Tribute Attar
Amouage (2009)

Tribute's mentholated beginning is unexpected. There's an herbaceous minerality that is likely tobacco, followed by a slightly alcoholic astringency that, coupled with the smoke, takes on a camphorous and elixir-like quality. The attar's opening notes are its most addictively medicinal and perhaps the most off-putting for some. This is a concentrated oil, after all, and so the way in which the attar's concentration slowly opens up and diffuses into its leather, takes time, patience, and intrigue.

I place one drop on each wrist, as well as one on each lapel of my wool jacket. If others reject this scent's potency as inimical to office wear, I take the other perspective. Traveling to work, whether in your car, on your bike, or on a train, becomes a ritual that cherishes our waking moments. What I like about attars in general is that instead of enveloping you in a soft bubble–or a monstrous, “beast-mode” cloud–they resonate with the subtle power and dignity of having been anointed. One feels that perhaps the only way to apply this attar is to do so while taking a knee. What happens afterward (buttoning your jacket, heading out the door) takes on mystic proportions that the thinness of perfume spray can never replicate.

Where is the rose? Where is the frankincense? Batch variations lead me to think that perhaps I don't have the best of what Tribute could or has offered. Still, I don't wear Tribute to smell anything in particular. I wear it to induce a mood that evolves while recurring its various leitmotifs (solitude, nature, the moon in the early afternoon) for around 6 hours. In my mind, I'm not entirely sure I'd double its duration if given the chance. Not everything has to last forever. Tributes are small gifts of great value that indicate the worth of the receiver while signaling the wealth of the giver. Amouage's discontinued creation does this and is dignified enough to do nothing else.

The Red Box version is definitely a bit softer and a tiny bit rosier (especially in the dry down), while the Black Box version is definitely smokier and somewhat darker. I think it was sciencegirl who said the Red Box was a cigar to the Black Box' cigarette. I think this is a perfect analogy. They are both really amazing if you are into smokey, campfire scents. They also feel a bit monolithic to me, with not enough changes to keep me interested indefinitely, so neither is something I would invest in, ALTHOUGH, the longer I wear them and the softer they become, the more I find myself thinking, "Hmm, maybe..."

Now that a few hours have gone by, I (pure blasphemy, I know) actually enjoy the Black Box version a bit more than the Red Box. BB is a bit less sweet, and seems to emphasize the frankincense more. (By the end of the day, I'll probably have reversed my position, so take my impressions here with a large grain of sea salt!)

This has so many things I love in a fragrance hitting my nose right from the start...I get the dirty and smoky orange rind that some people mention , but it lurks behind other facets...for me to get some enjoyment from that note i have to take a slow deep inhale and pause to catch on to it...dark/brooding/gothic/smoky are some of the descriptors that come to mind...an overall animalic feel...no civet or castoreum or anything along those lines...more of just an overall sense of wild feral animals roaming a dark wood with an ocassional wild rose blooming here and there...deep/rich/dark tobacco leaves...leather is there too...there's seems to be a lot of people out there that put this fragrance up on a pedestal, call it an oriental masterpiece and claim they found their holy grail...well, I have to say , I understand where they are coming from cause I'm on board with that...one of the most awesome fragrances I've ever smelled...get some great wood tones as it dries down...and, it goes without saying, this has a tremendous sprinkling of incense throughout...another one for my wish list... ( I do have a small decant what I believe was the most current version )...not a harsh smoke in this to my nose...more of a sweet smoke...IMHO , I think that Myths Man and Interlude Man are a sort of offshoot of this blueprint....mysterious deep dark rich smoky orientals...but that's just me...oh, and overall...this was definitely a incense/tobacco/leather scent to my nose...the rose did not really stand out for me...it's there, but not a key player to me..

Another admirer. Smoke, leather, and tobac kind of like what you get in a good strong lapsang souchong tea at remarkable density. It's not meaty though. Flowers or incense? Perhaps, but in this mix they don't pop for me.

An absolute favorite.

edit#1 - Among the very best tobacco scent I've ever owned.

Wearing Tribute Attar (from the black box, at least) makes me smell like a cigarette smoker, but an especially good-smelling one. I like it.

It's not perfect, but it's quite interesting. It is something I would be interested in wearing from time to time. I would feel confident of making a positive impression wearing this. It's strong and memorable. It's an exciting sampling experience. It is crazy smoky, in a good way, borderline overboard, but just the right side of tasteful. An enthusiastic thumbs up for this nuclear-strength, smoky, tobacco bomb.

Stardate 20171115:

I was looking forward to this. I think my expectations were way too high as this did not meet them.
Smoke and cedar without the dryness. And after a while rose shows up.
A very well constructed attar but I do not feel the urge to wear it. No chemistry with me.