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Coutureguru
Helpful Review
5
My first Oud ...
Montale's Wild Aoud was a gift from the friend who initially piqued my interest in wearing Oud in the first place. The promotional blurb for this fragrance on the website reads as follows:
"A smoky and diffusing character for this wild and noble Aoud combined with Teakwood, Patchouli from Sumatra and Tobacco, enveloped with Amber under a brilliant and piquant heart of Artemisia, Geranium from Egypt and Bergamot from Italy."
Wild Aoud begins with a shot of candied sweetness, summery citrus and (even though this note is not listed) candied Rose petals! The Oud here is a late arrival and is definitely not of the overly medicinal variety ... finally slightly subdued by resiny woods. I only get a hint of the listed Tobacco in the drydown and the Patchouli is still hiding somewhere, but that's neither here nor there. Wild Aoud is a 'summery' Montale ... something that at the beginning of my now lengthy fascination with this note I would never have expected to find. Being the 'note du jour' that it has become, I'll go out on a ledge here and say that if one truly wants to experience Oud the way it should be handled, there are no better than the fragrances made by the people at House Montale.
I can only conclude that the Geranium listed here is responsible for the 'candied Rose' aspects of this fragrance, more than likely by the addition of aroma chemical Geraniol to the mix, with it's diffusive Rosy attributes. I cannot confirm this, however ... my bottles list only Alcohol Denat, Fragrance and Eau as ingredients. Geraniol does, however, find it's way into most fragrances available today ... just turn the box over and take a look :). Apparently people with fragrance allergies should avoid this chemical ... well, good luck with that!!
I also really love the fact that Montale fragrances come with a usage warning on the package. I wonder if this circumvents the draconian IFRA regulations in the EU to some extent? If so ... I find myself adoring Pierre Montale even more ... real person or not :).
All told, Wild Aoud can be considered a gateway into the wonderful world of Oud. There have been reports of ghastly batch reformulations of late so I would try to find an older bottle ... but that being as it may, this remains one of my favorite Aoud's by Montale.
SarahBelrose
