Oajan 
Parfums de Marly (2013)

Very nice honey, mixed with an apple pie vibe. I get a drydown of vanilla and tonka. Pretty impressed with this one. My favorite from the line, so far. reminds me of CK1 Shock and Chergui combined. 8/10

Oajan is one of PdM's more underrated and perhaps under-the-radar fragrances, being overshadowed by mass appeal offerings like Herod, Layton and Sedley. Oajan is more a niche scent, opening with a blast of cinnamon, honey and blood orange. There's a thick layer of benzoin in the heart and a more standard patchouli, vanilla and musk in the base for support. It's got a holiday season vibe that could easily be worn by anyone (unisex), but best for cold weather wear. Great performance as well.

Marketed as a masculine fragrance, Oajan totally works as a feminine. My first thought when trying it was what a great holiday fragrance it would make for either sex. This delectable cinnamony honey, booze and warm resin fragrance would be appreciated at Thanksgiving and Christmas gatherings whoever was wearing it. The cinnamon note is what makes this gourmand festive.
I find honey fragrances welcoming, so Oajan has a skin vibe which makes it approachable and warm..
The price range with this house is a little high though, for what it is. What I plan to do is buy some samples during the holiday season. That will be enough for me. On Christmas Day, I’ll bring the samples with me, as there are sure to be queries about the scrumptious Christmas dessert fragrance I’m wearing. If they like it, I’ll gift them with a sample.
So, as delectable as it is, it’s a little too Holiday for me to wear other than at winter parties, because of the cinnamon. But it seems perfect for those times.

Well okay, I have to give this one to Parfums de Marly. I'm admittedly not a big fan of a house that has since 2010, taken the historical self-flummery of Creed and superimposed it over higher-budget but still clearly designer-tier scents. They figured heavier caps and a fake royal crest could make up the difference for their $300-ish price points, and later compositions have amped-up synthetic bases to try and give more performance factor for the money. With Oajan (2013), the house does something a bit different from the earlier barbershop/cologne vibes and the later bourgeois ambroxan bombs by going in a pretty authentic gourmand direction. This release sits in the same Middle East-themed series as Habdan (2013) and Hamdani (2013) but doesn't pretend to use any oud in the base. Instead, we get what is at its core an amber fragrance built up with gourmand notes, and it doesn't feel like emperor's new clothes or some luxe spin on a designer mold, which is surprising considering the house's release history.

The opening of Oajan is spicy with cinnamon, some blood orange, honey, and a fruity osmanthus note that is most rare in masculine market fragrances. Usually the apricot-like note of osmanthus is preferred in women's fruity floral bouquets, but here it lends sweetness and brightness to what would otherwise be an oriental tone. Oajan keeps going with artemisia in balance against labdanum and benzoin in the heart, keeping up the slab-thick feel but smoothing it all down with that amber base, boosted by ambrox and tonka. Patchouli and vanilla swirl in for a late-stage classic oriental feel but this is no Guerlain in terms of execution, so you will a bit of separation as the scent "comes apart at the seams" on the final skin scent hours. All told, the gourmand and oriental elements play well together and don't feel heavy-handed, but this is still something for fans of rich opaque and warm fragrances. I'd keep Oajan to fall and winter use myself for this very reason, and also use it on romantic evenings or cool weekends on the town. As for performance, you'll get hours and hours of time out of this, so be prepared to scrub it off when done.

Parfums de Marly is still a hard sell even if it hits all the check boxes because there are just so many better things for less that you could buy in the segments it typically stalks as a brand. However, in lieu of a classic Pasha de Cartier (1992), Opium Pour Homme (1995), Rochas Man (1999), or even Dior Homme (2005), Parfums de Marly Oajan will "get it done" with a similar warm fruit and spice on rich base if the price is right for you, although I wouldn't call this a good value or anywhere near as significant. Shyamala Maisondieu (wife of Antoine) did a phenomenal job here, and for someone looking to upgrade to a luxury house but looking for something comfy without pretense, I'd suggest Oajan as a good fit, but I'd also have that same person take a look at Serge Lutens as well, since this kind of vibe has sorta been his thing a lot longer than Parfums de Marly. Thumbs up, but test first, and consider looking online for a sample if you're in the US because most of this 2013 series didn't make it to US shores.