Aoud Vanille Mancera 2015

An Afghan acquaintance once gifted me a large canister full of saffron threads. His mom regularly sends him such canisters from Afghanistan, and he always has a supply. I had never smelled saffron in larger quantities before and was fascinated by how the taste and scent of an aromatic substance can be so different. Saffron in rice tastes delicious. However, the saffron straight from the canister smelled piercing, bitter, and musty.
Why am I telling you this? Because it was exactly the first impression I had after spraying Aoud Vanille. Besides saffron, I initially perceived nothing else. But the saffron was so intense that I actually felt a bit nauseous for a moment. Vanilla, oud, or even flowers - none of that was present. Just a dusty, deep dark, piercing medicinal saffron note, absolutely nothing else. Just like the canister of saffron smelled when opened. The scent has absolutely no sweetness or softness, let alone creaminess, to counter this note.

I then wondered if my sample might be off, as the scent impression deviated so extremely from the other comments here. After about 30 minutes, the saffron funk calmed down a bit. It doesn’t completely disappear, but slowly the vanilla begins to fight its way more to the forefront, and I can gradually smell my arm again without flinching. Over the course of about 3 hours, the scent transforms into what most of the other commenters perceive. So it’s probably not the sample, but my skin chemistry that gives the saffron such a dominating presence.
The drydown is really very nice - dry, completely unsweetened, sandalwood-like vanilla; overall a bit reminiscent of incense sticks. If the scent had been at least somewhat similar to what it becomes after hours from the start, it would definitely be a candidate for purchase. Interesting, "different," and absolutely not mainstream. Unfortunately, I fear that I wouldn’t have the patience to endure the first 30 minutes of saffron overkill with every application. Those who push through or have skin chemistry that keeps the saffron in check will be rewarded with a beautiful scent that I could still faintly perceive even after showering.