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An Olfactive Escape with Amouage

An Olfactive Escape with Amouage

Anne Kurian
  • On its newest olfactory journey, Amouage has unveiled four new fragrances under the Odyssey Collection. Escape, the new chapter, pays tribute to the mesmerizing Masirah Island

There are luxury brands. And there is Amouage. One of the finest brands to come out of Oman, Amouage encompasses the essence of Oman through complex and distinctive olfactory creations. Founded in 1983, the luxury perfume house rose to the echelons of fine perfumery – a niche space occupied by few. Over the years, Amouage has taken its discerning clients and cognoscenti through extraordinary olfactive journeys treating them to the art of high perfume-making. 

The latest and mesmerising journey that the luxury perfume house is bringing to its clients is the next chapter in The Odyssey Collection – Escape. A glorious celebration of Oman’s most revered natural resource, Frankincense, the unifying ingredient of the collection, Escape features four thoughtfully crafted fragrances. 

Renaud Salmon, Chief Experience Officer, Amouage

Born out of the creative sketches of Amouage’s Chief Experience Officer, Renaud Salmon, the Odyssey Collection – Escape takes inspiration from Masirah island, the idyllic desert island 20 kilometres off central Oman’s coastline. Salmon, an avid traveller and lover of Oman’s landscape, visited Masirah Island right after Covid restrictions were lifted and this is where the Escape silhouette took shape. 

Amouage worked with perfumers Quentin Bisch, Karine Vinchon-Spehner, and Alexis Grugeon to create the quartet – Lineage, Search, Guidance, and Purpose. Each creation is ensconced in pastel-coloured glass bottles that resonate with the quintessence of the fragrance. 

Has a more befitting ode been made to the beautiful island of Masirah? We are going to be bold and say Amouage surely leads the way. 

Lineage 

Perfumer: Karine Vinchon-Spehner

The warm, salty winds of Masirah Island shaped Lineage. Warm ginger, Sichuan pepper, and saffron come alive in the opening bars of the perfume. This is followed by the golden notes of frankincense, myrrh, and fenugreek. The final phase brings together the earthiness of vetiver and patchouli wrapped around by Benzoin and Labdanum. 

Search

Perfumer: Alexis Grugeon

While wandering through Masirah, Salmon came across food being prepared with loomi (dried lemon in Arabic) or dried black local lemons, something which has always fascinated the creative head of Amouage. This impelled him to speak with over 20 different perfumers in a bid to create a long-lasting lemon-based fragrance – clearly not an easy task. Salmon then received a fragrance from a young perfumer, Alexis Grugeon who told him that he not only used lemon but also combined the notes of lime and tangerine along with Frankincense in the creation. Smoky cade, guaiacwood, and vetiver form the base of the citrusy Search. 

Guidance

Perfumer: Quentin Bisch

Rose, Frankincense, and Ambergris come together in Guidance, a beautiful olfactive symphony from Amouage and perfumer, Quentin Bisch. The fragrance opens to the notes of Pear, Frankincense, and Hazelnut. What follows is a bouquet of floral earthiness from Rose, Jasmine Sambac, and Saffron. What completes this exquisite amalgamation of notes are sandalwood, ambergris, and warm vanilla. 

Purpose

Perfumer: Quentin Bisch

Amouage refers to purpose as a shamanic awakening, the scent of feeling at peace, of finding your roots, of being complete. It’s difficult not to agree. A fragrance that holds a lot of complexity through its ingredients, Purpose opens with a warm hug of the notes of Frankincense, Peppercorns, and Bergamot. Rose, sand vetiver and sandalwood beautifully balance the spicy warmth. The notes comprising suede, saffron, and incense-y Mystikal come together as the base. 

Chef Thomas Bühner

A Night To Remember

Amouage The Odyssey Collection – Escape was unveiled exclusively to select media and guests at a specially curated dinner held in Al Baleed Resort Salalah by Anantara. Three Michelin-star and celebrity chef Thomas Bühner from Germany worked with the team at Amouage to create a stunning culinary spread that paid homage to the Odyssey Collection. Chef Bühner started working with the team of Amouage a few months before the launch to come up with the flavours and dishes that would be served at the special dinner. Chef Bühner who was based in Germany was sent the four fragrances a couple of months in advance to prepare for the launch dinner. He then proceeded to work with the brief provided by Renaud Salmon, taking inspiration from the ingredients and stories of each fragrance. While the dinner was an exceptional experience for the guests, Chef Bühner described his experience of creating the grand dinner and working with Amouage as “mind-blowing.” 

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