Agar, inspired by Tom Ford’s modern classic Oud Wood, is a dry, serious and insistently male scent based on a mature wood note coupled with a subtle, stately oud. The Alexandria take on Oud Wood makes itself more inviting with a softness that contrasts with the dry distance of OW thanks to a sense of moisture in the woody notes that gives Agar a more leathery impression than the decisively wood-oud-parchment aura of the original. While this causes Agar to have less of an “expensive” smell, the more artisanal presentation of the notes is really much more wearable and resembles a manlier take on Hermès’ Agar Ebène as much as a clone of Oud Wood. Pleasantly and classically masculine, present and weigted but never overpowering. Not a scent that would grab attention for itself but at the same time its pleasing gentlemanly vibe won’t go unnoticed or unappreciated. For a man with presence and understated importance in himself, this is the scent of the problem solver rather than the adventurer. Performance, like its inspiration in Oud Wood, is moderate but truly aromatic in how you sense it around you, still near full strength, at times late after first spraying. Agar’s longevity is surprisingly impressive but the long period that follows the two hour robust opening is a perfectly pleasant wood-leather-oud skin scent. Agar is the scent a man grows into when he wants to be the one to end an argument with one sentence rather than shout himself dry.
