A Visit to the Bazaar or Why the Wheel Doesn’t Need to Be Reinvented
Ibrahim had his stall at the large market on the outskirts of the city. Right there where the last dwellings were already surrounded by fine sand and the city slowly transitioned into the desert. Like every morning, Ibrahim was one of the first to set up his stall for the hopefully numerous customers of the day. He dragged the countless woven baskets and wooden boxes from his truck and systematically arranged them around his stall. After the exhausting work was done, he set about opening each individual container and stowing the lids beside them. The first containers held countless spices like cumin and also precious saffron. As he worked on the next baskets and uncovered exquisite rose petals, violets, and stems of patchouli, the truck passed by his stall, delivering countless canisters full of fuel to the stand near the main road, just like every morning. Although Ibrahim was a lover of fine and beautiful scents, he took a deep breath of the gasoline-laden air every single morning and seemingly enjoyed it. After the brief interruption, he turned back to his fragrant goods and began unpacking the leather-wrapped boxes filled with rare resins, precious oud, and fine vanilla pods for sale.
To get straight to the point: Yes, Mancera's Aoud Exclusif is thoroughly a rose-oud fragrance. Per se, this need not be a bad thing, but the market does seem to be quite saturated with this oud combination at the moment. Given these circumstances, it is of course interesting to see if this candidate is worth a look. And to answer that question right away: Yes, it is!
Aoud Exclusif starts, as indicated, with a colorful jumble of spices. I really struggle to pick out anything concrete in the first minutes, but I could swear that I detect cumin and saffron. Next, violets and patchouli present themselves. The violet used here creates a slight nuance of petrol, while the patchouli comes across dark and slightly chocolaty. Only after the initial burst of patchouli and violet has settled does a beautiful, dark rose make its presence known. Mancera has done a very good job with the implementation, and one could almost imagine seeing the thick and nearly black leaves before them, as fine droplets of dew collect on the rough surface. This spectacle lasts for a while until the oud finally makes its appearance. I believe I recognize something typically Mancera in the Nepalese oud, a note that was also used in Red Tobacco, but it is difficult for me to grasp. Of course, the oud accord is clearly recognizable, but for me, there is something slightly animalistic in the mix. For my taste, this adds a flattering quality to the entire fragrance composition. Once the oud has integrated itself among the other notes, a bit of leather, soft resins, and a certain powderiness from the musk come into play. And it is precisely this base note that rounds off Aoud Exclusif beautifully and makes it wearable.
In any case, one should be clear that the wheel has not been reinvented here. However, I would argue that Mancera has succeeded in creating a wonderful rose-oud fragrance that can score points with a very well-executed twist of spices and violets.
