Thirty Three Ex Idolo 2013

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8.2 / 10 211 Ratings

A popular perfume by Ex Idolo for women and men, released in 2013. The scent is floral-woody. Projection and longevity are above-average. It is still in production.

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Main accords

Floral

Woody

Spicy

Oriental

Resinous

Fragrance Pyramid

Top Notes

Black pepper

Candied mandarin orange

Natural rubber

Heart Notes

Taif rose

Chinese rose

Chinese white tea Metal

Metal

Iris

Base Notes

Oud

Patchouli

Heliotropin

Perfumer

Matthew Zhuk

Ratings

Scent

8.2211 Ratings

Longevity

8.8181 Ratings

Sillage

8.0185 Ratings

Bottle

7.4155 Ratings

Value for money

7.039 Ratings

Submitted by DonVanVliet, last update on 07/03/2025.

Smells similar

What the fragrance is similar to

EO N°3 Pure Parfum

Rose And Me

More Than Words

Decade

Oud Mood Reminiscence

Madame de Maintenon

Reviews

10 in-depth fragrance descriptions

01/26/2014

10
Scent

Coutureguru
223 Reviews

Coutureguru

Top Review 9

Big Oud!! Big Rose!! BIG FANTASTIC

Thirty Three by Ex Idolo is lauded as the 'next generation' of Oud fragrances in many of the reviews I have read around the web. A relatively new release, I couldn't resist the opportunity of having the pricy little 30ml bottle muled to me by a friend from London I saw a few days ago. £90 per 30mls is steep in any parfumisti's book … but extremely worth it imho.

Right out of the gate, I'll admit that the chance to smell authentic 33 year old Oud was an enticing drawcard! To my surprise, I realized that I had smelled and loved this fragrance before (at least for the first few minutes) in Montale's Black Oud … and then it began to develop.
A combination of Rose Oil from China and the unmistakable woody Rose from Ta'if begins to subtly claw it's way out of the Oud's fullness, beginning deep and dark like a bouquet of almost black red roses. This melange of Roses becomes brighter (I've often compared Ta'if Rose to the whirling of a scimitar through the air) but also sweeter and velvety … stopping just short of being overly gourmand.
As a self confessed Oudie, I find that note to be quite a revelation here, especially after the multitude of synthetic Ouds I've had my nose on recently. Some of the Oud used in this fragrance is apparently wild harvested in China, while the origin of the vintage Oud used in this creation is shrouded in mystery. This is probably the smoothest, richest and most beautiful Oud that I have had the pleasure of sampling since the use of this note has become so popular … it's truly enchanting!!
Above average sillage and longevity make the cost of this fragrance a lot easier to bear. One has to wonder, however, if the quality will remain the same in coming years. How much vintage, 33 year old Oud is out there?

Whereas I am one of the people that find Montale's Black Oud to be wonderful, I can't help admitting that Ex Idolo's Thirty Three has forever altered that perception … indeed changed the way I feel about many of my favorite Oud fragrances. This fragrance is a game changer …

01/02/2014

7.5
Bottle 10
Sillage 10
Longevity 8
Scent

Drseid
821 Reviews

Drseid

Top Review 9

The Journey Of The Ever-changing Rose...

Thirty Three opens with a slightly sweet boozy dried fruit accord with hints of dark dulled rose peeping through. As the composition moves to its early heart the rose takes command, gaining in its depth and breadth as it turns jammy with the boozy fruit replaced by supporting rubbery Oud and relatively sanitized patchouli rising from the base. During the late dry-down the rose remains the star though now more airy and dewy, with the supporting patchouli joining near-transparent smooth Oud sans rubber coupling late with slightly powdery heliotrope. Projection is outstanding, as is longevity at well over 15 hours on skin.

Thirty Three has been marketed as featuring "vintage Oud" aged thirty-three years before its use (hence the composition's name). That said, it is clear early-on that the rose is the real star, and it changes in its characteristics throughout the composition's relatively linear development. The rose starts off dark and slightly dull before blooming into a jammy full dominant rose in the heart and then a light and airy natural smelling dewy rose at the finish. The smooth vintage Oud used is detectable throughout, but my guess is it is enhanced by some synthetic Oud to create the rubbery effect early before it smooths into the composition during the late dry-down seamlessly eschewing its rubbery facet. While the official notes list has some fancy esoteric ingredients listed like "Damascus steel" I confess I did not detect them after multiple wearings on skin. The composition is really a more classic rose, Oud and patchouli elixir distinguished by the way the rose changes as the composition develops, exhibiting excellent execution. The bottom line is the vintage real Oud in the $120 per 30ml bottle Thirty Three is what most likely will get people to try it, but it is the ever-changing characteristics of the rose that makes the composition the "excellent" 4 star out of 5 success it is.

