Boundless
Amouage (2021)

This fragrance takes inspiration from a variety of popular scents, such as Eau Des Baux, Tobacco Vanille, and Man in Black, but manages to create its own unique identity by incorporating more incense and myrrh. The cacao note in the drydown adds a nice touch to the overall composition. While it may not be worth the full retail price of around $250, it's one of Amouage's better fragrances and definitely worth sampling.

After a quick shot of sweet, Tom-Ford-esque tobacco, this quickly settles into a mix of cedar and cumin, quickly joined by frankincense. If I try really hard, I can smell little whiffs of ginger and cinnamon and something meaty, but it's really mostly the cedar/cumin/incense mix on me. In a way, this smells like a variation on Jubilation XXV, but XXV is smokier and its embellishments are more pronounced - XXV sparkles with fruits and spices, while Boundless is more of a woody incense lump in comparison.

Hours in, everything gets sweeter as the vanilla arrives. I expected an amber drydown based on the notes, but this is more like sawdust and press-board furniture with a sickly sweet undertone.

I'm wondering if I'm being mean in this review just because this doesn't hold up on comparison to Jubilation XXV, but I just don't think Boundless has much character or panache. I'll vote neutral because this certainly isn't bad, but I just don't find a lot here to fall in love with.

I write this at the turn of summer and Boundless is absolutely perfect for this time of year, the fragrance as the perfumer set out to achieve is golden and woody, the juicy blood orange and ginger combined with incense, guaiac, tobacco and spices really does capture the brief well, if your a seasoned collecter then Boundless shouldn't present anything new or challenging, it will remind you of many other similar fragrances, I can't help think of Spice bomb extreme and Tobacco vanille, that being said though boundless is perfectly balanced and of ultra high quality, the blending is of exceptional skill and craft, it performs fairly well too, like a warm golden aura with moderate projection and decent persistence, there is also a good scoop of high quality vanilla within the heart of this fragrance, I'm not usually a fan of vanilla, wearing boundless I came to realise i do like vanilla but only high quality vanilla....years of buying and selling sickly cheap vanilla fragrances put paid to that, the beautiful vanilla in Boundless is perfectly balanced against the woods to offer a cosy vibe without being cloying, overall a very crowd pleasing and well put together release by Amouage and a step into the familiar.

Boundless opens with sweet benzoin laced subtle dulled orange and peppery cardamom spice with underlying pipe-like tobacco rising from the base before transitioning to its heart. As the composition enters its early heart the tobacco remains and takes the fore, now shedding most of its sweetness and turning more dry as it is infused with a co-starring moderately synthetic smelling dry woody guaiac accord and relatively dry, smooth vanilla. During the late dry-down the tobacco vacates, as does the vast majority of the synthetic dry woods, leaving remnants of the dry vanilla as the sole focus through the finish. Projection is very good early but a skin scent for most of the perfume's slightly above average longevity of 8-9 hours on skin.

Amouage is a house that has majorly disappointed in the past decade, with the disappointments more frequent the past handful of years. As such, it was with great trepidation that I applied Boundless on skin, fully expecting another dud. Luckily for the first time in a while, Boundless impressed. In truth, there really is nothing new here, as spiced dry woody tobacco and vanilla concoctions have been done to death. That said, the perfume is skillfully composed on the whole, save the distinct evidence of a "vague synthetic woody accord" frequently found in a lot of similar perfumes, albeit much better tamed here. It just is nice to see Amouage getting past its always impressive looking bottles to actually contain some perfume I enjoy wearing, derivative or not. The bottom line is the $360 per 100ml Boundless actually is quite bounded to a perfume genre tackled all too many times, but the "very good" 3.5 stars out of 5 rated perfume separates itself from the pack with superior execution, earning a solid recommendation to fans of the spiced woody tobacco genre in particular.

Guaiac and vanilla. Reminds me of Memoirs of a Trespasser, though happily not as sweet as that. Nice enough soft woody thing but not for me I think.

An amalgam of contemporary synthetic amber, pipe tobacco, gourmand spices (which we'd seen a same thing in TF's Tobacco Vanille) and a few notes that reflect the style of Amouage; I also found parallels with Roja Dave's Enigma Pour Homme in its opening.
The amber accord in this perfume isn't only due to resin notes such as benzoin and myrrh, there is also a harsh chemical note here (which is common in today's perfumery as an amber/woody note. I've already mentioned it in my comment on 212 VIP Black); A warm, spiky, chlorine-smelling note, which of course has welcomed enthusiastically by the mass. The guys at Amouage have used it in Boundless so as not to miss the boat. I think Boundless doesn't have an independent identity. It's neither classic, nor modern, nor balmy, nor innovative and novel; Boundless remains indeterminate... It seems to be a mixture of several different perfumes.

P.S.
When I saw the natural aroma of tobacco singly in the last breaths of Boundless, I sighed as to why those harsh notes were used alongside it.