Encore by Alfred Sung

Zhara

Alfred Sung Encore is a fragrance for a woman who plays hardball.
Encore is not playful.

Warm, yet not too friendly. Reserved, yet not meek. Strong, yet not dramatic. It is a daytime fragrance for a business executive who just happens to be a woman.

While the flowers are calmly present from opening to drydown, a stern, burnished wood and ever-so-faintly spicy note take over in the middle, and drive this number far away from any dreams of romance.

For all the serious sandalwood, there is no mistaking this for a male or even a unisex scent; it's clearly a woman's wear item. The rose, tuberose and jasmine are present - they are simply contained. No flirting allowed - the flowers in Encore must sit down and behave themselves.

Encore is slightly dated, if only because such dry and serious oriental florals (designed for women competing in the business world) did not really exist until the 1970s. Encore entered the market almost 20 years after the first of these 'office fragrances', and clearly is a progressive refinement of Charlie, Albert Nippon, and some of the other, earlier scents climbing the corporate ladder and banging on the glass ceiling.

For myself, I prefer scents that jump for attention a bit more than Encore. For all it's even-handed blending and moderately-high quality of ingredients, it does remain just a tad quiet, buttoned up and dry. Still, one of the best of this category.