woody, non-smoky vetiver. The beautiful nutmeg note rides on top of the whole lifeline of the scent and rounds everything up beautifully. It's modern, minimal, and airy with plenty of synthetic woody notes but by no means without character and shape. Could well be one of the better releases from Byredo. The oud is presented very discreetly, barely giving that deep, dark, medicinal tone to the composition. Very western-taste-friendly, but still nicely sense tingling. A drop of ink in a crystal bottle filled with water. The musk layer keeps a certain salty angle but softens considerably, it's clean but not soapy, soft but not exactly animalic. This is one of those "leather" scents that do not create a strong leather impression to me, just vague leatheriness like some overprocessed leather items that leave me wondering if they really are animal skin after all... The musk is definitely there, but it is merely a guideline, not an outline, promoting the excellent staying power of this scent. Very polite sillage, lasts for ages. Quite minimalistic and modern - and I would label this as unisex. All women don't have a sweet tooth for scents - and there are no Western perfumery sexual mannerisms in this contemporary, understated creation. Will probably invest to a full bottle - although I think that the price is steep. For all gentlemen and -women out there - and wannabe-ones, like yours truly! One of my favorite workday choices.

The scent is the epitome of minimalist. White oud, abstract, with a throwback (2010) vibe, which is why I think it's misunderstood and not a safe blind buy. When people think oud, they think powerhouse, and this isn't that. However, there's something about it that keeps drawing me back and I have literally a thousand options (bottles and decants) to choose from. The opening is a medicininal oud and nutmeg that might remid you of vicks vapor rub. Wait on it, and the cypress and vetiver arrive. No leather imo. No sweetness. Dust and bleached vetiver. The heart sensation and final drydown is like a steamy sauna in pine forest. I find it very relaxing and almost meditative. From there, the musk comes forward while still retaining some green elements. This musk is not the laundry variety. It's both clean (mostly clean) and slightly dirty. It reminds me of an adjacent synthetic accord of genuine deer musk when mixed with my skin chemistry, but a much lighter take. I can spray lightly and it's more of a steamy forest cypress vetiver type drydown, or heavy to get more of the slightly animalic, pheromonal type musk If you're a fan of minimalist and as someone else mentioned, weightless/transparent masculine leaning fragrances, you may like Agar Musk. It's fast becoming one of very favorites in this genre. I'm blowing through my bottle and bought another. I don't think most people will think much of it, and my friends think it's good but weird and out of their comfort zone. I'm rating it highly based on my own personal taste. Scent 98/100 Performance 60/100 P.S. This is NOT Le Labo Gaiac 10, which bounces from slightly charred wood to smokey clean(ish) wood. However, the esthetic (minimist, relaxing) and white steam is the same vibe.

This is an incredibly strange one. The initial blast I get is a piney oud with vetiver and to me this smells almost identical to Tom Ford's oud wood but toned down in intensity. This first olfactory wave comes and goes too quickly for my taste, and within 15 minutes the scent has already morphed into something else. Now the underlined musk begins to color this woody scent, and from here on out everything becomes fairly linear in my opinion. The initial blast is quite strong but when the musk comes out the fragrance really settles to a near skin scent. There is something harsh about it (probably the musk?) that still projects but the nice woody scent remains close to the skin. Surprisingly, the linear portion of this scent has amazing longevity and lasts on me me for more than 20 hours. Sample first, as I don't imagine this scent being universally liked.

Ramón Monegal is part of the history of Barcelona and one of Spain’s most important perfumers and is the fourth generation of the family that founded Myrurgia S.A. Agar Musk is an agarwood, leather, musk, all in a fragrance - it's so totally not Flori-kind, for those who has been looking for an Oud / Leather fragrance without the flower sweetness very commom in the Oud perfumes found in the market. For me this fragrance is distinctively masculine, dark, spicy and very sexy, a masculine eroticism bomb with an animalistic musk note in the background. The oud note is rather soft and the spices are dosed cautiously and the best part is the leather note, which is clearly from the heart notes. Sillage is good. Longevity is excellent....if you like an Agarwood / Leather perfume, this wonderful perfume is definitely for you.

Agar Musk is SPECIAL!!! Others are comparing it with fragrances such as Halstons "Man Amber" or even Montale, however, I cannot agree...its on a level all by itself. To say It smells like "Man Amber" is to say that a "new car" scented tree is as good as an actual new car! I own both. I bought the Halston with high hopes, but was sorely let down with it's synthetic funk. And the Oud in Agar Musk is far more robust and non synth as what I smell in the Montale offerings. I love the oud in agar musk, (As well as in Kilians "Pure Oud") the oud scent takes on a 4th dimension that is beyond my tongues ability to describe it's beauty. If you love Oud, Vetiver, or Leather scents, try this one. It is probably too pricey to buy blindly, but this house does sample. Longevity: 8+ hours on skin Rating: 10/10

As the lady who wrote last review, this is so minimalistic and elegant, to be used by real lovers of class and style,its powerful yet delicate,you,ll be noticed but in a polite way,in a gentleman way, this is for men, youngsters will have the time to use but now, go for 1 million and other garbag,ejem,parfums, this treasure is for people whohave what it takes to appreciate such delicatessen

Whilst Oud notes have moved on a lot since this scent was created, it remains elegant and qualitative as you can expect from this beautiful historic Spanish house. If you can try Alhambra Oud from Ramon Monegal to see the perfumers oud evolution, it is in my top five European oud perfumes, the natural oud used in that edition is heavenly!

