Honour Man Amouage for men

A spicy-woody geranium. We could talk for hours about Honour Man but, to me, this is just a decent spicy woody geranium.

It opens with a well orchestrated blend of pepper (pink and black) that results quite interesting expecially if compared to other more popular deliveries in the same vein. It speaks clealry and says: "this is how we do it". Nutmeg makes it appearance right away providing even more complexity to the countless nouances of the opening. So far, so good...

Suddendly, a bold geranium note joined by a massive woody vetiver base break in and, together with the usual smoky cedarwood-frankincense signature, lead the fragrance towards a more conventional territory. In this phase (which is the main part of the fragrance), Honour Man is still incredibly pleasant but it fails in originality and overall quality. Think about Kenzoair (pepper-vetiver), Encre Noir (Iso E Super and vetiver), CDG2Man (smoky and fresh incense), Sel De Vetiver (vetiver and geranium) and Sycomore (incense and vetiver) and you'll get an idea.

Downline: Honour Man smells pretty darn good but for the same price of 50ml you can get 200ml of Sycomore. How it sounds?

Recent reformulations and some of the newest releases made me think they're trying to "standardize" their fragrances at Amouage.

Rating: 7/10

Very good pepper spice fragrance. It is more than that though...rather than actually smelling like pepper it smells like what I WANT pepper to smell like in a fragrance! This is a Monet - not a Rembrandt.

While the notes make me think winter I actually see this as a very versatile scent. I wore it the other day (2 sprays at 7am) and it had pretty much disappeared by supper (a little bit of musk still held close to my skin). At 9pm I went to the gym and the pepper and geranium fired right back up. With some spicy scents this bothers me but this one was fine...I'll have no problem using it in the summer!

I was very suprised when I tested Honour Man. On my female skin I felt less pepper and nothing metallic but quite rapidely a lot of delicate incense and oud with a gentle rose and a touch of jasmine that comes in and out. I found this scent much more interesting than Honour Woman. I don't understand why Honour Man is classified as masculine and not unisex.

curtis, your "review" would have more impact except for the fact that Christopher Chong was the creative director behind Jubilation and Epic (and also Memoir and the Lyric duo). And each of them had a storyline, too. Jubilation less so - it was more a celebration of their 25th anniversary - but Lyric and Epic (and the much lauded Memoir duo) definitely have a story behind them; a story that started with Lyric.

So, don't blame CC. You don't like Honour Man - that's fine. But please spare us the shortsighted doomsday speech (especially as you failed to note that it was upon Christopher Chong's arrival that Amouage's two most commercial fragrances, Arcus and Cirrus - that were FAR more commercial than Honour could ever dream to be - were discontinued. I'd say he's taken the brand in a wonderful direction. Most of the most lauded Amouage scents were under his direction.)

OK, I'm not here to review the new parfum for men by Amouage but to review, as it were, the process used to get to the creation...Madam Butterfly...her son...whatever his feelings were in his life? Really Christopher? Really?
I remember when Amouage came out with the new Gold man, then Epic, then Jubilation XXV and I cannot look b back and recall his 'vision' for those, because there wasn't any!!! Why is Amouage letting him go down this questionable road with their very exclusive, expensive line...Have they sold to P and G, or LVMC? Because that's the type of hype that parfum companies spew out when they've gone "corporate"...and you know what the next thing they’ll do is? All new works and then the older remakes will become synthetic, unnatural, absolutely, awful and a questionable remake of something that used to be wonderful…a fragrance that you were excited to put on before going out (of course their argument will be that no one can tell the difference and they are saving their shareholders a butt load of money). I bought my Mother some Joy a couple of years ago by Patou...I remember back a few years when Joy was the quintessential parfum for women...absolutely the most beautiful fragrance I've ever smelled...men’s or women’s...I was awestruck the first time I smelled it as a 16 year old young man...Now, as I smelled her bottle after she told me something was wrong with her new parfum, I became nauseated...upon turning it over I saw made by "P & G" on the bottom of the obviously fake crystal made out of some sort of glass mimicking plastic with a laughable, grotesque resemblance of a great old gold-on-crystal stopper...my nausea changed to severe depression..it was like the end of an era to me...something wonderful from my childhood that was not dead, because that would have been humane, but something that went from a beautiful, elegant courtesan to a crack ho with no teeth....hey, I was sad...Amouage better take note, because one of the other reviewers was spot on when he said the notes were not nearly as numerous or well thought out as was Epic, Gold and Jubilation...and I think there is a reason for this, and his initials are CC..And, I don't mean Clive Christian. You can't put that blame on Nathalie Feisthauer because her other work is exemplary. No, I feel she did the best she could do with CC hanging over her shoulders irritatingly humming some tired old aria.
CG...

