[red]This little mini review/reflection on *Opôné* is dedicated to my good friend evogel/Eric, who always generously provides timely, thoughtful, urbane, and enlightening accounts of the many fragrances he is familiar with. How lucky we are on this board to have someone whos a true connoisseur. I always learn from each and every one of his posts. In this case, we seem to be on the same page, and I fear my account might be a little redundant, but hear it goes anyway.[/red]
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[blue]In *Opôné*, the saffron note is tightly blended with rose, spices, and wood notes, and what an exquisite, dry combination the achieved accord is. Dry yet luscious at the same time thanks to the rose (Rosa damascena, in this case), astringent yet perfectly balanced between the sweetness lusciousness of the rose and the astringent, woodsy spicy elements of the saffron echoed in the spice and wood notes themselves. Its simple, and its very Mediterranean in its simplicity, but as with all such simplicity, you wonder how such a combination works to produce such magic. This Mediterranean ethos is a decided and calculated ethos with Diptyque; their original founders were very much influenced and galvanized by their travels in Greece and the Mediterranean region in general.
Furthermore, *Opôné*, like all Diptyque fragrances, starts off strong and finishes strong, and, like most Diptyque fragrances, it doesnt evolve much, which is fine by me because it smells so beautiful right out of the bottle. Diptyque fragrances have such presence and such an amazing tenacity. Theyre pure, honest, and theres a clarion quality to the tonality of their ingredients. *Opôné*, like all Diptyque fragrances, is intense from the first moment you spray it on to the last moment right before it fades, and Diptyque fragrances work like certain batteries which provide optimum performance and then all of a sudden just die out. Ive never sampled scents with such redoubtable presence. I think the fact the company first made candles before it made scents might have a lot to do with the fact that their fragrances are a lot like their candles: they have amazing, redolent output right till they burn out.
For a similar experience of Saffron, Rose, and woods (in this case oudh), minus the spices, one should try Czech & Speakes *Dark Rose*, if one can find it.
*Opôné* is in my top twenty fragrances of all time Vibrant_Violet. I would echo Eric's comment and say, if you love rose as a key element in an accord, you'll more than likely love *Opôné*, which is, IMO, one of a handful of the truly great rose-based fragrances ever created.
Regards,
scentemental[/blue]
