Lyric Man 
Amouage (2008)

An ethereal combination of lime, orange blossom, angelica, and rose (which is sweet, fresh, and smooth, with just a little bit of vegetal earthiness), resting on a base of spiced woods and incense dusted vanilla.

It only takes about thirty minutes for Lyric Man to settle down into its final beautiful form on my skin, and it lasts for at least ten hours. I am tempted to spray more than is required, to see if I can increase its projection.

There is something contemplative and uplifting about Lyric Man that I haven’t experienced with any other fragrance.

A masterpiece.

9.5/10

Soapy rose supported initially by angelica and orange blossom. The rose here feels bold but also cold and exacting. Some hours in the bitterness of angelica is replaced by spices, mainly nutmeg, which lends the rose a more friendly posture. Later yet sandalwood subdues the rose into a smooth accord that goes very well with the dry incense that is now more prominent. Certainly not very masculine, but I wouldn't call it effeminate either. Pretty much bang on unisex.

You get a lovely rose from several angles, and the materials are as always impeccable. If you enjoy a rose, don't miss out. You know it makes sense.

4/5

A fresh edible jammy rose, aromatic, woody, aldehydic, musky, warm and spicy with Incense, Patchouli, Cedar, Vetiver, Amber, and Labdanum as basenotes. It smells luxurious, elegant, and blended to perfection, one of the best Amouage fragrances, different, modern, aristocratic, timeless. Masterpiece.

Beautiful floral-citrus opening. As others have stated, it's rose forward but not rose centric. I can detect the ginger which is always a prominent note to my nose, but it's soft. Dries to a more featured rose with hints of indistinct wood. Very nice middle. Vanilla edges into the later stages. I didn't go heavily on the application as I am used to Amouage's stronger offerings, so I never really noticed any incense or coniferous wood as I was expecting. Seems to be a lighter, drifting scent, entirely unisex and perhaps leans a little formal. A Christmas gift that I'll use well. Thumbs up for certain.

The opening is a rich canvas of flowers, mainly risen, orange blossom, angelica with hints of muguet. Initially a touch of citrus and some bergamot are brightening it up, but the flowers rule.

Of all this floral opening bouquet the rose is the strongest, but it is not a rose that towers above the rest, it is rather integrated with the whole. A medium night flower, not light but also not very intensive, it is characterised by the lack of any significant stem or leafy component in it. A bit letter a bit of gingers spices if the floral array.

The drydown signals a shift towards a spicier side, with galbanum and nutmeg showing up initially, followed. These are quite slim, but a saffron impression, richer and smoother, is giving them more depth and texture. With the saffron a restrainedly powdery element is added in.

The later stages combines woods with spices. The woods are sandal and pine, with the sandalwood more perfunctory on me, and the pine Vers refined but rather weak - this is no pine-o-clean. The spices are mainly a musk that has a touch of a crisp and nigh-screechy component to it, as well as a musk that is comparatively mild. An incense of moderate intensity and a smidgeon of ceremoniousness arises more towards the end, but I do not get any camphor of medicinal qualities here. A mild vanilla accent adds just am the amount of well-dosed sweetness to provide the perfect balance.

I get moderate sillage, very good projection and six hours of longevity on my skin.

This confident and self-assured rose-and-spice scent for cooler spring evenings is complex but not overloaded to an extent that it loses focus. The quality of the ingredients is impressive, and the blending quite refined, and the performance is satisfactory; but this is not a creation that sores into supreme heights. Overall 3.5/5.