I am a proud owner of Gold Cologne and absolutely love it! I was fortunate enough to get two bottle of the cologne and Silver Crystal in an amazing Ebay sale...
MORE IMPORTANTLY...I seem to be the lone dissenter in this group so far...My affair with Amouage began about 5 years ago when I first sampled it and figured it would make a killer bug spray, pun intended. I believe I had sampled the original Amouage Gold (not the cologne) at that time. I agree that the Amouage scents are quite unique and come from an entirely different sensibility about scent and a world of very different customs. I agree that the incense notes are nearly overwhelmin[ch65351] in the more concentrated fragrances.
Fast forward to about two years ago when I was standing in Bergdorf Goodman's sniffing their collection - The men's fragrance section in Bergdorf is ridiculously small and a number of the scents are not available for customers to try without asking a sales associate...they really need to revamp that little room! On a whim, I decided to pick up one of the Amouage scents and "try again"...I am a firm believer that our noses change as do our tastes, and some things I once loved, I now cannot wear and vice versa. I was tremendously surprised - something on my right wrist was deep, smooth, musky, and altogether intoxicating - it was Amouage. But which one? I hadn't looked at the bottle! Darn!
I finally ordered the sample pack from Amouage, and wouldn't you know it - the samples I tried were all old and had turned. I know the scent of starnge perfume and the scent of turned perfume, and these had definitely turned. Gone was my chance to test them out.
Finally, about a year ago, I found that bottle of Gold Cologne I mentioned earlier and decided to just go for it...Amouage is generally easy to swap or re-sell, so I figured it wasn't too big a risk. When the fragrance arrived it was indeed the scent I had tested at Bergdorf's and not nearly as harsh as I had remembered it. Perhaps the cologne is smoother, subtler...
Though I liked it, I knew that it wouldn't be an everyday kinda fragrance. The first time I wore it, I received numerous compliments from my students who thought it smelled like Japanese temple incense. The next time I wore it, one of my usually silent co-workers compimented me offering "I love musk scents. I want what you're wearing".
I recently wore the Gold Cologne again yesterday and this time I was the one who most enjoyed it - sniffing my shirt sleeves every now and then. I just couldn't get enough of it and decided to re-apply after my evening shower...something practically unheard of for me.
marlen