Gold Man

Was curious so bought a sample. First I'll say i couldn't properly spray it because the mechanism i got was a dud. so i was forced to sort of ooze it out of the sample container unnaturally, which certainly didn't help the experience. but anyway - I think this is actively unpleasant to me. it seems to be tugging in two opposite directions that don't live in harmony: something powdery/aldehydic and something pissy and animalic. Like a cat that was playing with a woman's makeup kit and then accidentally fell along with it into a soapy bath and pissed itself while being startled. maybe used baby powder is a better description. I have no problem with animalics when they're done right and neatly combine with other things elegantly. admittedly - i couldn't properly get it on my skin because of the dud sample bottle, so maybe it would be different than on paper.

I can see the Chanel No.5 comparison, but this adds civet and black musk making it smell dated and rough around the edges, completely deviating from the clean Chanel profile. I thought I would like this more.

My bottle is on the way so I will write a quick appreciation post of this beautiful vintage perfume from Amouage. Gold man is pissy civet embedded in a luxurious bed of white flowers, chewy resins, and honeyed amber. What a gorgeous perfume this is. Not for the faint of heart. 5/5 👑🔱⚜️💛

as a product of 1983, and carrying this heavy, sharp aldehydic, chypre profile, and holding the word "gold" which signals majesty and luxury, this fragrance feels like it was really aiming at the wealthy tastes of those born within the 1915–1945 era. but today it reads as outdated and offensive to anyone who can't appreciate the old classics/ vintages. this fragrance lives in the tension between three pulls on the same triangle. there's the clean side (the soapy, dewy lily-of-the-valley that reads almost like shaving soap). there's the semi-clean side (dusty carnation, and a heavy, powdery orris root that tips into an almost diaper-like density that is more skin-warm than fresh). and there's the dirty side (the salty, animalic warmth of ambergris and civet hiding underneath). the fragrance never fully commits to any one corner, as it keeps sliding between annoying soap, dusty powder, and sweat-skin, and that restless movement is exactly what makes it feel human. you'll either love it or let it pass. no in-between, and no regrets. on my skin it's a scrubber, as the combination of piercing aldehyde and the animalic skank is a high-wall I can't get past. it's too potent, annoying, and suffocating. what was meant to be gold is just ash or rust on my skin.

Pompous, regal, and CEO-level perfume. It took me many years to appreciate this one, as it was a spontaneous purchase in the Middle East and then I tried to take it back...and was refused. After 10 years it is slowly growing on me. This is what you would wear if you are a millionaire, over 65 y/o, top-level CEO in an Armani suit and have the confidence to show it off. It is not for the man who is faint of heart.

Smells old kinda and very powdery to my nose. Over spraying almost killed me lol, started sneezing like crazy. I get the appeal but no.

The opening of Gold Man is a feverish delirium of aldehydes and rose. But not a delicate garden rose... It's a hyperbolic, gigantic rose, bathed in Omani incense and a lily-of-the-valley that shines with a dazzling, almost blinding light. Many recoil in horror, clamoring in their worldly anxieties that the beginning smells of "old luxury soap," "an old countess's rice powder," or "a feminine profusion from the last century." They don't understand the shock of absolute beauty. It's a clean opening, yes, but with a cleanliness so intense and sharp that it becomes aggressive, like the purity of a saint exposing the misery of our sins. In Gold Man there is the scent of an abandoned palace, where the cold marble still holds the echo of parties and the memory of a defunct aristocracy. But the true psychological abyss, the knot that keeps me awake at night, lies in the heart and base of this fragrance. As the aldehyde glow dissipates, the creature reveals its true and disturbing nature: its animal side. Musk, civet, and ambergris emerge from the depths. And here lies the soul-wrenching paradox: how can something be so clean and, at the same time, so dirty? So celestial and so carnal? While some smell the aroma of royalty, liquid gold, and absolutist power, others, overcome by disgust and fear, smell urine, sweaty skin under expensive furs, a caged animal in a velvet room. And finally, an almost mystical terror arrives: the projection is a force of nature, an "eternal" longevity that refuses to abandon the flesh even after a bath. It is the elixir of a potency bordering on insanity, even though the most modern formulas have been contained by the sobriety of our cowardly century. One does not use Gold Man to flaunt material wealth. This perfume is used when one wishes to experience the tragedy of excess. It is the perfume of a man who, knowing himself to be a sinner and mortal, decides to dress in the clothes of a god to defy his own destiny. It is opulent, it is baroque, it is frighteningly golden. A masterpiece that asks no permission; it simply is what it is without apologizing...

