I greatly dislike Bijan, it'd badly dated, and has a repugnant character that smells cheap and extremely tacky. It's like an industrial strength bathroom freshener used in a cheap greek diner's mens room. 48 hour longevity, and ridiculous sillage.
Black Afghano is ok, but doesn't smell at all like Hashish. It's just a dark smokey scent with very little optimism or charm. It's like a chain smoker who is also dirty. Outstanding longevity and sillage, but so does being a chain smoker.
Interlude Man is not quite to the level of a nuclear sillage bomb as the others, but it does have great sillage and positively outstanding longevity. The most interesting thing about it's longevity, is that for days, it is never linear.....it evolves even after 24 hours. Plus, it's a far more charming, wonderfully multifaceted scent, with a full developemnt that takes well past a single day.
For the first few days, you may smell aspects of the smokiness from Memoir Man, or the fruity resinous spiciness similar to Jubilation XXV, as well as a bit of the fruit from OPUS IV. the fruitiness is the most undermentioned part of Interlude man. The Oregano and allspice are likewise the most overmentioned aspects of it. Perhaps there was a batch difference from early batches, but Oregano never sticks out too much at all...it serves as a natural balance to the sweetness and a natural anchor for the composition to float above. And the allspice is not eugenol, it's a very dry, full-on-woody smell of all the aspects of grinding whole allspice, including the woody and medicinal aspects.
Then it moves away from smokey fruitiness, towards a strong "japanese incense accord" not unlike CDG Kyoto with a hint of something like Pal Zileri's Sartoriale or Bogart's City Tower, but smokier, woodier, and much more natural. It smells like opening a box of Shoyeido Nan-Zan, in a room that had oud chips burned in it, at this stage. This stage persists longer on my skin, but on clothing the smokey incense never outshines any other notes.
Then the lower heart and upper base are similar to the weight, radiance, and darkness of vintage M7, with a very purplish-red resinous quality from labdanum and myrrh. or perhaps even more leaning towards something more vanillic like Dior Homme Intense or spicebomb. It still has a woody/herbal quality to it, and I've seen a reviewer call this "the niche A*men", and it does have a pronounced gourmand aspect balanced with patchouli.....but the comparison is like comparing Ferregamo's Incanto Essential to Creed's Erolfa. Same genre.....entirely different leagues. Interlude has this sort of dark tangy Patchouli with a hint of Oregano still lingering. This resinous, dark, mysterious, and slightly gourmand stage is my favorite, and fortuneately, on fabric, a VERY long lasting stage.
The dry woodiness and smokiness then comes in heavier as the sweetness subsides slightly, and this dry woody/smokey aspect is always accompanied by a thick resinous aspect, as well as sweetness. It is not a dry, weak ashtray like Memoir man, or a pure black, stubbornly stern smoke like Black Afgahno, it is pleasant and charming, sweet, but never too much so, even at the sweetest stage, where it may lead you to believe it might get too sweet/gourmand.
Let Interlude man develop for several days, and you will very clearly smell the other end of Opus IV in it, even moreso than the fruitniess in the top evoked from Opus IV. Thankfully, it has only a tiny taste of Opus IV's cumin, that doesn't present itself until late in the 2nd day or early 3rd day of development on clothing. And there is also an excellent dry cedar note at this stage, to make things classier and more "western friendly"
So while the other two may get a slight edge in sillage or longevity, Interlude man, to me, is miles and miles ahead of them in appeal and composition. It's Amouage's best recent release, since their infatuation with smokey incense.
To be sure that's the one that permeates hallways for hours after the wearer has passed by