09/11/2014

8
Scent

Tinctureall
94 Reviews

Tinctureall

Very helpful Review 6

Aged oudh with the young fresh rose

If you have a passion for oudh anyway, the lure of trying this is irresistible. Ancient oud of this vintage cannot be resisted. The soft rose and the dark oudh here are old partners, These have lived and loved together for centuries. This is like a time machine of a fragrance, taking these old lovers and giving them infinity. The gift of time has worn all the hard edges away from the oudh and the woody notes are soft like velvet. The newly plump rose caresses your senses like the brushings of a freshly picked petal on your cheek. They recline together intertwined in an enveloping shawl of soft sandalwood that has been lying on patchouli leaves. There is a trace of the peppery but it is more like the soft peppery of skin in the warm sun. The slight sweetness and fruity twist to the heliotropin adding the layers to this sumptuous nose feast.

Complete and utter love for this. For oudh lovers it is a must have. It rivals the best.

11/16/2015

ColinM
516 Reviews

ColinM

Helpful Review 6

Dull and costly

A spicy rose-oud scent as much decent as dull and in the vein of dozens of others, from Montale to Xerjoff to well, two thirds of niche brands. I admit though, that this may sit just a tiny tad above many of them, because of both some moderately interesting nuances, and its overall quality. The smell is in fact enough thick, faceted and natural to result in something a bit (just a bit) more intriguing and fulfilling that several other average niche oud scents. Both rose and oud seem good quality, especially the rose note, which has a quite appealing texture of soapy, resinous, camphorous nuances, a bit as in Aramis Calligraphy Rose, with some sharp sort of spicy edges (I get cloves, definitely, and pepper). The same for oud, it smells a bit flat, but not overly artificial to my nose, and cleverly toned-down to act more as just a smoky, weightless, kind of cold yet gloomy dry-medicinal base for rose. I appreciate so much the absence of any cheap dry rubberiness as in the near totality of synthetic ouds.

Besides the faceted rose infusion, the “interesting nuances” I mentioned (interesting for me, of course) would be mostly a deeper woody-smoky-peppery vein with a sort of dry-mossy feel which kind of reminds me of some vintage masculine chypres (I guess it’s patchouli), that sort of austere dark green-mossy dryness with camphorous nuances infused with a hint of dusky flowers (rose) and something reminding me of civet – that peculiar sweaty-indolic-sultry feel. I see no civet here, but I believe that oud plus some sweet nuances and the powdery feel of the floral notes may create something like that. They create an overall sort of cold, dirty feel, which is quite fascinating – as long as it lasts (not much, sadly).

And that was the good part, basically. Fun subtle variations on a trite theme – this leading us to the bad side of this scent: rose and oud combos and variations are so ubiquitous, so abused and over-done, that it’s really hard for a scent to stand out, especially with absurd price tags such as Ex-Idolo’s ones. Thirty-three is somehow nice, it is refined and competently put together, but not really enough for being bottle worthy in my opinion. I mean: it’s decent, but it’s still just rose and oud again. So many others are equally nice and are cheaper than this. If it cost a third of its price, I’d consider it fine, but for $185 / 50 ml I want something outstanding, magic and memorable, and there’s none of it here (for my idea of “outstanding, magic and memorable” applied to a rose oud scent, just check any Abdul Samad Al Qurashi fine oil).

6/10

09/02/2014

8
Scent

Kxnaiades
50 Reviews

Kxnaiades

Very helpful Review 6

many oud+roses out there, but not all are as fair

This is pure heaven. Its in the same vein as Kurkdjian's Lumiere Noire Pour Femme, another heartbreaking love of mine. This is the kind of rose I have decided I really like, non powdery, dark dark DARK rose and in your face oud and patchouli of amazing, headshop quality but with some ritz. Patchouli haters steer clear of this one. Those who have migraines triggered by strong scents, stay away from this one. Another super plus point of this is the fantastic sillage and longevity, it's Amouage style and more. I blind bought this to celebrate my 33rd year on this planet and this has to be the best blind buy ever.

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