Epic 56 For Women

I have a bottle on the way so I think it's time to give epic 56 a proper review. it opens up surprisingly mellow, chokingly dry, and breathtakingly beautiful. Being more perfume oil than alcohol, this takes some time to show its character and project its notes compared to your standard perfume. the first 15-20 minutes showcases some very real smelling spices and woods. It is photorealistic pink pepper and cumin sitting in an old and weathered cupboard. After about half an hour, jasmine tea and a dark, saturated, and dramatic rose enters the spotlight. The tea smells freshly brewed and steaming, and the rose is dry, lightly sweet, and as dense as syrup. The drydown consists of everything in the opening and the mid, but with added depth and woods. Throughout the whole wearing of this perfume, there is a noticeably "pickle-like" sandalwood note that is spicy and almost savory. Epic 56 is truly niche in its composition, and unforgiving in both its scent profile and performance. Although it takes some time to warm up on skin, after 30 minutes, epic 56 will be slowly filling rooms as if it were a dense smoke. The longevity is impressive to say the least, with 24 hours being pretty normal on skin. This took me about 4 months to truly understand its composition, and another 2 months before I realized I needed a bottle. This is what niche perfumery is all about!

The perfume certainly lives up to its name. Wow. This is a spicy rose perfume of epic proportions. The original EdP was already gorgeous, but this retooling and increased concentration to a ridiculous 56% have taken Epic Woman to whole other plane of excellence. The opening signals intent and difference to the EdP with a stronger swell of pink peppercorns. Nose tingling and spicy, incredibly bright, and waxy fruity. As with the EdP the cumin is very muted, if there actually is any – no body odor or sweaty funk is present, but there is a bit of musty woodiness lying underneath the peppercorn onslaught. The same can be said for the cinnamon in that the baking spice aromatics are very muted but the woody side of cinnamon is present. You’ll forget about the opening quite quickly though once the heart layer of Epic 56 hits you. The rose accord is stunning. Pink and luscious, gently fruity, vividly saturated and fleshy, properly floral and a touch earthy – it’s actually hard to imagine that a real centifolia rose could smell this good. It seems impossible… because it is. A hefty dose of smooth geranium is thrown in to give the rose some green and bitter lemon edges. Abyssal depth is added with Amouage’s incomparable frankincense that is as smooth as silk, and some dark and slightly dank guaiac wood playing upwards from the base.

Epic 56 is my first female-marketed Amouage, though I think it's entirely unisex. To my nose, this is principally a wonderful rose / frankincense scent, though there's a lot going on here, as the note breakdown suggests. The jasmine tea and cumin play especially interesting roles (the latter in a fairly unobtrusive way, for those wary of cumin). As one expects from Amouage and Zarokian, Epic 56 is very well blended...and as is typical of the house it is opulent and expensive-smelling. That being said, compared to a number of other Amouages I have (e.g. Interlude Black Iris, Opus VI, Overture Man, and Royal Tobacco, all of which I love), it's more versatile and wearable, though its definitely a cold-weather fragrance. I haven't tried the original Epic Woman, so I can't compare this to it. But like most high-concentration fragrances, this is very long-lasting, but moderate in projection. Finally, I have to note the gorgeous packaging. I normally don't care much about this, but Epic 56 stands out even among Amouage's generally attractive bottles. I probably wouldn't pay retail for this, but if you can find it for a good price on a trustworthy discount site, as I did, it's definitely worth having in your collection.

100% unisex this isn't feminine not 1 bit! I can see how the opening might deter people because there's a sharp Geranium/cumin/cinnamon almost vinegary smell. Give it 10 minutes and it starts to dry down beautifully and completely transitions. After 10-15 minutes I can smell the Rose/iris and Olibanum and that geranium mentholated vibe really calms down. I smell cedar but it's not listed I guess it's the Guaiac wood but not sure. In an hour when totally settled the sandalwood and Patchouli are gorgeous for sure. The whole fragrance just smells incredibly well blended and I think more people mainly men should give this a chance even though it's marketed for women. That is a joke in my opinion there's absolutely nothing feminine here. My only gripe is price and I can't support $500 for this. I think $300 would be way more appealing and more people would want to give it a shot. This definitely deserves a better rating. This smells expensive, no doubt about it.

Very strong opening but shortly develops into a smooth classy fragrance that stays with you all day. I don't know what the original smells like but I can tell you that Epic 56 is not like anything I've experienced before. Longevity is 10+ hours but if I am looking at MFK oud satin mood EDP, I can smell that the next morning on my skin. When the fragrance is fully developed you can smell a spicy, amber, floral mix that is unique and elegant. Towards the end life of the fragrance on my skin, I was able to smell more of the florals and ambers but less of the spice and this could differ from person to person. I also wouldn't spray this directly on clothing, because of the high oil concentration. On application, I could see the oil sheen on my skin for a few hours and that would transfer to clothing if sprayed there.