Amouage asks you to consider gender with its paired man/woman releases, the Golds, the Jubilations, the Dias, etc.. I don’t know all the Amouages, but I’m always leary of the boy/girl thing. It seems so rote, so perfunctory. Like dressing babies exclusively in blue or pink. The quality of the perfumes, though, has always won me over (at least the three noted above), and the gender pairing becomes less important. But with each new matched-pair release, the issue comes up again.

For the Honours, it is the man who suffers. There is a progression from start to finish of HM, but due to its composition of mostly woody or resinous elements, all quite durable over time, there is a lingering feel. A peppery start moves slowly to a sour wood heart, and eventually to a not unpleasant, but murky base combining vetiver, incense and tonka.

The operatic concept hints at emotionalism and heavy theatrical symbolism. Unmet expectation (of drama) and comparison (to operatic scale) make Honour Man seem insignificant. My real problem with HM, though, is that in a reversal of a recent trend, niche attempts to imitate designer. For all the opera, for all the narrative, HM reads like an attempt to squeeze a boatload of (likely) high quality botanicals into the shape of Iso E Super. Perhaps interesting as an exercise, but to my nose, unsuccessful as a costly product.

There are many words wasted on a scent reminiscent of the old Tenere of Paco Rabanne, which unlike Tenere disappears after an hour. It seems like Amouge should change its policy and try to look for more creative solutions, but not only follow and believe the stupid stories of Christopher Chong's unsound mind.

I love the Amouage brand for its redefining quality and inspiration.

While I love the concept and marketing for this scent in particular, I am not too taken by the scent itself.

It reminds me a lot of Marc Jacobs' "BANG" which also starts with this cool metal peppery opening.

What follows is a nice warming up smouldering charcoal effect with some cedarwood, nutmeg, and some other wooden notes. The geranium I cannot identify and whatever Elemi defines, I would not know.

While the frankinsense dry-down is pleasant, this composition is not winning me over despite being an interesting perfume.

I think of a sophisticated furniture designer or wood-working artist will be taking a likening to this.

If you want the budget version: go for Marc Jacobs "BANG!" as it is almost the same, maybe a bit more linear and with less natural oils and sillage, but the price difference will be significant.

Well I have just received my 25 x 2mil samples from Amouage, this includes both the men and womens plus the five library scents, I don't think £35 was a bad price for these considering if I buy a full bottle within two month's £35 will be deducted from the full bottle price.

Now the problem, which one do I choose? they all smell so beautiful though some of them I feel may be a bit to efeminate for a male to wear. I have not tested them all yet but so far the front runners seem to be, jubililation, epic, of which it's lasting on my skin is amazing, twelve hours later a shower and I could still smell this on my wrist. The new honour I thought is a beautiful fragrance as well and will probably join the short list. I tried out lyric last night, although the scent is beautiful and I could not stop from smelling my wrist I am not sure it is a masculine fragrance giving off a strong rose boquet and an aroma that if I were to smell this on a Woman she would unquestionably turn my head. One thing that did suprise me was the gold, I know a lot of you swear by this fragrance but I felt that this is the only Amouage fragrance so far that does not smell nice on me and seemed to have a dry down similar to that of a tannery in eighteenth century Paris, quite nauseous, I will give it the benefit though and give it another try in a week or so. Oh well two month's to make my mind up.

From a luxury niche industry like Amouage, I expect stuff which surprise my olfactory. Well, this one didn't. Actually I was disappointed for the price.
Neat and pure and in high level quality starts in a musky spicy cooling spirit; in a classic rich way. Transfers to modern spicy and oriental powdery and soft dryness.
Reminds me Kenzo Tokyo but it's more transparent. Anyway, instead of quality which immensely perfect, the scent doesn't support the label niche and is more casual rather than formal although the bottle says strictly opposite.

longevity 10/10
sillage 8/10
scent 7/10

Didnt smell the powdery notes, tested it even the dry down..wonder if there is a powder that like this..love to try it

Strong sweet spicy all the way....long lasting and interesting but for me very powdery. I do not like powdery perfumes but in the line of Amouage, there are a lot of these. Different culture maybe! Surely for the colder months of the year.

