Oud Vendôme Ex Nihilo 2013

Oud Vendôme beats with the pulse of Paris. It is the city. Unconventional yet classic. A mecca for fashion and art, but also full of local scene. Place Vendôme, in the 1st arrondissement, with Napoleon's victory column, but also the luxury boutiques, already embodies the perfect symbiosis of the old world, tradition, and modern luxury.

Ex Nihilo itself describes the fragrance as a contemporary interpretation of oud for the modern age. Yet it is also 100% Paris. How true. After all, the headquarters of Ex Nihilo is just an 8-minute walk from Place Vendôme.

The scent starts with a very fruity, slightly spicy ginger note, which is immediately accompanied by saffron, breaking things up a bit. Beautiful. Very real. And in this combination not necessarily "obvious." Interestingly, a fruity floral note hovers above everything from then on. Somewhere between rose and white flowers. Yet none of these notes are actually present. Presumably, our two head note protagonists conjure up this impression.

The soon-to-join cedarwood is so clean and unembellished that it must represent modernity in the composition. The slightly sweet resinous quality of galbanum does not clash with the ethereal transparency of the top note but adds more depth to it. Small accents of cinnamon flicker here and there.

The oud in the base, in my perception, only adds a darker wood note and carries the white incense, which captures the composition slightly as it moves towards the drydown and densifies near the skin. The musk in the base note provides, apparently as part of a slowly recognizable Ex Nihilo DNA, softness and a certain freshness, making the fragrance surprisingly suitable for every season and especially for warmer temperatures.

With Oud Vendôme, Ex Nihilo achieves a true masterpiece. Comparable to Oud Al Sadet, where floral-fruity accords create a unique harmony with oud, Ex Nihilo creates a modern and, above all, light floral (rose) oud version that can be worn by anyone, without rose and especially without medicinal or barnyard oud. Chapeau!