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Absolus Allegoria

Oud Essentiel Guerlain 2017

7.6 / 10 264 Ratings

A popular perfume by Guerlain for women and men, released in 2017. The scent is woody-oriental. Projection and longevity are above-average. It is being marketed by LVMH.
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Main accords

Woody

Oriental

Spicy

Resinous

Leathery

Fragrance Pyramid

Top Notes

Saffron

Geranium

Heart Notes

Oud

Bulgarian rose

Atlas cedar

Base Notes

Leather

Frankincense

Gaiac wood

Perfumer

Thierry Wasser

Ratings

Scent

7.6264 Ratings

Longevity

8.4232 Ratings

Sillage

8.0230 Ratings

Bottle

8.4236 Ratings

Value for money

7.5124 Ratings

Submitted by OPomone, last update on 10/18/2025.

Interesting Facts

The fragrance is part of the Absolus Allegoria collection.

Smells similar

What the fragrance is similar to

Oud Imperial Eau de Parfum

Bois Mystérieux

Nero Oudh

Mana

Armani Privé - Cuir Majesté

Patchouli Ardent

Reviews

10 in-depth fragrance descriptions

09/09/2017

2.5Scent 8Longevity 9Sillage

Muotarek
51 Reviews

Muotarek

Less helpful Review 3

Santal Royal cheap clone

Why did guerlain release this one?? it is almost identical to Santal Royal and i didn't like both, as a middle eastern i smell such stuff a lot anywhere so it is not unique for us, maybe westerns will find such stuff likable.

This scent is horrible, Synthetic and not even worth the half of its price, if you're looking for a good designer oud based perfume then it is Gucci Intense Oud, the best safe oud you can buy and it smells wonderful and has a beastly performance but this one is a huge PASS.

10/10/2023

9Scent 7Longevity 7Sillage

Rodrigo23
7 Reviews

Rodrigo23

3

A Pleasant Surprise

Today I’ve been to a department store and, of course, I had to go to the perfumes area to check some stuff I still don’t know. Went straight to the Guerlain point of sale, cause it has been a while I wanted to try this perfume. I sprayed 4 times, twi on each arm (yes, I was wearing no perfume). Oud Essentiel opens beautifully with a strong oud-leather-saffron smell for about 15 minutes. The opening is gorgeous, but it is ephemeral. I wish this lasted a bit longer. After that, the olibanum starts to appear, together with a subtle rose smell, not a feminine rose, a very masculine one. The leather is always there, but settles down. It’s a shame that the oud at this point is almost imperceptible but overall this is still a great fragrance. The opening is a 10/10 to me and the drydown is an 8. By the way, the drydown reminds me Songe and Nero Oudh, which I own both. That’s the reason I won’t buy a bottle, it looks too much to things I already have. But man, if that opening lasted a a couple of hours… I would definitely buy a bottle!

10/01/2024

10Scent 8Longevity 8Sillage

PerfumeUser2
42 Reviews

PerfumeUser2

4

My 0.02$ about this Perfume

Love it, because of the quality of the blend, its longevity, its projection.
When I' ve bought it, the price shocked me, but after a long journey, I think it has a good price point.

Was offered to smell it during a big price reduction at a shop. I wasn't convinced at first, but I regretted it so much, that after half a year I ended up buying one (smelling the dry down made me fall in love with it).

The blend is top notch, the ingredients transition one to another very smoothly, not highly alcoholic abrupt type. It' s like a good quality song.

Longevity on my skin is 3 plus hours (which is huge for me) and on my clothes, the whole day, even 2 days after washing.
Projection is huge.
2 sprays is more than enough.

It' s a mature, unisex perfume. Starts very woody oud and quickly goes into the fresh spicy rose together with the wood.

I can only highly recommend it.

Earlier this year I tried the one in the new semitransparent bottles. It' s diluted, highly alcoholic, sour, no oud punch anymore- nothing like the original (bad reformulation, for my nose at least) .

12/30/2024

8.5Scent 9Longevity 9Sillage

Sparrinsky
46 Reviews

Sparrinsky

2

Strange and enchanting

My review is for the Absolus Allegoria reformulation (? - I found conflicting information). I did not know the previous scent.

I tried this in the Guerlain store.

It opens nicely - hypnotizing, with an off-putting note that I could not help but come back to it, and the dry down is the oud that was promised with a leathery envelope ornate with a hint of roses.

I totally disagree with the previous commenters which have said it smells like Santal Royal. Santal Royal's rose is way more prominent and much sweeter and smoother. This is a punch to the face followed by a woody caress.

Performance wise it is totally performing with long longevity and massive projection, very well blended - pricing wise, I would pay Spanish retail price (150 euros), but not the $240 of the online store. On discounters I see it at $130~. If it drops below 100, I would snatch this up, but I would rather take Santal Royal or Rose Amira over it.

Give it a shot. You may enjoy it.

08/31/2022

8Scent 9Longevity 9Sillage

BobbyGee
230 Reviews

BobbyGee

3

Guerlain / Oud Essentiel

It would never occur to me that this is good old Guerlain, that Guerlain of discovery, primal, historical and unique, and not the one of recent years.
As a fan of oud, but the dark, masculine, strong ... with incense, wood, factory, workshop notes - I am enchanted by it.
I'm not a fan and I feel sick to the smell of a rose in men's perfumes and a combination with similar oud - for example black aoud Montale (I don't like me and for me it doesn't smell like masculine / something else on a woman's skin).
But I really like the smell of the unique dark aoud Montale, devoid of that sweet rose.
And here we have, among others, a rose with oud, wood, incense and leather, all seasoned with herbs. and here "surprisingly" I do not feel this rose too much, some delicate note, but served in a strange way (it does not make me sick, it does not smell feminine, flowers ...), even this smell inspires me and makes me addictive ... yes - IS ADDICTIVE.
The smell is very persistent, long-lasting and unique, specific (similar to dark aoud, LM black oud).
I recommend it to all fans of agar / oud served in a dark, mysterious, addictive, strong, workshop manner.
I got to know this smell thanks to a sample of my friend who gave me a smell and ... I lost it. I was to order a dark aoud Montale and I ordered a bottle (125 ml) of oud essentiel Guerlain. SUPER drug ;-)

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