I believe that any scent ostensibly based on a particular concept should actually reflect the concept in some way in its composition. So, before I begin with the review I want to share some words regarding Honour Man from Christopher Chong, the creative director of Amouage who guided its development (both taken from an interview with him over at Cafleurbon):

"Honour Man is a spicy and woody fragrance invoking memories of the past signified by a mixture of disturbing and conflicting accords starting with a spicy burst of pink pepper and black pepper. Geranium and elemi are used to represent a filial elegy to the honour and memory of Madame Butterfly. A woody base evolves with a musky allusion to this story of reconciliation."

Mr. Chong also says: "Her son who is now the same age as her when she killed herself revisits the scenario in his mind by forming a narrative with her spirit in order to reconcile the conflict that he has had with himself and her death."

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I’ve worn Honour Man for the last 8 days straight since receiving the sample. I can’t recall the last time I’ve worn any scent eight days in a row – it was probably back when I only had a single bottle of scent in my pre-BN days. I am still intrigued and perplexed by Honour and definitely do not feel like I have fully understood it, despite being immersed in it for over a week. Like the virtue bearing its name, Honour may seem easy to describe, but it is anything but.

Honour begins with a resounding warmth and depth that put to rest my fears that it might be a one dimensional “sniff a pepper shaker” opening. I do like the pepper prominent opening of Bang, but Honour Man showcases what large doses of natural oils can do to add depth and richness to a scent. The pepper oils are almost complete scents in themselves featuring nuances of ginger, incense, coniferous and terpenic elements, and a warmth and richness unlike anything I’ve ever experienced in a scent. This is the pepper that was once worth its weight in gold.




Immediately flanking the pepper are elemi – a resinoid related to frankincense - and a very full bodied geranium note. In fact, almost all of the notes in the notes list are immediately identifiable and this is where the composition diverges from any structure I’ve ever encountered before in a scent. Without being too wordy (I’ve written another more in-depth review of this that I decided against posting because it is just over the top wordy and deconstructionist), there are three layers or olfactive threads that immediately become apparent.

The distinction and separation of these layers is almost preternatural, while the way they actually smell is in fact very very natural. Many notes occupy more than one layer, as almost all natural oils are truly perfumes in themselves featuring not only top/mid and base notes in a linear or horizontal progression, but also a ‘vertical spread and progression’ wherein different facets of the note are spread upon a vertical olfactory axis. Some vetivers, for example, can immediately smell almost minty fresh in the upper registers while smelling earthy, grassy and peppery in the mid and low registers.

While the notes list for Honour Man is unusually sparse for an Amouage, I believe this is because each note was carefully chosen so that each facet of both its linear and vertical progression would interlink with the other notes in such a way as to create a composition with extreme clarity in its vertical separation. Further, as the scent evolves, these olfactory threads weave into and out of one another in the same manner as carefully composed lines of melodic counterpoint. It is for this reason - less notes, each with greater clarity, that I believe this is in some ways the simplest Amouage for men. Yet, the interplay of the inspired contrapuntal olfactive threads makes it, in some ways, the most complex. Also, thanks to the clarity of the separation present in Honour Man, it strikes the nose as a truly 3-dimensional composition in a manner evidenced by very few scents.

Three olfactive threads become immediately apparent as the scent opens. A wispy, diaphanous honey and pollen like sweetness with hints of almond provided by the tonka is elevated by the minty, and almost eucalyptus/lime-like tones of elemi and geranium, and conversely grounded by a rich and earthy, almost nutty vetiver in the base.

The middle thread is extremely warm and resinous with the pepper, elemi, and hints of incense present right from the start. Smoldering and warm, this thread offers a great contrast in temperature and texture to the upper thread. It stays closer to the skin and with a simple shift of focus you can easily sniff out each of the listed notes, with the geranium being particularly true to life. This thread stays separate from the upper and lower threads for quite some time and truly feels like a perfume unto itself, as do all of the threads. It is their interaction with each other wherein the genius lies.

The lower thread is a rich and earthy vetiver, grassy and dry but not sour or excessively smoky. Joining it is the hay-like lower registers of tonka, along with a patchouli note that offers hints of cinnamon which merge with the nutmeg that arrives later. The patchouli also helps to smooth the texture of the scent and comes to play later acting as an important bridge between threads in the base.