@JonMichael Just FYI Agar Musk can be ordered directly from the Monegal website in 100ml size. Ships via DHL direct from Spain and arrives in about 5 days to the US.... Goes for around USD $230 if I recall correctly when I got mine... Plus they're very generous with the free samples as well....

Very beautiful , Not in your face medicinal Oud , But charming and seductive , I enjoy almost all creations by the House of Ramone Monagale . Women love this charmer and I wear it occasionally , I love it that much ; I have a backup bottle! Scent 10/10 Silage 10/10 Long Lasting 10/10 Thanks,

Not sure about the oud, but definitely a very nice musky, soft vetiver. Reminds me a lot of HeWood Silver Wind Wood, but without the incense note.

Scent: 10/10 Price: 7/10 Projection: 9/10 Versatility: 7/10 Compliments: 9/10 Buy/Try/Pass? buy Rating (0-10): 9

Excellente perfume, I love when my husband wears it.

This is an ode to minimalism. I find this scent quite ambiental. If today I had a place to furnish, I'd take this fragrance as the ultimate inspiration. Or it would perfectly represent the esthetics I'm after right now. Lots of unstructured whites (walls, sheets, drapes); organic, round shapes in the sleeping and laisure areas, soft ivory and raw beige fabrics; stone and wood where hard surfaces are required. Think of Amangiri desert resort. Hardly any extra details: occasional graphic on unburdened walls and ceramic decorations. A single tall plant or cactus. That kind of ambiental. I can see how some reviewers expected more depth or complexity, but Agar Musk is exactly what it says. The musk here is airy and sterile, the agar is ashy and thin. Think of the shades and fantasy odor of Siamese cats' fur. Both clean and lived in. Unisex, male leaning. To make my final, less abstract reference: it sits somewhere between White Suede and Oud Wood by Tom Ford, resembling both.

I am inexperienced with many oud scents. I've only sample a small handful and while I'm not an expert by any means, Agar Musk seems very nice. On my skin this is mostly a linear scent of oud, nutmeg and pepper. It's very wearable and not overbearing in any way. On paper, I can detect the amber and musk after a few hours of development but never quite got this on my skin so far as I could tell. As I smelled this over and over I knew I had smelled something similar before but could not put my finger on it. At times this smelled faintly reminiscent of Vix Vapo Rub, but not in a way that detracts from the fragrance. But perhaps this is just me. I'm not aware of any big downsides to this. It's perhaps a bit short on longevity, but I wasn't able to really sample this enough to say for sure.

As I dabbed this fragrance on, I immediately smelled the musk, as well as a prominent green, lively note. This scent has the distinct vibe of ozone and polarization; it's electric y'all! It is not unpleasant, nor in your face, but even though it's a unisex fragrance, it leans distinctly masculine to me, which doesn't suit my ultra feminine scent taste. I find it fascinating and complex; it was nice for a change of pace, but I would not find myself reaching for it often. In fact, I may give it to my husband; it would be great on him. It seems to be of moderate silage and fairly long lasting. Overall grade: B+ nice but not right for me; would not purchase for myself.

Very weak, can’t even smell it on me. Almost a skin scent that lasts an hour. Came here specifically to see if others thought the same, some did. Was wondering in mine was defective but many felt the same about it. Extremely faint vetiver almost cashmere fabric smelling. Clean and Comforting in a way but sadly should have been more noticeable to enjoy and feel it’s worth to wear. This would be fitting for bedtime since it’s soft and not cloy or pungent as the oud would leave you to believe. But the oud/agar in this is non existent. I wonder if the new bottle version of it is the same scent or reformulate. Gonna have to sell mine on eBay I guess.

Definitely one unique fragrance that opens up with a strong medicinal oud that soon tapers into a gorgeous blend of soft musk, amber, vetiver & oud that i can't get enough of. It's not overly complicated & messy like most in this class of frags. Longevity and projection are moderate & my only complaint is I wish they came in 100ml opposed to 50ml! I WANT MORE! Definitely not going to be for everyone but if you appreciate a dark musky oud based frag with amber, leather & vetiver. DON'T HESITATE! Packaging is as unique as the juice! Very affordable juice!

I would say it's a fragrance on the fresher side and while it has 3 notes that I love that make up that up leaders of this fragrance, the blend just doesn't scream out at me. It's a good fragrance but not a rock star to me and for the price...probably not. I would say the fresh musk (not animalic at all) makes up most of the composition with vetiver, oud and nutmeg lightly playing along with it. If Calvin Klein were to release this fragrance I would give it a 5 out of 5 in the designer world but in the niche realm I give it a 3 out of 5.

The dry down is where the magic happens. The oud gets more discreet as the leather and vetiver come through in big doses. Not as heavy as one would imagine or maybe even prefer but it's more discreet scent than a "look at me enter the room" scent. I do feel it's for the more mature man as it barely has any sweetness at all. A perfect addition to a gentlemen's wardrobe.

This is oud for people that don't really like oud. My impression is this is straightforward combination of woody notes including iso e super, a white musk maybe cosmone and a dab of synthetic oud accord. Very similar to zarkoperfume's molecule 234.38