Oud 777 is a mystical Aoud fragrance of smoky, deep darkness. Within the heart of Oud 777 live two souls. A wild Aoud beauty. And in the depths lurks the shadow of a dark smoky monster.
Oud 777 is imbued with warm darkness, from whose vast smoky depths the fragrance notes rise, only to be drawn back down by the tobacco-smoking beast into the almost endless dark abyss, and after some time, once again ascend into the evening-sunny realms of the oriental Aoud beauty.
Wild Aoud beauty, evening sun, Soq, granite block, dried fruit, Mephisto, a bleeding tree. Oud 777 is an elusive scent - much like ELdO's “The Afternoon of a Faun.” I have yet to smell a perfume where "mystical" would be more fitting.
Oud 777 is simultaneously crashing loud like Dubai and whispering soft like the desert, ruggedly aoud and smoothly polished, smoky and balsamic-creamy. Crashing on the surface in the opening and mysterious and profound in the heart and base.
The top note of Oud 777 is a punch on a heavy precious wood discussion table. It crashes, but does not thunder. The scent of smoked Aoud, of warm evening desert air, and an Arabic Soq rushes unexpectedly towards you.
At first, there is a lot of angular Aoud. Dark woody, slightly oily, dense, leathery, warm, smoky, somewhat crystalline, a bit animalic, woody-angular to woody-harsh. At the same time, a spicy, room-filling labdanum spreads. Presently dosed, pure, resinous-ambery, subtly sweet, subtly smoky, earthy, sensually warm, skin-rough, and leathery.
Then a decent pinch of cinnamon joins in. Dusty dry and oriental warm. The cinnamon note, together with the labdanum, somewhat resembles dried fruit. In the background, a spicy, more defined than harsh and slightly bitter myrrh note, some aromatic-sweet wood, anise, and wild brown leather can be discerned.
And after a few minutes, everything is gone. As if you were closing your eyes, holding your ears. Absolute silence - except for the beating of your own heart. There is nothing left to smell on the skin.
Then you open your eyes and ears and find yourself in the gentle calm of the rugged wilderness. Meditating on a solitary stone block in the desert. Oud 777 returns. Ruggedly aoud - and smoothly polished at the same time. Warm, infinitely deep, and profound.
Aoud, calm, initially whispering, meditative, polished. After some time, the Aoud becomes stronger, resinous, woody-heavy, earthy, and deep. I could imagine that Nagarmotha oil is responsible for this. Only occasionally does an animalic Aoud facet flash. At the same time, a creamy-woody note becomes noticeable (Stéphane Humbert Lucas calls this note "white Aoud"), which smells like a mix of very creamy sandalwood and light Aoud. This note gives the Aoud, well into the drydown, alongside the precious wood-heavy, dark woody, sometimes flashing animalic facets, also a gold-creamy facet.
Counterbalancing, initially even slightly dominating the Aoud, is spicy-resinous, somewhat bitter labdanum, which gives the dense dark Aoud an ambery polish. Present brown pilot jacket leather provides a beautiful warm-leathery texture.
From the depths of the fragrance, smoky-earthy frankincense rises, breezy, rather dry, emphasizing the spicy warmth of the Aoud and labdanum. In the background, subtly more oriental-warm spices and resins can be smelled, which together with the frankincense enhance the dark depth of the fragrance.
After a while, a green-smoky undertone becomes noticeable. Perhaps chewing tobacco with smoky frankincense? This green undertone remains until the end of the fragrance's progression and gives Oud 777, together with the Aoud, an aromatic dark brown-green touch. At the same time, an aromatic-balsamic, dark, unsweet, somewhat reminiscent of smoky-black chocolate note lays over the Aoud and the spicy labdanum.
After about 5 to 6 hours, Oud 777 becomes more aoud again. Dense, dark woody Aoud clearly returns, surrounded by warm, sweetly-ambery resins, refined with a bit of balsam. Skin-animalic leather, some frankincense, and tobacco give the woody-ambery-balsamic core of the fragrance a somewhat angular character.
After the crashing opening, Oud 777 shows little significant fragrance development in the classical sense anymore. Rather, over the next 12+ hours, a flickering play of facets follows. Suddenly, an animalic facet of Aoud flashes, then something black-smoky chocolate, only to disappear back into the dark depths of the fragrance. Sometimes the dark Aoud takes the lead, then the spicy-ambery labdanum. Tobacco and leather manage to alternately sneak a bit more into the foreground between the Aoud and the labdanum, only to then dissolve back into the depths of the fragrance.
Once the balsamic character of the fragrance prevails, then the creamy, and finally the smoky. Oud 777 lives on the skin. Powerfully calm, contrastingly harmonious, unexcitedly exciting, balsamically smoky. Oud 777 is imbued with a darkness, from whose vast smoky depths the fragrance notes rise, only to sink back into the almost endless dark abyss and after some time once again ascend.
Oud 777 displays the fragrance behavior of an extrait. I initially perceive the sillage as strong and decreasing over the course of the fragrance. Oud 777 is strong, but not loud, with great inner strength. The scent is still perceptible in the room when you leave and come back after a while. The fragrance becomes more intimate, creating a sensual, warm, deeply erotic scent aura around the wearer. Oud 777 merges with the skin of the wearer and becomes one with it. Even the next day, Oud 777 is still noticeable - albeit without great sillage.
SHL knew what he was doing here too!
Thank you!