I’m going to abandon for now describing everything in terms of the olfactive thread it is on, not because it isn’t interesting, but because I fear it is too hard to fully appreciate (and perhaps follow) unless you have the scent before you and can actually smell it.

After the clarion call of smoldering and resinous pepper, the scent begins to transform immediately. The warmth remains in that middle thread but the notes converge elsewhere to create a short lived lime blossom accord, with a distinct airiness carrying both it and the later floral notes that emerge, an airiness that calls to mind the ‘blue sky/fresh air accord’ present in Ciel Man. A faint semi-gourmand quality emerges as the wispy honey and nutty qualities converge, and yet there is a definite warmth and earthiness in the lower registers. Already, dissonance. I imagine the son sitting in his mother’s garden, surrounded by the smells of life – her life – as he lights some incense to help ease into a reverie. Yes, the beginning minute or two is the heat and fire that ignites the incense. Slowly the smoke carries him deeper into his dream.




As the smoldering heart settles and slowly recedes to become a background player, ghost notes of carnation and jasmine are evoked – elements distinctly present in Honour Woman, the scent of his mother - as the floral geranium combines with the tonka for the former, and the tonka and patchouli for the latter. These floral elements are rendered in an airy, ethereal manner, and never fully merge with the base or the smoldering heart of scent, instead hovering over it like a dream.

Elemi, vetiver and geranium converge in the middle register and suggest something almost tea like, faintly smoky, and this merges seamlessly with the translucent and evanescent jasmine which flits into and out of the composition most mysteriously. Yes, jasmine tea – perhaps Madame Butterfly was fond of it.

In time the different threads continue to weave in and out of each other, sometimes in beautiful harmony and sometimes with calculated dissonance. After a few hours the heart and base lines merge and become a grounding ostinato over which the ethereal and floral line plays. This ostinato calls to mind a refined version of CdG 2 Man, with earthy vetiver, a persistent but gentle white smoke, a warm and present but tamed nutmeg, hints of smooth patchouli, and a deep resinous quality that evokes opoponax resin more so than frankincense, to my nose. This opoponax, too, is a ghost note created by the convergence of nutmeg, frankincense, hints of pepper and cedar, and forms another link to Honour Woman, where opoponax is a key player in the base. This smoldering core is at times spicy, smoky, woody, and even features a realistic salt note (likely from the vetiver) that combines to smell not only of resinous incense but also of male skin gleaming with fresh sweat.

Although the core of the scent and the airy floral line never merge, not even in the late drydown, they are tethered to one another via the patchouli. In the late dry down, the patchouli and ethereal and airy jasmine call to mind a whisper of Reflection Man – an observation my girlfriend also made independently from me and without any suggestion on my part.

Honour man finally comes to a close - an ethereal reinterpretation of Honour Woman through the son’s eyes, summoned by and resting upon that resinous incense core - but never comes to complete resolution. Those who like scents that are challenging and offer endless new facets with each wearing will love Honour Man. Those who prefer their scents safe, unoffensive, or comforting will likely not enjoy Honour Man.

I find Honour Man to be as ingenious at reflecting its concept as was Memoir Man. In Memoir Man the transformation was from living to ashy memory, and here the transformation is a reinterpretation of the feminine floating above an incensey, masculine core. To be honest, I still do not fully understand Honour Man, although I have tried very very hard to wrap my head completely around it. I do not know if I love it, but I respect it greatly.

Two kind of peppers on top! Only pepper! Definitely another masterpiece! Really want to try it.

The fact that Amouage designs still on Arabian style is interesting and admirable while most of Arabian perfumeries, though from richer countries, only design on traditional Middle Eastern way; on only one dominant note like agarwood or rose.
Obviously Amouage is the pioneer of modern Arabian perfumery. Unlike most of Arabians, Amouage's designs are tolerable in that severe climate. Trying Shaik perfumes, for example, in a hot and dry weather you may harm yourself. Based on traditional perfumery which mostly is floral and deeply aromatic can give you severe headache and bad aura, specially Europeans and people from cold regions may show inclination to these kind of hot perfumes but the only logical way to use is keeping it in cold and mild weather!
Amouage stuff is lighter and milder than most of Arabian perfumes even the famous ones.
For instance, Epic men is still an Arabian perfume obviously but the whole perfume presents a chilly and heavy mood which can shiver you in back.