Ormonde Man (2004)
by Ormonde Jayne

Was great at first but after an hour it had almost gone.
The women's was the reverse.
Wasn't at all good at first but now, ten hours later, is really not bad at all.
Interesting.

4th January, 2012.

Initial review: I LOVE the green, green, freshly cut Kentucky Bluegrass/evergreen opening on this (is it the juniper berry followed with black hemlock coming through already?)! It brings back memories of high school days in Lexington. I keep wanting to smell it time after time. I wish the top lasted longer- it's so refreshing! Clean, pleasant, mild mid note of oude introduces itself soon afterward. Dry down is nice, but fairly non-descript to me. It is anticlimactic after the earlier phases, ebbing to just a skin scent far too early. Smooth, well-blended. Worth getting.

12nd December, 2011. (Last Edited: 18th December, 2011.)

To me it smells a lot like Clinique's Happy for Men. A pleasant enough scent, though fleeting as the sillage and longevity aren't very good.

2nd November, 2011.

Oh my goodness! This is such a beautiful scent. "Mature" and sedate, it oozes understated class. Ormonde Man is certainly not a powerhouse, yet it is not a timid frag eithel. I agree with some reviews i have read which opine that OM is not a flamboyant fragrance, as well as coming across "too perfect". I just interpret the views to read "genius" - whether by design or accident, i do not know.

I have no idea what hemlock smells like but have smelt all sorts of ouds. Oud as a note does not jump out to smack my nose so, if it is in OM, it must be doing an excellent job of balancing other ingredients out to produce the green, slightly piney accord i mostly perceive in OM, which i guess are accords mainly from juniper and cedar as well. I have given OM full wearings and over 7 hours later could still perceive lovely whiffs all around me (disclosure: while i don't douse, i also do not spray economically) and i suppose OM was made (by design, or accident? I dont know) to perform best in humid tropical climes, as ambient moisture kept stoking the OM fires on my skin.

OM attracts significantly polarised opinions on various aspects; smell, longevity, sillage, etc. I believe the OM "lore" gives rise to disappointed expectations when the frag is finally encountered. The much touted high quality and kind of ingredients, together with the rep of the perfumer/house create such high expectations (i had mine too) so much that when i first smelt OM, i am glad i was immediately ensnared by the smell, before realising that i had expected a more "earthmoving" experience. I love OM, and think it is very well blended, and should be approached on its own terms, not biased by what we think it ought to smell/wear like.

26th October, 2011. (Last Edited: 27th October, 2011.)

The signature Ormonde Jayne scents, the Adam and Eve of the Ormonde line, each tread their own paths through the same primeval forest. They're both green (vetiver) woody (cedar) marvels, refined and bewitching in equal measure.

Ormonde Man is more piquant and grassy than its earlier counterpart, and noticeably aromatic up top, with prominent coriander and pink pepper and a superlative cardamom note. It tapers to an astringent vetiver finish, akin to French Lover from Frederic Malle. Ormonde Woman is more cedar inclined, with a distinct sawdust vibe, along with a sandalwood creaminess and an ambery glow that feels like the golden pulp of sunlight being squeezed through silhouetted tree branches.

While Ormonde Man covers more ground – and although I miss its absent cardamom note – I undoubtedly prefer Ormonde Woman. Ormonde Man is a very good masculine fragrance; Ormonde Woman is boundlessly mysterious and is an exercise in pure magic.

16th May, 2011. (Last Edited: 12nd June, 2011.)

Absolutely Marvellous.

And an even more pleasant surprise when you try it somewhere that is not inside the Old Bond Street shop in London. I get that the location is pretty expensive but hey..that shop is just a little too tiny and gets saturated with scents so much you can't really appreciate some little treasures they sell over there.

Anyways..back to the fragrance itself..Intriguing, multifaceted, elegant (if you don't overdo) and with a surprising longevity. A definite stand out.

30th April, 2011.