Opus XV King Blue

Inspiration

Havana, 1967. At the Salon de Mayo, works by Magritte and Picasso hang on the walls, and high art suddenly comes within reach of a wide audience. Renaud Salmon, Chief Creative Officer of Amouage, delved into the story of this legendary exhibition and was struck above all by surrealism: an art movement that delights in thwarting and subverting expectations.

With that thought he went to the perfumers. He asked for a scent that would work like a piece of surrealist art, with an opening that reveals nothing about its conclusion. A development that arrives as a complete surprise, yet feels entirely right for a house so proud of its Omani heritage. The answer was oud, perhaps the most authentically Middle Eastern style in perfumery. But an oud unlike any Amouage had ever released before.

Amouage itself calls King Blue the union of the real and the unreal: a meeting of fire and nightshade, of juicy mandarin, grandiose amber and sombre oud. An oneiric wood supreme. Opus XV King Blue belongs to the Library Collection, where the house has gathered its most daring compositions since 2010. The fragrance comes in the iconic khanjar flacon in a warm truffle shade, and its packaging carries blue-tinged artwork by Louise Mertens.

Perfumers

Alexis Grugeon and Hamid Merati-Kashani. Together they chose an exceptional quality of oud oil, produced by Ajmal and known as Oud Silver. It is precisely the contrast within this material, between animalic authority and suave elegance, that gives King Blue its distinctive personality.

Fragrance Family

Fruity, ambery, woody.

The Olfactive Composition

Top Notes: mandarin, blackcurrant, pink pepper
Heart Notes: frankincense, amber
Base Notes: sandalwood, oakwood, patchouli, Oud Silver, leather

The Signature of Opus XV King Blue

The name is a wink. In perfumery, blue scents are fresh, predictable fragrances with a well-behaved character, and that is exactly how King Blue begins: innocent and sunlit. Juicy mandarin opens bright and cheerful, pink pepper sends small sparks dancing across it and blackcurrant adds a crisp, slightly tart edge. For a moment you think you know where this is going.

Then a different tune begins to play. Amber settles warmly and sensually against the mandarin, frankincense draws a trail of smoke through the heart and oakwood brings a dry, sturdy woodiness. And before you know it, the oud has pounced. Oud Silver is almost untamed in its animalic character. Together with patchouli, frankincense and sandalwood it growls on the skin, while leather lends the composition a dark, supple sheen.

Yet it never turns rough. Where you might expect a wild oud, King Blue remains tailored: its edges are contoured with great precision and sandalwood keeps everything round and polished. With 35 per cent perfume oil and ten weeks of ageing, five weeks of maceration and five weeks of maturation, the fragrance unfolds on the skin in calm, unhurried layers. Is it of the earth, firmly rooted to the ground, or does it float on a higher plane, carefree and light? The answer is different for everyone, and it always arrives out of the blue.

What our ParfuMaria team thinks of this fragrance

To us, King Blue is one of the most playful chapters of the Library Collection. We love the moment it changes face. The first minutes are so fresh and open that you hardly expect oud, and that is exactly why the depth of Oud Silver, leather and frankincense lands so powerfully later on. It is an oud for those who love to be surprised: what begins as a bright citrus scent ends in something far deeper and darker.

Wear it on a cool evening, or on a day when you want to reveal something of yourself without giving it all away at once. Give it time on your skin. The story of King Blue is all about the turn, and that only comes after the first impression.