If this is animalic, it is not off-putting to my nose even slightly. This to my nose is largely a very clean, powdery, floral scent. Very old fashioned and not something I would wear, but I like it despite it being very heavy on the floral side. This is still a very masculine and opulent scent. Amouage is probably my #1 house, so I simply had to try this one out. 8/10

To the reviewer below me, feel free to go ahead and spray yourself with ferret piss. Enjoy the reactions you get. Another example of "I know everything about this fragrance because I wore it once at the mall" This needs to be worn a LOT to start to figure it out. For those of you curious about trying it, you don't need much. At all. Just buy a 2ml sample, spray once and then you'll get like 10 wearings because this only takes a small amount to be effective.

Hello everyone, I discovered Amouage very recently, sampled 15 frags at the shop, mostly on paper, and an hour ago I tried Gold Man. I don't mean this in a bad way, I'm happy others enjoy it, good for them, but to me, this is the most toilet spray fragrance I have ever smelt. To the point that I'm wondering, considering the old age of this perfume, if maybe industrial toilet spray perfumers were inspired by it to create their industrial products... I would rather spray my self with ferret piss. Sorry, again, if you like it, good for you, and anyways, all the best to the fragrantica community!

Top is play-doh, mid is floral and base is sweet floral. Not for me.

I’ve got a 8 oz flacon of Tom Ford Italian Cypress rerelease I’ll trade for Amouage gold man vintage bottle or newer. It’s got a lot left and I’ll send you the atomizer that’s about full too.

Smells identical to those bathroom fresheners that you used to peel the sticker off them, and there was some gel inside that smelled like lily of the valley and lavender. I don't understand how do people perceive this as a luxury smell. Also there's nothing masculine about it. White florals that smell like cleaning products. The first Amouage that I really dislike.

Could anyone speak on if the version with the new bottle (says "GOLD" on front) is any different from the old?

My 2024 bottle projects and lasts just fine. I don't think I would want this to be something that absolutely screams off of me and my newer bottle is on the borderline of that. This isn't really compositionally similar to Chanel No. 5 but that massive blast of aldehydes in the opening will definitely remind you of it regardless until it begins to settle down. The drydown is very nice as it warms up and the myrrh and incense and civet come in to join the aldehydic component, but the opening is unmistakably vintage women's powerhouse fragrance. Interesting marketing to create this and specifically gender it as a men's scent - I don't think anyone would have come to that conclusion without the suggestion being there already. This is good but definitely will be tough to find situations to pull it off in.

If you have picked this one up recently, the new batches are weak. I have the very first creation of this and my bottle is a potent Beast Mode Batch. Best version has Gold Man at the bottom/sprayer part of the bottle. Flankers are on the side. New 1's on bottom front. My bottle is a true beast like Interlude is. If you want the best strongest version get a old batch bottle if you can. Too feminine for me, but great work of art none the less. 10/10 for it's power/strength and sillage projection off my skin that seems to last forever.

..its been a top 5 for me since forever, and its my Mom's sig' scent. Im not a fragrance convention junkie. But a few yrs ago, I went to an event in San Francisco and I got to sample the Gold Man batch that followed the original, made in '83. The lady who owned it and was looking for a swap that amounted to a 5 for 1 deal, was afraid that it would be passed by because of how old it was. Her husband knew more about their entire collection than she did..and I knew in the first 5 min speaking with him, that he had taken care of their collection, with surgeon-like TLC. In other words, he did everything he could to slow down the aging. That convention was just the 3rd time his Gold Man had seen the light of day, in almost 2 decades. he popped the cap...I gave it a whirl, and sniffed. So, if you've bought a bottle of this perfume, say, in the last decade from a reputable seller, whether online or the 'net, it probably smells a good-bit like what I smelled in that 2nd batch. The difference, however, is the pungency of the civet, myrrh and the longevity. I was lucky enough to get 2 10mls, from the couple. Long story, short...I sprayed it 3 times..2 on my chest...once on my wrist and rubbed it on the other, because a very heavy fragrance will still project on your wrists as long as it would on any other body part. And the richness of the myrrh and animalic vibe with the civet, made my eyes roll up in my head. I smiled and just shook my head, it was so beautiful. And the longevity of his batch, was off the charts. You CANNOT debate the vast difference between a very well made niche scent, versus a pretty well made designer juice. Its not a debate, truth be told.

As a fan of classic perfumery, this fragrance had to be considered a masterpiece of its time. This can still be worn today and no one even think it's as old as it is. Just a good masculine floral woody fragrance with hints of animalic touches.

Huh. I always thought it was frankencense as opposed to myrrh in this. And to me its like the entire backbone of this fragrance that supports everything and makes it "gold man". I burn good quality omani frankencense kind of regularly, so i know the smell of burned/burning/lingering frankencense for sure lol. Even the taste 🤷.

