M7
Yves Saint Laurent (2002)

My how times have changed. In 2002 M7 blew people away… and not in a good way either. It was considered a complete disaster for YSL. Tom Ford was ahead of his time, as Western noses were not ready for agarwood yet - little alone oud - M7’s primary accord, and they said so at the fragrance counters. Nobody bought it, and YSL discontinued it only a few years later. Fast forward to today, to today’s oud-rage, to today’s noses much more versed and accustomed to Arabian and Asian ouds of the properly stinky variety, and take of whiff of M7 and wonder what all the fuss was about.

There is an oily, bitter, and herbal green opening from bergamot and rosemary that fade within seconds, ushering in the agarwood accord that lacks any of the fecal or animalic smells of real-deal oud. There is nothing dirty, sweaty, funky, scatological, rotted, or otherwise here. However, there is plenty of the oily, bitter, slightly fruity, and dark woody aromas that we would later become used to with agarwood, the very brief top meant to provide a link to these notes of the accord. Once a little bit of time settles in, as if knowing that people were going to jarred by the agarwood and there was too much risk in subjecting them to it this long (which TF underestimated), some relief in the form of the classic and familiar woody vetiver steers the agarwood away from the waxy-medicinal-dark-woody end of the spectrum, and it will link to the base in the final dry down of a very pleasant musky and woody amber.

M7 presents me with only a slight conundrum. On the one hand, it is a good, gentle, agarwood fragrance by today’s standards, but it isn’t an amazing fragrance as many in the echo chamber would have you believe. M7 has achieved its legendary status because it was a first, not because it is amazing. And with that, it probably hasn’t aged particularly well. Why would you chase after a very expensive and dubious bottle of this on the aftermarket when we are already saturated with agarwoods/ouds that will give you what you're looking for? So, then, comes the question of whether or not a perfume acquires points because it was a “first to do something”, even if that something wasn’t amazing from technical or experiential standpoints, and it hasn’t particularly aged well? I believe that it does. John Mayall and the Bluesbreakers, and the Yardbirds, won’t be heard on the radio today, but they were pioneers and we (likely) wouldn’t have Peter Green, Jimmy Page, Eric Clapton, or Jeff Beck without them. Pioneers should definitely get props even if they don't have much relevance today. M7 belongs in your collection if you are a perfume historian of sorts, and that’s it. Otherwise, give it a smell if it comes across your path so that you can say you have smelled it; if you’re like me and lucky enough to have acquired a bottle way back when, you can sell it to cover a mortgage payment, or rarely wear it as a polite, office friendly agarwood scent; or, finally, chase after it if you have more money than sense or time to go looking for any of the other in-production alternatives. Solid perfume, but more hype than substance.

I had to select neutral even though I like it in certain moods. One lady said it smelled like the chewing tobacco her grandfather used to use. Not much of a compliment. But when I’m depressed on a cold and rainy day, it feels like something very rich and warm surrounding me.

Dry woods with a darker background. A lot of people compare to Oud 7 Absolu, but this is much better. Kind of has that Gucci Pour Homme vibe. Not too overbearing and projects very well. If I could find a bottle for a reasonable price, I would pick it up without a doubt. 8/10

An iconic fragrance such as the 2002 M7 deserves to be tried, and I was fortunate to find a bottle of the original juice and gladly added to my collection. Naturally, I have scoured the reviews, all of them, good, bad and neutral, and now would like to add my humble opinion.
The bergamot and mandarin opening is like a rush of fruity goodness. Do I get the cherry cough syrup? No, but I can see how some noses might interpret it as such. I get more of an Italian vermouth vibe, specifically, Carpano Antica. The middle notes of Vetiver and Agarwood begin almost immediately to tame the fruit, but not eliminate it. But it's the Musk and Amber that are the stars. Longevity is at least 12 hours, but if you spray it on your clothes, you can expect a much longer duration. There was some discussion of comparing this to a much more inexpensive Avon product, Premiere Luxe Oud. I have both and last evening I sprayed the back of each hand with each. One spray only. The openings of both definitely share a DNA chain, but it's the dry down that catapults the YSL to stardom. The Avon dries down to a pencil shaving scent, while the YSL keeps that Amber and Musk shining, long into the night. In the morning, I still smelled the YSL, while the Avon was just a memory.
Now, one could argue that the price difference more than makes up for the lack of longevity and eventual dry down smell, however, one could also make an argument that a VW gets you to your destination as well as a Mercedes. Indeed, that's what we're comparing here, a luxury vehicle vs a Yugo.
I am glad I have both, but I am so very pleased to have the original YSL M7 in my collection. It's a masterpiece of perfumery.
Next comparison will be against the M7 Oud Absolu (Black label).

I'm not sure why M7 a cult-like following. At best and worst, it's "fine," a synthetic, dark green-woody thing that feels a little anonymous in 2020.

Just magnificent! A decadently rich composition with a beautiful note of what I smell as cherry flavored pipe tobacco. I always loved it when someone nearby was smoking cherry tobacco, a lovely smell that I associate with childhood. It angers me no end that someone decided to end both M7 and M7 fresh-- two scents that every frag lover should own or at least try.