Ormonde Man
Ormonde Jayne (2004)

I would buy it if I had more money in my bank account because it’s very nice but also a little airy. Maybe due to the fact that I only have a sample vial, but at times I can almost feel it in the back of my nose where a sneeze starts, without smelling it. …If that makes sense. Like walking into someone's room and you can tell they should open a window immediately because the air is stagnant. This gives me a very pleasant version of that stuffy feeling. I’m guessing it was the Oud. That theme continued as the (i think) ironically named “Man,” drifted more in the (smell of a place) category, than the (scent of a person) direction.

There is pink juniper but for me, It's really tied up with the cedar for a more calm pine sap. Don't see the "pine" note and run; This is light and polite. Initial Douglas fir pine sap but that leans back into a softer sweet wood like teak getting hit by the sun. Pillowy, non offensive pencil shavings.

Eventually I had to go about my day so I put on a beeswax chapstick and lavender deodorant and thought everything went together quite well. Very adaptable, very clean. It actually gets a hint of a soap smell just at the end of a deep inhale that I really like. Then it hit me, Buttered Soft Pretzel from the mall. I get a lot of butter. A hint of warm salted sweet bread. Very nice.

-Failed Oud Comparison-
When I grabbed Oud For Greatness, even just handling the bottle got that initial fruity blast completely overpowering this scent. I didn't even put OFG on my body but it just became so apparent that these are meant for two different people. Man really is a beautiful expensive smelling scent that can ground you in a clean quiet loving space. Oud For Greatness by contrast might compel your neighbors to walk over and knock on your door.

If you like this but want more offense, try Parfums De Marly Pegasus.
I would love to know a budget alternative. I can’t think of one.

Wonderful fragrance, I've been wearing it for many years.

For the Creed lovers, imagine Baie de Genievre and Royal Oud had a baby, you get Ormonde Man.

The Juniper is so nice in the opening, and it lasts for about 45-60 min on me and transitions to that black hemlock which is so smoothe. The (dry) cedar slowly creeps in and takes over for the rest of the drydown. Wonderful, wonderful scent.

I get about 8 hours, airy, etheral quality not assaulting your nose with every breath but make a movement and it reminds you it's still there.

Lovely spicy opening with pepper and cardamom. Would be a thumbs up if the performance was better.

Ormonde Man by Ormonde Jayne (2004) is the flagship masculine from the high-concept British luxury niche perfume house run by Linda Pilkington and is perfumed by Geza Schön/Shoen. Like everything this house has done since, Ormonde Man contains exotic notes claimed to be from materials rarely used in perfume, and wears very natural whether or not this is due to clever artifice or not. You have to like peppery wood fragrances similar to what Commes de Carçons is known for, plus that scratchy bit of woody-amber that Tom Ford introduced to the West as the oud accord of Yves Saint Laurent M7 (2002) in order to fully appreciate Ormonde Man, and barring those, the extreme "cold spice" treatment of the heart. Also, there's the bit about price, as Ormonde Jayne approaches Creed territory in terms of end user cost at retail, but some deals do abound in the gray market for the frugal gourmet niche collector. Ormonde Jayne overall seems to slip through the cracks for being understated as a brand while the UK seems absolutely rife with all these high-price pretentious luxury houses.

The opening of Ormonde Man is pretty direct with it's use of aldehydes and black pepper. A rouder and thicker pink pepper also enters later as the opening smooths just a bit with a green cardamom and coriander seed, being all pepper and spice that eventually gives space to the oud accord that is the heart. Supposedly black hemlock is here, and hemlock is a poison coming from a flower that in micro-doses can cause delirium (like if inhaled), so I doubt it is being used here but there are no flowery notes anyway so it doesn't matter. Smoky vetiver with a bit of musk mallow and pencil shavings woody notes round out the base, and projection dulls after 4 hours to be a peppery barely-there ambiance depsite such a take-no-prisoners opening. Wear time is about eight hours, and overall this is very unabashedly masculine, with zero sweet or friendliness for the dating scene or casual encounters. Best use is formal in fall or winter for me, but I could also see this being a "bad boy" scent with a leather jacket thanks to the smokiness and dark demeanor overall in Ormonde Man.

Geza Shön really just does his usual abstract thing here, and if I smelled this without seeing the bottle, I would not peg it as Ormonde Jayne or any particular brand, but could see someone like Geza composing it, or maybe Bertrand Duchaufour, who can sometimes also have a very ascetic style when working for conceptual houses like this. Do I think this is worth the price? Well, I like it better than M7, and since stuff like Bang! by Marc Jacobs (2010) is close to the same price because it is discontinued, Ormonde Man sort of becomes a de facto choice due to it still being readily available without haggling down scalpers. I like dry woody fragrances and the "oud" here isn't causing a sneeze fit like Tom Ford Oud Wood (2007), so while Ormonde Man isn't a must-get fragrance, it could be an alternative to something like Creed Royal Oud (2011), since it dwells in similar piquant environs at a slightly nicer price. Classy, controlled, with a nice dark streak if you have the coin to spare. Thumbs up.

This is a good fragrance for me. And in the opening it is really great. Spicy cardamom (which I don't normally find spicy, but it lends here), with some coriander, a smear of pink pepper and some powdery waxy fatty aldehydes, built on an airy base of vetiver, in the vein of dry bitter leaves. I found the performance a bit light after the first hour. It initially feels like it will have heft, but the airy nature takes over, and it fizzles.

Love this one. A nice low key but noticeable woody/coniferous scent.

Would love this as an office work scent. May have to go back to work just to rock this.

Very nicely blended...the black hemlock is a lovely and pronounced note. If there is oud, it's the vey well behaved type. No real sharp edges on this one.

Pretty decent longevity on me. Sillage seems about average.

Classy for sure and stands out to me as different and distinct from most of my scents and the usual masculine "work style" scents.

Ormande Jayne needs to do some more masculines!