FRAGRANCE | Opus XVI Timber by Amouage: A more mainstream offering from the Omani house

What’s there to do with a nine-hour layover in Dubai? Check out fragrances at the duty free shop of course! And since I’m deprived of the chance of trying out Amouage’s newer releases back home (Art of Scent hasn’t updated their Amouage catalog in years), my wife and I headed straight to where they kept bottles from this Omani house. After sniffing to our hearts’ content, I took with me Opus XVI Timber, the latest addition to The Library Collection.

As if it weren’t obvious from the name, furthered only by the earthy brown hues of its bottle and packaging, Opus XVI Timber promises a woody scent profile—and it delivers! There’s also an equally prominent incense that gives the composition added character and that I think helps steer the scent a little more into a masculine direction. While both accords are already perceptible from the start, the opening showcases a peppery freshness marked by pine, some spices, and an almost camphorous sliver cutting through. I’m usually wary of pepper because it tends to be too sharp in some fragrances but thankfully in this case, it hits the sweet spot with just the right dose. There’s also a particular bitterness to the scent and a dryness that’s quite pronounced.

After several minutes, however, a mild sweetness slowly creeps up, along with a hint of lavender. The lavender is easy to miss in the air but is fairly recognizable when sniffed up close. For me, it adds yet another layer of freshness, however subtle. The ensuing sweetness, on the other hand, lends the composition some semblance of moisture even if paradoxically, its profile remains generally dry. Also, the scent never really turns sweet, so you can still smell the bitterness underneath the pile of chopped wood and spruce, all while a beautiful, smoky incense swirls around.

From its initial fresh phase, Timber later transitions to something within the realm of warm and earthy, albeit not too much. I mean, it’s not warm enough like Guerlain Habit Rouge Parfum, nor is it as earthy as, say, the opening of Tom Ford Patchouli Absolu but it is warm and earthy nonetheless. Slowly and steadily, whatever little sweetness this creation has has now coated the incense-smoked wood with all the warmth it could possibly afford. It’s beautiful, calming even, perhaps also because its projection is never monstrous. Even though it starts strong, it sits in moderate territory for the most part of its long life. I know it’s atypical of Amouage to release something that doesn’t go nuclear but not everything has to be. Besides, the house has done it before with, at least at the top of my mind right now, Amouage Beloved Man, a handsomely refined fragrance that’s also long-lasting but rather reserved in its projection. (Update: I could have gone nose-blind, though, because my Grab driver asked me what fragrance I was wearing right as I entered the car. Turns out it was still projecting mightily well into the evening.)

Despite its relative complexity, Opus XVI Timber appears rather simple when compared to other fragrances from the house, let alone from The Library Collection. It appears more approachable, which is why I feel like it’s one of their more “mainstream” releases. I don’t think it’s a bad thing at all although I would understand if some people would find it a letdown. Still, I love it and I’m happy I picked it up.