What fragrance are you wearing today?

Might suggest heresy; try diluting with perfumers alcohol or, in a pinch, distilled water.

I often take that route with my most alcoholic AS, but not really keen to play with a 400£ frag.
Guess I'll gift to some friend who surely will appreciate it more then me

Is it just me choosing poorly or Sir Dove doesn't know where simplicity is? 

He does complex, well blended stuff but rather overblown IMO.
I did like Scandal though...very good Fougere.
Stay away from Diaghilev.

Might suggest heresy; try diluting with perfumers alcohol or, in a pinch, distilled water.

I often take that route with my most alcoholic AS, but not really keen to play with a 400£ frag.
Guess I'll gift to some friend who surely will appreciate it more then me

Lucky friend indeed

Is it just me choosing poorly or Sir Dove doesn't know where simplicity is? 

Stay away from Diaghilev.

Too late, already disappointed* by that too.
And by Burlington, Elysium, Fetish pour homme and a couple of his "ouds" I don't remember now. 
Instinct always kept me away from his vetiver.

*that kind of disappointment you can't face with a corner stone of modern eastern perfumery like Jubilation XXV, love it

HC&C Year of the Dragon Extrait

   

This is my 6th or 7th try from this house, and I always face the same problem: that ubiquitous baroque opulence... This one in particular, evokes in my mind a walk on a seaside cliff in company of a rich French lady who went too far with her perfume and with her years. Which may be pleasant at first, but can be a problem in long term if GILF are not your thing.

Is it just me choosing poorly or Sir Dove doesn't know where simplicity is? 
Don't get me wrong, I appreciate complexity, and actually took this one while looking for some atypical marine scent (my neverending quest). But sometimes "too much of it" can be annoying, at least to my nose.

Great review. Favour baroque intricacy which is at the heart of house Roja Dove - well, not GILFs although some ladies do age extraordinarily well. 

Might suggest heresy; try diluting with perfumers alcohol or, in a pinch, distilled water.

Agree with DanLaw:  you've captured Roja's stye in a phrase - "baroque opulence."  Never linear, never simple.  I find myself usually put off, ultimately, with his scents.  Tried a bunch in the discovery set and spent some time last summer at the boutique in Harrod's.  Walked out with only a 10 ml of the berry top-noted "Essence Rare," which I've not worn all that so far but is almost uncomplicated for him (it's in the Pierre de Velay line).  Starts with the fruit and then dries down to only, perhaps, 10 other notes, lol.  As I posted a few days ago, I flip-flopped as to Elysium and only recently tried the Intense which did interest me.  Got a larger tester and I'll have to see if it takes.  As for Oceania, it didn't work for me at all -- it was half a freshie, half a bunch of floral notes (I recall iris and lavender) with then even some woody basenotes going on.  Just, to me, kind of a overdone mess.  For something fresh, I want simplicity, like yesterday's LV Afternoon Swim -- which happens to be my single numero uno scent.

After a day of trying it today, I did quite enjoy:

The elixir of Gods! Or shall we say, smellexir.
Also, try Bois D'Argent by same label, if you haven't already.