Mysterious Oud is my last review of my six samples, and I took a while intentionally to give this one a few wearings. It is definitely quite complicated, intense, and polarizing, so I wanted to get the full effect over multiple days. I've concluded that Mysterious Oud is simply not for me.
First of all, I don't really get the citrus and spices many reviewers are talking about. I suppose there are some citruses in the mix to accentuate the top end of the resinous notes as is often done in oriental perfumes, but I don't get them as distinct notes. As for spices, I don't get any at all, which is weird because this is rated mainly as a spicy-woody fragrance.
What I do get are intense florals (mostly jasmine/neroli) and a huge animalic accord that is unique from any I have tried before. I've tried my share of fecal/barnyard-y ouds and stinky animalic notes, but this combination of oud, castoreum, and resins (mostly myrrh I think) is giving the distinct impression of...cheese? That's probably the nearest I can get to describing it. Definitely interesting and unique, but I don't think I want to go around smelling like this.
Chrixus86 8 months ago