Opium

Yves Saint Laurent · 1977

The spiced amber people mean when they ask for an old-school oriental that smells nothing like modern ambers.

Opium opens with a blast of clove and cinnamon over dark plum and coriander, then dries into a dense amber, myrrh and patchouli base with a vanilla undertone. It smells resinous and spice-heavy rather than sweet, and it set the standard for the loud spiced ambers that followed it, most of which are gentler by comparison.

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5 independent alternatives below

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From independent houses

Ranked by how much they share with Opium. The notes in common are listed under each bottle. Prices and stock come from the makers’ own shops.

Zabad
Al Shareef Oudh
- Civet
- Frankincense
- Myrrh
- Amber
- +9
$425Solid
Zabad shares Opium's clove, cinnamon, myrrh and patchouli core, though civet and camphor push it toward a leathery, animalic register rather than dark plum.
Shared notes
Patch absolue
Tauer Perfumes
- Spices
- Cinnamon
- Clove
- Boozy
- +6
CHF 12– 155Extrait
Patch absolue leans on the same cinnamon, clove, patchouli and amber, built around a boozy patchouli heart rather than Opium's dark plum.
Shared notes
Mysterious Oud
Bortnikoff
- Bergamot
- Cardamom
- Amber
- Orange
- +18
$85–290Extrait
Shares the clove, cinnamon, myrrh, labdanum and jasmine of Opium's base, though it opens on bergamot and rose and finishes with oud and sandalwood.
Shared notes
An Evening In Jaipur '52 | OUD OBSÉDÉ
Olfa Originals
₹4,800–12,500EDP
The amber, myrrh, labdanum and cinnamon sit in the same resinous family as Opium, but tobacco and oud replace its plum and patchouli.
Shared notes
Root Chakra Potion
AOE Perfumery
- Patchouli
- Clove
- Amber
- Vanilla
- +1
$18Oil
Patchouli, clove, amber and vanilla give it a similar resinous base, minus the cinnamon spice blast up top; an affordable oil rather than a spray.
Shared notes

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These are independent suggestions based on shared notes and accords, not copies or dupes. Undernotes is not affiliated with Yves Saint Laurent; the name is used only to describe a smell. No link here is paid.

Zabad

Patch absolue

Mysterious Oud

An Evening In Jaipur '52 | OUD OBSÉDÉ

Root Chakra Potion