ClaireV
1
Incensey, vetiver-like woodsmoke - almost CdG-esque
Now this is very interesting. Immediately there is a whiff of old church pews, full of decaying wood spores and creeping mold, like inside the ruins of a gothic cathedral. Then there is a wash of soot or smoke - not live smoke, but more the remnants of an extinguished campfire, soot up the walls, etc. The smoke is not ashy at all, though, just clean and woody, with a deep-toned whiskey dimension that reminds me a lot of the original Vetiver by Annick Goutal. This is rinsed through with a strong, hot clove note, a hint of camphor, cinnamon bark, and birch wood, kind of like if Eau Lente and Patchouli 24 got together and had a baby. It wears down into a thin glaze of sweet incensey woodsmoke. Reminds me of Ambra Aurea’s balance of frankincense, church pew, amber and wood, but about 60% more transparent and not nearly as sugary.
Two things to note. First, this does not smell like oud oil to me at all, which was puzzling until I read the description that says it is supposed to capture the clean, resinous smell of oud chips being smoked. And indeed, it does smell of resins and woodsmoke. As long as you don’t go into this expecting this to exude that familiar sour, fermented, barnyardy vibe you get with oud oil, you will enjoy this. But if you're a committed oud oil fan and don’t particularly like the incensey scent of smoking oud wood chips, then this may not be the one for you.
Second, this is light and airy to the point of being ephemeral – the juice stains the skin yellow, which leads you to expect great richness or depth, but no. It is almost as if you have sprayed a hydrosol onto your skin, or a ruh. It has all the heft of one of those CB I Hate Perfume water perfumes. Of course, that means it smells gorgeously – if fleetingly – natural. This must be connected to the way the perfume was made, i.e., an oud ‘essence’ obtained via a hybrid CO2 and ethanol extraction process, which certainly sounds like it might produce something much flightier than your typical oil.
Indonesian oud
Sumatran oud
