Top Notes 
Papua oud
Sumatran coffee
Heart Notes 
Burmese oud
Tonka bean
Cinnamon leaf
Civet
Cistus
Spikenard
Base Notes 
Indian oud
Benzoin
Indonesian vetiver absolute
Texas cedar
08/19/2025
DrB1414
249 Reviews
DrB1414
2
A Pleasant Surprise
Oud Luwak Part II, perfume Extrait.
This was the biggest surprise for me, as I didn’t expect to like it. I didn’t enjoy the original, so I didn’t foresee things to be different this time around. I was wrong, as I love this version of Oud Luwak. It fills in the gaps, improves on the woods used, adds the perfect amount of sweetness and texture, and the civet is amazing. I’m very specific about coffee accords, and I’m not a fan of Merauke Agarwood, but the way they are used here is perfect. This is not a coffee-dominant fragrance on my skin (although a prominent facet) but rather a woody perfume. Out of all the Oud perfumes Adam has released thus far, this one is the woodiest, with a heavy Merauke profile. There is nothing funky or fermented here. If you ever smelled Merauke Oud oils or wood, it has a distinctive profile - earthy, petrichor-like, slightly green or jungly, clove-like camphoraceous, smoky, peaty, chocolaty, and yes, coffee-like, to name a few nuances. That’s the kind of wood profile you’ll encounter here. But the best part is that Adam used other woods and benzoin to pamper the less “pretty” traits, and coffee to complement its innate qualities. So, instead of the usual earthiness these oils tend to evoke, here you get an “antique wooden chest” type of smell, paired with the aroma of heating agarwood chips as well as a cozy “roasted chestnuts” accord that might be a facet of the vetiver. Picture this:
You just brew a hot cup of coffee. You have some milk and honey on hand, and add a bit of both. You set the burner to medium heat and take out an antique-wooden chest full of Merauke aloes. You start adding wood to the burner, and while the smoke wafts, you inhale deeply alongside the fumes coming from the steaming cup of coffee. Then, you rub a tiny bit of civet paste on your pulse points and savor this ritual further. That’s it.
The coffee note is present throughout, but tames down as the fragrance develops. As it mingles with the oud aroma, it might give off hints of chicory coffee due to the earthiness of the oud. The latter is the main player in the composition. If you love Merauke oud and wish for a well-made perfume built around it, this is hard to beat. The wooden chest accord is omnipresent alongside the smoking wood chips and hints of toasted chestnuts. The third most prominent note is the civet. And how glorious it is. Not your sharp, punchy, and pissy civet. This is good, aged, natural stuff. It pairs with the benzoin and other notes to showcase a milky, creamy, and animalic quality that brings to mind a similar use of the material in my beloved Cadavre Exquis. However, it doesn’t go as buttery and gourmand as in there. Lastly, there is a beautiful use of cinnamon that complements the sweetness of the benzoin. Just the perfect amount of sweetness, nothing overbearing. Its smokiness is more refined than in Oud Zhen while not feeling as gourmand as Russian Oud, and behaving more woody than both. I like it better than Oud Zhen and close to Russian Oud II. It is a mouth-drooling experience from start to finish: the smooth coffee-oud fumes, the antique wood, and the milky-steamed civet with just the right amount of sweetness.
I also want to stress two things that I found with this fragrance: it smells much better on the skin, and it is better enjoyed with sprays on the neck and going out and about than smelling it up close. This is one of those cases where the aura the perfume creates is far more satisfying than a closed-up analysis. Bonus point with this one: go out and sweat. Physical exercise. Thank me later!
I’d consider this a significantly improved version over the original, more complex, and with higher-quality materials that show. A very successful resurrection.
IG:@memory.of.scents
This was the biggest surprise for me, as I didn’t expect to like it. I didn’t enjoy the original, so I didn’t foresee things to be different this time around. I was wrong, as I love this version of Oud Luwak. It fills in the gaps, improves on the woods used, adds the perfect amount of sweetness and texture, and the civet is amazing. I’m very specific about coffee accords, and I’m not a fan of Merauke Agarwood, but the way they are used here is perfect. This is not a coffee-dominant fragrance on my skin (although a prominent facet) but rather a woody perfume. Out of all the Oud perfumes Adam has released thus far, this one is the woodiest, with a heavy Merauke profile. There is nothing funky or fermented here. If you ever smelled Merauke Oud oils or wood, it has a distinctive profile - earthy, petrichor-like, slightly green or jungly, clove-like camphoraceous, smoky, peaty, chocolaty, and yes, coffee-like, to name a few nuances. That’s the kind of wood profile you’ll encounter here. But the best part is that Adam used other woods and benzoin to pamper the less “pretty” traits, and coffee to complement its innate qualities. So, instead of the usual earthiness these oils tend to evoke, here you get an “antique wooden chest” type of smell, paired with the aroma of heating agarwood chips as well as a cozy “roasted chestnuts” accord that might be a facet of the vetiver. Picture this:
You just brew a hot cup of coffee. You have some milk and honey on hand, and add a bit of both. You set the burner to medium heat and take out an antique-wooden chest full of Merauke aloes. You start adding wood to the burner, and while the smoke wafts, you inhale deeply alongside the fumes coming from the steaming cup of coffee. Then, you rub a tiny bit of civet paste on your pulse points and savor this ritual further. That’s it.
The coffee note is present throughout, but tames down as the fragrance develops. As it mingles with the oud aroma, it might give off hints of chicory coffee due to the earthiness of the oud. The latter is the main player in the composition. If you love Merauke oud and wish for a well-made perfume built around it, this is hard to beat. The wooden chest accord is omnipresent alongside the smoking wood chips and hints of toasted chestnuts. The third most prominent note is the civet. And how glorious it is. Not your sharp, punchy, and pissy civet. This is good, aged, natural stuff. It pairs with the benzoin and other notes to showcase a milky, creamy, and animalic quality that brings to mind a similar use of the material in my beloved Cadavre Exquis. However, it doesn’t go as buttery and gourmand as in there. Lastly, there is a beautiful use of cinnamon that complements the sweetness of the benzoin. Just the perfect amount of sweetness, nothing overbearing. Its smokiness is more refined than in Oud Zhen while not feeling as gourmand as Russian Oud, and behaving more woody than both. I like it better than Oud Zhen and close to Russian Oud II. It is a mouth-drooling experience from start to finish: the smooth coffee-oud fumes, the antique wood, and the milky-steamed civet with just the right amount of sweetness.
I also want to stress two things that I found with this fragrance: it smells much better on the skin, and it is better enjoyed with sprays on the neck and going out and about than smelling it up close. This is one of those cases where the aura the perfume creates is far more satisfying than a closed-up analysis. Bonus point with this one: go out and sweat. Physical exercise. Thank me later!
I’d consider this a significantly improved version over the original, more complex, and with higher-quality materials that show. A very successful resurrection.
IG:@memory.of.scents
Omarareej
Fef
