Oud Maison Francis Kurkdjian 2012 Eau de Parfum

Oud perfumes are the new “orientals”. Like their early 20th century predecessors, their fantasy/reality ratio is sky-high. They are less overtly culturally offensive, but in terms of authenticity, they are just as much a bill of goods.

Francis Kurkdjian avoided the pitfall of attempting to mimic Arabic style. Instead, he treated oud like any other centerpiece note in western traditional perfumery. His Oud has some of the characteristic scent of oud materials, particularly the band-aid note, but the setting is unexpected. Rather than pairing oud with rose, syrup or smoke, Kurkdjian made a sort of woody-floral with a soft oud note. (Though the brand’s list of notes doesn’t include florals.)

Kurkdjian approaches oud as a material rather than a genre. He seems to have given it the same scrutiny he might ambroxan or rosewood, breaking it down into its constituent notes and evaluating the olfactory dynamics, seeing how it interacts with other materials. Some of oud’s traits are underscored, others are played down. By treating it to classical western perfume analysis and technique, Kurkdjian assimilated oud.

In skipping the Arabian fantasy, he avoids the stereotypes of the material. Of the hundreds of oud perfumes to hit the market in the past 5-10 years, not many stray from a narrow interpretation of the material. Kurkdjian took a measured approach and demonstrated his signature talent for composing a perfume that is somewhat unusual but not at all strange. It smells deliciously of shoe polish + lipstick + floor wax. It is cool to the touch and reserved. Kurkdjian aligned oud with patchouli, a material with some similar characteristics, to create a new style of woody-floral perfume. Oud and patchouli are both woody materials that range from pitchy highs to durable, resinous bass ranges. Patchouli’s camphorous chill matches oud’s rubber band-aid note and both share a dusty, woody feel. They don’t smell alike, but the behave similarly.

Classical perfumery has always had a loving appreciation of ‘off’ notes. The most effective materials of traditional perfumery tended to have a stark, asymmetric beauty at their core. Modulating them created a well-proportioned aesthetic that captured the interest and the imagination. Oud is well suited for a similar use—it is idiosyncratic and quintessentially jolie-laide. Kurkdjian didn’t disguise oud, but he did make it his own and proposed a new, western style of oud perfume.

Is this a reaction to the oud hype? Releasing perfumes under that name with almost no discernible oud note in it?

I would classify Kurkdjians Oud as a musky fragrance – it has lots in common with a very good body butter or skin cream. Almost a cosy scent for cuddling, if there wasn't a certain hint of that “hairspray” note that we know from so many Montales and others that refer to oud. By its character, not necessarily by its ingredients, Kurkdjians's Oud approaches the dark, vibrant and slightly animalic “Musk” by Keiko Mecheri, and it can be recommended as an alternative of it.

Besides that, we find discreet resinous notes and a minimal fruitiness mostly in the top notes, which suit this fragrance quite well. If at all, there are only traces of saffron. There are powdery aspects and also something woody. In this case the perfumer shows his abilities by leaving things open. None of the notes are in any way dominating the fragrance and so, this Oud makes a very discreet appearance – but not without beauty!

The discretion and the integration of the notes which was conducted here makes it difficult to associate images or pictures with this fragrance. I suppose this Oud will appeal to those who use cosmetic products and appreciate a good skin cream. The positive and relaxing feelings but also the beauty that a good skin cream may evoke are being quoted by Kurkdjian's Oud.

Next to the expected softness typical for this kind of skin cream perfumes, also, this fragrance transports a feeling of acerbity, a kind of distance, maybe aloofness. Whoever feels the notion to protect one's skin against the environment with a thin transparent layer might feel addressed by it. Possibly, the environment will not notice this fragrance as a perfume but rather as a freshly applied skin cream.

I regard softness and protection as the main theme of Kurkdjian's Oud, and the link between both that the perfumer succeeded to establish may provoke your heart to beat a little faster. However, one has to get engaged a little with this perfume. A quick test in the shop will not suffice to cope with this tender high quality fragrance. If possible, get a sample! (I thank The Different Scent for it)

Masterpiece.My wife hates oud and heavy perfumes.
For MFK oud , even she loves this soo much.This is absolutely fine art.Silage is average, longetivity is high.Unique and new generation perfume.I used to wear lumiere noir from MFK.Unlike many reviewers , it was an above average perfume for me.But this one is some kind of a magic.RESPECT!!

Oud immediately opens with the apparent star making itself known before anything else. This is not the semi-animalic smelling woody oud you might expect, but rather a watery, rubbery oud that is rather tame, synthetic and pleasant smelling. The oud remains into the heart, now pairing with the *real* star of the scent, saffron, which pairs up with the oud for the duration and even dominates to a small degree it as time goes on. The minimalist concoction uses patchouli as a supporting note to sweeten the composition just a hair with it too being a more "cleansed" patchouli and not the dirty variety frequently used. Projection and longevity are both excellent.

Oud is a good scent, but I must admit to being a bit disappointed considering its pedigree. Kurkdjian is way late to the oud party and as such considering his vast talent I expected something extraordinary here... and did not get it. Instead, Oud ends up being a pleasant smelling polished Western oud concoction that really is more about the saffron than the oud on skin to my nose. It is linear in nature and while I find it hard to fault the composition it lacks passion and is just another sterile entry on the long since departed oud gravy train. Maybe that is a bit harsh criticism for a scent that I am awarding a very good 3.5 stars out of 5, but I expected so much more from such a late entrant to the field from a super-talented nose like Kurkdjian. This one is worth a sniff, but at $300 for a 70ml bottle there are much better choices to be had for less money elsewhere.

In the top notes, there is a burst of saffron, like a streak of sunlight across a grey sky. The saffron is used in much the same way as the golden narcissus in Lumiere Noire Pour Femme, i.e., a sunny, 'yellow' counterbalance to the darker, woodier tones of the oud and patchouli. I love saffron as a note, and it features so heavily in this fragrance so as to categorize it as a saffron-centric fragrance than an oud one (which is more than fine by me).

The oud used here is an approximation of the Laotian kind, which is similar to Cambodi oud in its fragrance profile, meaning that it contains hints of cocoa and red berries, as well as plums and peaches. But Laotian oud can also smell quite goaty and metallic, aspects that are emphasized here with the saffron. The oud note itself is subtle, and so seamlessly woven into the fabric of the fragrance that it is hard to isolate as a note in and of itself. It is recognizable as oud, but it is completely devoid of any stinky or medicinal inferences that have come to define oud in Western perfumery. It smells faintly of old, dusty wood, cocoa, and more strongly of a red berry-like sweetness. It lurks beneath the saffron and the cedar for most of the fragrance, allowing the other notes to shine.

The base of this fragrance is incredibly similar to that of Lumiere Noire Pour Femme, which I would define as a smooth, slightly candied patchouli base. Soft and nutty-sweet, it reminds me strongly of the marron glace base to some of the older Carons (again Kurkdijan's innate French classicism shines through) and indeed some of the current Guerlains (the balmy, velvety patchouli base of Rose Nacree du Desert immediately jumps to mind). The scent is so soft as to register almost entirely as a skin scent, and as such, does not have monster projection or even longevity. However, just as you think it's gone, wafts of it reappear, allowing you to enjoy it again, and it permeates clothes and scarves for days and days afterwards.