Agar Blend
Davidoff (2015)

Mmm...cinnamon oud!

I'm tempted to label this a gourmand oud fragrance. The clove, pepper, benzoin (unlisted above) and cinnamon have a spicy sweet quality to them. Oud ends up coming across as bright as these ingredients touch up its edges with the spicy sweetness, warmed down by the calming amber in the base. In hindsight, the notes in the fragrance triangle make sense in creating this appealing oud experience. It is similar to oud outings by Armani and Zegna, though the oud is not smoldering and smoky like in Gucci, Commes des Garcons, and Tom Ford oud formulations.

I read a review elsewhere that compares this to Jean Paul Gaultier's Ultra Male; I agree that Davidoff's Agar Blend starts out being louder and echoing beast mode scents like UM, but upon drydown it has only a bare resemblance thereafter. I also see a resemblance between Agar Blend and Paco Rabanne Invictus and 1 Million, which have a similarly bold woody-spicy-sweet character. This is good to know for prospective buyers of Agar Blend: If you are okay with those Paco Rabanne scents, then this one will work nicely for you.

In the end, AB is warm and mellow, celebrating the sweeter profile of the multi-faceted oud mystique.

Since trying and loving Leather Blend, I've been itching to try the other extant Blends from Davidoff--Agar, Amber, Wood--and am pleased to try Agar.

This is a nice sweet oud fragrance, a blend that starts out sharp and dries down sweet, opening with more of the spicy elements of clove, pepper, and it dries down with a healthy dose of amber and guaiac.

It's spicy and sweet throughout, the amber coming out especially to give a creamy / sweet aspect.

Performance is strong and if it can be found at a good price, this is a worthy buy. At one point, Agar and Leather Blends were available on the US site for Notino at around $60 for 100ml, but the site has since shut down its US operations, and so the scents have again become de facto Middle East exclusives. Is it worth $200? Probably not. But $60? Surely.

8 out of 10

This is an amazing juice from the house of Davidoff IMO. I believe Davidoff may be going for a Tom Ford Private Blend type of set up where you can mingle the scents together to create your own fragrance. Or maybe I am reading to much into this line... there are three scents in this line Leather Blend (Awesome juice), Amber Blend (Waiting on) and Agar Blend.
The Agar Blend on its own is bottle worthy based on the depth of the incensey vibe along with the cinnamon and clove combo over an outstanding, yet not overpowering Oud which is slightly medicinal to start with for sure.
Now if you layer or "blend" the Leather Blend and Agar Blend you end up with Tom Ford Extreme. I have all three juices and you honestly can't tell them apart. Now I know a lot of people don't like layering and what not just throwing that out there for everyone...
On it's own merits, I find this to be a winner due to the price being well under $100 US for a 100 ml bottle and the quality. Enjoy!