OPUS XIV ROYAL TOBACCO

2022

PERFUMER
Cecile Zarokian

Cardamom
Elemi
frankincense
Basil
Bergamot
Anise

Tobacco
Prunol
liquorice
Orange Blossom
Fenugreek
Rose
Lavender
Osmanthus

Birch Tar
Bourbon Vanilla
frankincense
Peru Balsam
Benzoin
Labdanum
Guaiac Wood
Oud
Musk
Myrrh
Vetiver
Tonka Bean

Royal Tobacco opens more on the dry side. It’s mostly spicy, but there’s a green, camphor, almost minty or celery scent (the fenugreek maybe?). Others have mentioned how prominent the liquorice seems to be and I agree 100%. The opening is all about a sweet, spicy, smoky liquorice.

There is some warmth and quite a lot sweetness straight away. Based on what I heard, I was unsure if I would enjoy it, but it’s sweet enough to counter the facets that I would usually not love. It’s surprisingly easy to wear considering its direction.

Royal Tobacco feels rounded. Incense is Amouage’s trademark and it shines here, creating a very resinous smooth experience.

I get a lot of cardamom and hints of lavender. The whole ordeal is quite smoky. It’s heavier on the smokiness than most popular niche tobacco scents, but not as heavy as a Hiram Green Hyde or some of the more daring Areej Le Dore that I’ve tried for example.

The sweetness builds and builds. It’s an ambery, woody sweetness, that feels more airy, than you get in ‘Tobacco Vanille-esque’ scents. Smoky touches remain and I might even go as far as mentioning a medicinal quality; like a cough syrupy sweetness. The more I smell it, the more I perceive it as strong tobacco (I initially didn’t as much).

To my nose it’s somewhat of a mixture between a tobacco, a dry wood and the benzoin overload from Material (a lot of people liken Royal Tobacco to Silver Oud, but that’s one of the few Amouages that I haven’t tried at the time of writing). It’s a lot darker and smokier, perhaps more mature and less modern than Boundless; another Amouage tobacco from this era. It feels like a good mixture of the ‘old Amouage’ and the ‘new Amouage’.

While not my personal favorite style of tobacco fragrance, it’s a great scent that grew on me. I can see it becoming a highlight in the brand’s line-up in years to come.