Jubilation 25 Woman
Amouage (2007)

I am not worthy to put words to describe this fragrance. All I can say is that it’s mind-blowingly beautiful to me. It has exactly the perfect amount of retro feel while still having one foot in the present. It smells incredibly formal to me… like this is what I would wear if I were going to attend an opera or something like that. It’s one of those scents that makes me feel honored to have tried it. To have experienced it. It is beautiful, and will always be special to me.

i cannot really understand what many are smelling here: there's nothing even remotely harsh or bright about this -- no cumin either --nor civet, as for that. or if it is it is all seamlessly blended into a harmonious whole: a soft, round, dusky, almost-oriental chypre of the highest order. anything *but* harsh, really, and absolutely lovely. (wearing vintage jubilation 25, not familiar with the current formulation.)

I tried an older version and hated it. It's probably the cumin, but I smelled civet, which made it dirty and grubby smelling. It was a strange mix of light pretty florals and civet. No patchouli, no Vetiver, but loads of civet. Total pass for me.

Amouage's Jubilation 25 is clearly a modern homage to the classical French chypre, and strangely has no relation to its men's counterpart.

It's an elegant and feminine scent which is well blended, but has the modern trait of having more distinct notes and phases than classical perfumes.

It opens with soft citrus and aldehydes, and soon adds smooth rose and fruity notes reminiscent of peach and apricot. This phase continues for awhile until the citrus fades and introduces a maple syrupy sweetness with a hint of suede. The fruitiness then settles and the base of amber and patchouli emerges, with just a hint of cumin to balance the sweetness.

I find this a very relaxing scent, with the opening reminding me of Chanel, the heart of Guerlain, and the base of Amouage. It would be a beautiful perfume to smell on the neck of a well dressed woman. In the latter phases it could also be (just) pulled off by an elegantly dressed man. It's not my thing, but thumbs up!

Cumin! Not since Declaration have I smelled this much freshness juxtaposed with this much cumin. Here you have sort of a cKOne freshness like hedione or maybe those notes in the Clean fragrances, combined with some subtle spices such as maybe cardamom and bay or sage... and then so. much. cumin. Much more cumin than Kingdom or Bigarade Concentre. I'm usually a fan of this technique of dirtying something fresh with a dose of cumin or cardamom. I nearly bought the fruity-armit Kingdom when it was being widely sold. I occasionally enjoy wearing Declaration. Bigarade Concentre is one of my favorite orange fragrances. I enjoy Theo Fennel's Scent, and I think Salome is a fantastic piece of art. But this is way too much. And I am not one for labeling fragrances as masculine or feminine, but the vibe is very masculine here. There is so much piercing freshness that it makes my nose tingle, and so much cumin that I smell a sweaty, unwashed male athlete nearby. The effect is like walking into a men's locker room after a game as deodorant is being sprayed on. I feel anything but jubilation.