Really enjoying this one today, must put on skin, smells 100 times better than on paper or from the cap. I have the original formula, that has a banned note. Strong powerful complex scent, leans more feminine to my nose but a great creation from Amouage. Don't get a funky barnyard smell that you might think you would with the civet note listed. More of a floral smell, very intense, bright, but in a good way, is a skin scent, right now, have to put nose right to my arm to smell it, but it does smell pretty good. 8/10 Smell, 10/10 Long lasting

Lovely smell with nuclear performance, what better could a man wish for… Definitely feel similarity with Clive Christian No.1

It’s vintage but in a good way. (I love vintage fragrances so whatever I say may not resonate with everyone else) it’s floral musky like the description says, but it also it reads sorta soapy in an aldehydic way somehow. All while it ends up drying down to this almost floral chypre style fragrance. My skin pulls the patchouli and rose out at the end with a touch of that soapy slightly animalic incense hint still in the background

Opens lily and powdery iris, but as it develops it then becomes quite soapy and slightly animalic retaining the opening notes. Incense and slightly spicy wood come up after a few hours and give it a nice round out in the dry down. This is smooth, rich, slightly sweet and surprisingly dense. Overall it's a pretty nice smell, but soapy profiles just are not my overall jam (not are florals, especially lily). That said I tried it specifically because it is a known regarded scent regardless of my preferences and if these were items I enjoyed, it would probably be quite nice.

Woahhhhh this is so pretty. Vintage DNA with that pee-like civet and white floral combo. This is so elegant and gorgeous. Amouage is such a beautiful brand

Intensely soapy white florals, supported by frankincense, resting on a base of caustic civet and salty ambergris. Gold Man is not vintage because it conveys a sense of 'old-school cool', but rather because it conjures facets of a bygone era that have been forgotten, precisely because no one desired their recollection. This is the scent of plutocracy. This is the scent of a man as powerful and wealthy as he is unscrupulous and uncultured, as ugly as he is boorish. Etiquette holds no concern for him, since he understands that the sheer weight of his assets will suppress any murmur of disapproval coming from the lackeys he surrounds himself with. No prospective uprising of the masses can daunt him, for the loud blare of Gold Man's civet-soap accord will make the crowd scatter in panic akin to the deployment of a sonic cannon by the police at a popular protest.

I’ve come to realise that I’m completely anosmic to any animalic qualities of musc. All I ever perceive are smooth, creamy, clean nuances that register more as fresh linen than anything even remotely dirty. If I’m being totally honest, that’s genuinely disappointing. I dig the animalic and indolic nature of other notes, and I’d love to encounter some real filth in this style of perfume too. It also leaves me mildly paranoid that I’m walking around smelling like absolute arse to everyone else, while I kick about in things like Salome, Musc Tonkin, Koublai Khan, and presumably even this. That said, I wore this today in the high heat and hooly dooly, what a perfume! It’s clean and aldehydic, and makes me feel like I’m drifting through a cloud of soft petals, my feet barely touching the ground as I’m swept along by pillowy, powdery florals that carry me forward. Airy and breezy, yet incredibly deep, vintage feeling, and so very sophisticated.

Still the best among clean powdery chic perfumes EvER !!!

Amouage's current blurb: Overflowing with Omani Rock Rose, Hojari Frankincense, and Golden Ambergris, Gold Man distills the most royal riches of the Sultanate of Oman. This line is crucial to this perfume, so today I focus on the balsamic side of this gem. The first time I put my nose on this, I thought, Huh... wet incense stick? Yes... Those who, like me, enjoy those standard Indian rolled incense sticks and ever used water to douse one halfway through the burn will know what I am talking about. I later realized that this was a shallow assessment. After maybe the 3rd wearing of my sample, I realized that the balsamic blend of these 3 ingredients gives such a depth and richness that is simply stunning and very dynamic depending on the amount you spray and the environmental conditions. Now that I have had the bottle for more than a year, I can say this is an exposition of high-grade hojari frankincense (Fragrantica says myrrh) that creates this undefined sweetness/smoke/mystery/introspection/class. If you love resins and incense... sample/buy this.....seriously.

This is nice and smooth! Makes you feel like you’re flying through the clouds

Amouage Gold Man, 1983- Guy Robert (1926-2012) Amouage's first and most valuable perfume! For me it was a discovery with love at first contact many years ago! The complete definition of a Chypre-oriental with a splendid animalic facet! The most beautiful and quality Omani resins are perfectly complemented by the deeply floral indolic heart, the signature of the legendary Guy Robert, composed of Lily of the valley, jasmine and orris. All this fusing excellently with a healthy animalic base, under a perfectly dosed civet/civetone enveloped by warm musks and ambers. Layers upon layers, the complexity of this perfume is excellent. Slowly but surely it is becoming my signature, as I am extremely rigorous and selective regarding my most loved perfumes! Through this manifesto, I want to honor the memory of this great French perfumer! #amouage #amouagegold #GuyRobert #giftofkings