Enclave
Amouage (2020)

I have had an official sample from Amouage for a couple of years now, I can't believe I did not try this fragrance until more recently. That is the problem when you have a shit ton of fragrances along with samples.

Enclave to my surprise is a very nice & well constructed fragrance. It opens up with a beautiful spearmint & chocolate note. More so like those Andes chocolate mint thins? For those who know what they are, that is the smell I get & it is absolutely beautiful to my nose! The cardamom is very well blended as well as the other notes.

From what started as a fresh almost gourmand like opening going into the mid, the base starts to creep in & becomes a more earthy fragrance with the vetiver & patchouli coming into play. The cardamom remains throughout the base along with the vetiver & patchouli. I get no leather (thank goodness) as I can do without that note, especially with this fragrance, I was happy with how long this last on my skin. 8 hours if not a little more with medium projection. You will get noticed. This could be an all year round fragrance. Although, I think this will shine best in spring & autumn. It could also be a signature scent as well.

On the other hand, fans of this brand may be disappointed with this release as it is not the typical, strong, smokey, oudy middle eastern fragrance that their nose is used to. I personally think it fits their library as they need a fragrance or 5 like this to offset their normal themes. They have produced fresher fragrances over the years that are more designerish, yet still niche quality. This is one of them.

Every year for my birthday I always buy myself a new bottle of perfume & it normally expensive, this has just been added to one of the contenders for my birthday fragrance this year! :)

Really enjoyable opening that manages to showcase the childish note of spearmint and make it somehow sophisticated and alluring, the spearmint is supported by crowd pleasing spices, Enclave has a silky mid of faint Rose and cardamon that in all honesty gives off a designer perfume vibe... but without feeling cheap, it's just I've smelt these combinations in cheaper options, the dominating base of Amber extreme is "extremely" familiar from fragrances like layton and jpg le male parfum , in those it can make me feel nauseous but here it is blended better with vetiver and labdanum to curve those nose piercing sharp tones, Enclave is airy and at times dry with high quality naturals blended with modern synthetics superbly, I get average performance and good versatility, this is a crowd pleaser for sure.

Airy scent quite boring

Doesn't feel like an Amouage

Mint and Cardamom

not much else around here

As a business move, I get it. It's in the company's best interest to have a scent like Enclave for people who stumble into Neiman Marcus looking for Bleu de Chanel and accidentally land at the Amouage counter.

Is it terrible? No. Enclave was clearly carefully crafted to include bits and pieces of popular men's scents - the pine from Sauvage, the milky coffee from YSL L'Homme, the vanilla from One Million - and it's all tied together by a wintergreen topnote that reminds me of Aqua Velva aftershave. Given time, it opens up into a papyrus/tobacco middle that's a clever reference to the house's iconic Reflection Man. Of course, there's a cheap "woody amber" aquatic drydown, too, and a loud aquatic buzz that surrounds everything. Care was clearly put into this, but it's just not an artful genre.

I'm a snob, so I'm voting thumbs down, but if you're into this type of scent and have money to burn, Enclave is fine.

This fragrance opens with a strong mentholated mint note, which can be harsh and abrasive for some. However, it is balanced with a sweet labdanum base note. Despite this, the mint note still dominates and overshadows any other notes in the fragrance. It feels like Amouage is attempting to create a niche version of Versace Eros, but the result is a sharper and more unnatural scent. The sillage of the fragrance is good, but it can be overpowering for some.

While some may be able to pull this fragrance off, it's not for everyone. Personally, I find it too strong and harsh, and would prefer if the mint note was toned down. Overall, it's a pass for me.

Enclave goes on skin with a light, fresh spearmint with hints of soft cinnamon and cardamom spice before gradually transitioning to its heart. As the composition enters its early heart the natural smelling spearmint remains, continued to be supported by the soft cinnamon and cardamom spice, but now also supported by translucent floral rose and warm saffron. This slightly fiery "red hots" overall accord gradually cedes to at first a supporting vague synthetic woody amber accord that increases in intensity over time to take over the starring role about midway into the heart. During the late dry-down the synthetic woody amber accord dominates, as the rose and mint vacate, leaving remnants of the saffron and cardamom spice remaining in support through the finish. Projection is excellent, and longevity outstanding at nearly 20 hours on skin.

When I heard Julien Rasquinet was the perfumer behind Enclave, I was excited. Mr. Rasquinet is a real up-and-comer, with already outstanding compositions like The Moon by Frederic Malle under his belt. If capable of that kind of work among many others of interest, Enclave should be a safe bet, no? Well, in a word, "*No.*" Things start off well enough, with a pretty enticing natural smelling spearmint and warm spice open... But when the spearmint and warm spice join a thin, transparent rose in the early heart the composition begins to smell like fiery red hots candy, but with an odd soft detergent-like floral bent. Things go from bad to worse when the *real* star of the show arrives... a vague synthetic smelling woody amber accord that starts off in the background, but gradually takes control and overpowers most of the other notes, save the warm spice. The bottom line is the $340 per 100ml bottle Enclave is probably the talented Julien Rasquinet's worst work, earning a "poor" 2 stars out of 5 rating and an avoid recommendation.