Derby Club House Ascot
Armaf

This is really quite lovely. You get an herbal "cola" accord buttressed by tobacco and a strong incense note. For the price, it's a steal.

I was in Bergdoffs recently and went on a sniffing spree. I headed str8 towards the Amouages. After smelling everything available I was struck by Epic Man. Epic man is one of Amouages more formal fragrances that I fell in love with after applying it to my skin. A lot of Niche fragrances share a similar vibe but i find that Epic man stood out to me. Its an incense rich bomb that smells just beautiful.

I just kept feeling as though Ive smelled it before. Then it hit me...It smells very close to Ascot.

Ascot is very heavy on incense (i know there is none listed in the note breakdown but the combo of notes create a incensey vibe), tobacco and thick dark Amber. It's everything I love...Its boldly masculine, dark, resinous, with lots of depth and density. It lasts for 9 hours on my skin with very strong sillage. What i truly love is its complexity. This is no high school kiddie frag. This scent is for a boss. To me the blending in this is very well done. It is a Eau De toilette but upon spraying you would swear it was an EDP. It has a depth that most EDTs don't have.

A knock on it is it can be a 'hard to wear' scent as its not the most versatile. It's strictly a cold weather scent ( u could get away with it during the spring nights too) that doesn't fit a lot of occasions. This is definitely not a skeleton key fragrance. IMO versatility doesn't hurt fragrances just adds to them. So if a scent is versatile, that adds to its rating but I'd not take points from a fragrance because it's not. If it smells great, gets compliments and performs, even if its not versatile, it can still be a perfect scent to me (for example Terre De hermes Eau Tres Fraiche). I'd not say this is a perfect scent but its definitively a scent that will "WOW" some people.

Simply Put... For the price you pay and the quality of this scent, it's a steal.

8/10- If u are a fan of Middle Eastern perfumery and want a scent which isn't heavy on OUD or just loves incense based fragrances this is a must try.