The end of summer (and more Amouage)

Depending on how you view it, today could have been the last day of summer. Some people think of summer being the three months of June, July and August; others' view is that summer officially ends at the autumn equinox, which I think is somewhere around the 21st of September.

Irrespective, here in the UK summer may as well be over. In fact, I can't honestly say that it ever started. Such is the capriciousness of British weather.

Yesterday I encountered Amouage's Honour Man and Women. Typically, Amouage have released another duo of fragrances. This isn't a proper review, as I've only tried these once, but my initial impression is that I like Honour Man, but Honour Women is a stinker. Not literally, but it is a white fruity floral, and I can only handle so many of those in a ubiquitious world of feminine fruity florals. Admittedly, I am hardly in the best position to comment on this style, but the lady who showed Honour Woman summed it up most aptly when she said that it would make the perfect bridal scent. And to be be fair, I am sure Honour Woman is good, but it is so not my style.

So what about Honour Man? I liked its strong peppery opening, as well as the smooth incense and woods dry down. I prefer it initially to recent Amouage releases, such as Opus IV and Memoir, although there is still something in Honour that bears some resemblance to the aforementioned, something faintly fruity-sweet, which I didn't like. Still, it's a decent fragrance, but in a slightly cynical way, I can't help feeling that Amouage has shot it's bolt somehow. I just don't think that the recent releases are reaching the heights of some of their classics, for example Lyric, Jubilation, Dia and Gold. Then again, it was a hard act to follow.