Amber Oud Tobacco Edition

Al Haramain Amber Oud Tobacco Edition opens hot — ginger, black pepper and cinnamon over a tobacco leaf that is present from the first second and never really leaves. What follows is softer than the opening suggests: vanilla, clove and star anise, with cacao and tonka bean rounding the spice into something closer to pipe tobacco in a warm room than to a smoking one.

The dry-down is where it earns its name. Cured tobacco settles over dried fruit and dark woods, with incense threaded underneath, and it stays there for hours. This is an amber oriental with real projection — two sprays is a decision, not a top-up.

Best in cold weather and after dark. It suits a heavy coat and a long evening, and it is emphatically not an office fragrance. Shared between men and women without apology.

Eau de parfum, 6.7 oz. Unisex.