Lineage
Amouage (2023)

I smiled when I first smelled Lineage. Though a bit simplistic compared to Chong-era Amouages, as are all of their new era perfumes, the opening felt like déjà vu: high quality materials blended into a big, diffusive, airy, and orchestral ensemble. The saffron of the opening is what really got me. In Lineage the combination of saffron with schinus molle presents a sweet, floral and hay-like aroma that perfectly drapes itself like a silken shawl over the resinous incense heart. Despite using materials that are heavy and full-bodied in most applications, there is a lightness of being to the top and the heart that gives the perfume a very clear direction. I want to say there is calone or maybe helional in Lineage because near the top and after the saffron and schinus dry down, which is pretty quickly unfortunately, the resinous olibanum and myrrh heart has an aquatic type note to it. This could also be a bit of trick; the perfume is jam-packed with terpenes like citronellol and citral that add an aldehydic green/citrus freshness (think geranium and bergamot/lemon zest) to the resinous incense that keeps it light and fresh. That incense note, though. Wow. Amouage have displayed countless times over the decades that it is imperative for their perfumers to know how to handle incense; when you have access to the best materials, like Amouage, you don't want them misused. Lineage finds Amouage's signature frankincense/olibanum and myrrh materials tweaked - a ballsy move - to have them stripped of all smokiness and yet what remains is not sticky and cloying, but an incense resin that has been dried of all moisture and ground into a powder capable of launching into the air like a cloud. It's gorgeous. Then something bad happens.... Ok, maybe bad is too much, but let's say "not good." The incense clearly didn't like being tampered with, and it disappears within a couple of hours descending into what seems to be predominantly and very quietly a vetiver and benzoin/labdanum combo. It's a well-calculated transition, I have to admit. The green, resinous, aromatic qualities we got in the heart slide very naturally into the green, aromatic, salty, and woodiness of the vetiver and the resinous balsams of the benzoin/labdanum ... but... honestly... it's boring. For one, this perfume's longevity and power is disastrous. For an EdP at this price to go to a meek skin-scent after about 3 hours is pitiful, and embarrassing for an Amouage. Secondly, and most certainly related to the first point, this sort of resinous-incense-cum-vetiver+labdanum/benzoin base lacks all of the energy, determination, and focus that we got from the top and the heart. What happened to the dry down? Lineage started off great but then just deteriorated into what can only be described as apathetic. What a shame.

Of the 2023 Odyssey collection releases from Amouage, Guidance got most of the attention (I'm sure free bottles had nothing to do with it.) Lineage, though, has pretty much been ignored. That's too bad, because I think it's fantastic. I find it spicy (but fresh), mineral-like, and with resinous incense (just a tad smoky.) It might be easy to dismiss on paper, but I've found it's quite complex on skin. It reminds me (in feel, but not smell) of Beach Hut Woman (now discontinued.) In terms of smell, it made me think a bit of Meander, I guess, because of olibanum, which is a prominent note shared by both. Compared to both of those two though, Lineage is much more complex and interesting.