Jubilation 25 (2007)
by Amouage

l get a very herbal vibe from this, maybe cumin or tarragon, & it makes me think of curry for the first hour or so. l get the incense/animalic notes, & then the florals peep through, the herbs become woodier, & it's more of a classic French perfume; florals so well-blended that l can't pick them out, & a touch of fruit, but still that spicy incense. 4 hours in there's a trace of amber, & then it begins to fade into a base of mossy woods. lt's a bit of an oddity to me & not like anything l've smelled before, it's almost as if they threw every ingredient they had to hand into one fragrance. l respect it's composition, but it's not really my style. l think it would probably appeal to lovers of mossy chypres like Cristalle.

13rd February, 2011.

I disliked the opening. It was harshly aldehydic with no softer elements as counterbalance. The arrival of incense didn’t make it more palatable either. After around 10 minutes I did detect something floral lurking in the background but its identity remained hidden. And when the jammy rose finally made its appearance beyond the 20-minute mark, it did not floor me. Neither did the rest of the fragrance.

Maybe I just grew bored of it. Perhaps the excellent Jubilation XXV had raised my expectations higher than they needed to be. It’s just that as a composition JUBILATION 25 breaks no new grounds. It retains the classic feel of Chanel No.5 and smells similar to Fendi. While it is superbly constructed I can’t say if it is better than its predecessors.

At Amouage’s more exclusive prices, Jubilation 25 could certainly afford to impress with a little more originality. Instead, wearing it might just make you feel as though you are going to a high society gala dressed in a pricier version of the outfit you wore to the prom 25 years earlier. Others however might call that 'classic'.

4th December, 2010.

Jubilation 25 demonstrates the richness and time evolution I associate with classical, French perfumery, but its twist is that it screws with traditional categories. To call it a spicy, floral, oriental, herbal, fruity chypre does capture a lot of the ground this fragrance covers, but it doesn’t really narrow things down. Part of this is the way it plays out over time. Its top notes are a rosy frankincense & myrrh---and is that cardamom? Cumin? But even before that, its tippy-top notes include a licoricy tarragon, and have a tingly feel similar to aldehyedes. But as soon as I got the tip-top, they faded. Its expansive opening reminded me of Tauer’s Incense Rosé, but the top really just ushers in a balsamic, woody set of notes that have a choral hum to them and give J 25 warmth. The fruit starts to kick in here, but it matches the woodiness. The fruit is broad and rich, but not sweet. It’s sort of an interesting fruit, too. You know the way classic white florals suggest abstract floral qualities without seeming like any particular flower you’ve ever smelled? Similarly, this is an idealized fruit. It’s a plumy, peachy scent. I think its success here is that it has both the scent of the skin of a fruit before you’ve bitten into it and the ripe flesh. Not over-ripe. I know I’m dwelling on the fruit here, but it’s the key. This is ripe in that it has a strong ‘flavor’ to it, but doesn’t have that feeling of fruit that’s started to turn (Diorella, Femme.) Fruit is the component that ties this scent’s upper register with its drydown.

Disclosure: I love fruity chypres. Y, Diorella, Mitsouko, Cristalle, Chanel pour Homme, Chinatown. I find fruity chypres exceedingly expressive and balanced. They can emphasize green, mossy, sweet, bitter, herbal and still remain true to that spectacular feel of the chypre chord.

Fruity chypre is where Jubilation 25 winds up. When the dry fruit enters, the moss comes on slowly and overtakes the woodiness and instead of harmonizing with the fruit, plays a counterpoint to it. Everything I love about the drydown of fruity chypres, Chinatown in particular, is here, but Jubilation 25 keeps its own identity. If there’s amber in the drydown, I’m mistaking it for a whisper of the frankincense. Dry and confidently stark. This concise drydown makes me feel like the circus-like opening belonged to another fragrance entirely, but one that I’d love to try again.

29th November, 2010. (Last Edited: 5th December, 2010.)

How many times have I smelt and tested this and not written a review. Profumo by Acqua di Parma, The Party In Manhattan , Mitsouko ( the vintage ) and Jubilation 25 can all join hands and say "we belong to the same family ,we are siblings" ....because they are.
Rich chypres with Jubilation having a touch of a Chanel No.5 vibe. Jubilation 25 is a grand perfume ,so smooth ,exquisite. This is real perfume , golden perfume drops on skin, melds and becomes an olfactory wonder. I simply must have some .

11th September, 2010.

A rich, joyous jubilant scent that can't help but make you smile. Floral, spicy (but not too) and very feminine. Lasts a long, long time and the scent intensifies for several hours after application before it begins its beautiful drydown. Tarragon is prominent for a bit as is cumin, but this is mostly a seamless blend. Has a trashy cousin in Gucci Rush, but they really are quite different with the Rush being much more brash and harsh. Strongly recommend sampling J25. Next to Gold, their best yet. Must possess and have resigned myself to eating cat food in my senior years as my retirement fund has been looted for the perfume gods! Expensive.

11th August, 2010.

I think others have summed this fragrance up nicely. I am left feeling uncertain about Jubilation 25, so perhaps I need to give it another try. I'll share my initial impressions anyhow after recently receiving a few samples of the fragrance.

Jubilation 25 does open as a pleasant mixture of rose, spice, incense and some smoke. One aspect about J25 that I like is the absence of nearly all aldehydes...no sharp harsh opening here...nothing medicinal or sanitizing at all about this fragrance. I found the opening notes to be very appealing and soothing...very animalic and a bit dirty but balanced with sweet spicy and floral notes that were not overbearing in any way...very smooth.

Like others have stated, I too wish that J25’s incense and animalic notes lasted longer, perhaps through the middle and definitely through the dry down phases. I agree that once the pleasant opening faded, the scent progressed into an extremely mediocre floral aroma with remnants of wood, slight amber and resin. Throughout my evening, I continually received wafts of "what's that aroma" from Jubilation 25...but overall I'd consider it a nice dry down with pretty good sillage.

However, "what is that predominant note" pressed on me throughout the night-smile. Because J25 is overall smooth, seamless and effortless-truly a perfume whose sum is greater than its individual parts-it was hard for me to identify every note. For me, the fragrance ended on a floral and woody note...lasted as I am typing this some 8 hours later! I would have to conclude that the predominance was one of moss, wood or resin in the end...really long lasting but too one dimensional for me. I found myself wishing that the opening chypre notes would return because I became bored with the singularity of wood & resin.

All in all, Jubilation 25 is a nice fragrance but I don't think I'm ready for a full bottle-smile...probably a good thing given the hefty price tag on this one!

20th April, 2010.