Top Notes 
Cambodian oud
Vanilla
Heart Notes 
Rose
Musk
Base Notes 
Ambergris
Patchouli
TheBark
17 Reviews
TheBark
Very helpful Review
7
This is for when you've grown past the designer "ouds."
A little analogy: years ago, when I first turned 21 and was able to purchase my first legal alcohol beverage, I chose Budweiser. Why? Well, because it's the king of beers (duh!). Oh, how young and naive I truly was. Want to know just how naive? Keep reading...
During my college years, I had the pleasure of taking a spring break vacation to Germany. Yeah, even a basketball coach I ran into at JFK Airport in NYC asked "Don't most students go to Florida?" Sure, but Germany has better beer! While there, I had the opportunity to try the original Czech Budweiser. I remember taking my first swig and making a sour face. Bleh! Wretched! This tastes nothing like Budweiser! Well, the water-down American stuff as I know it today.
See, my experience had been limited based on my, well, limited exposure. Budweiser was readily available anywhere in the US. Just like your designer colognes at Macy's, Dillards, etc. But, as I began drinking more and more beer, tasting different varieties and styles with the proliferation of microbrews, I developed a better sense of taste. Budweiser? The king of beers? Pfffftt. Let me make this clear as somebody with degrees in Psychology and Media Study: there's a reason why some companies resort to spending millions and millions of dollars on advertising and gimmicks (ohhh! Mountains on cans turn blue to prove it's cold! Side note: beer isn't meant to be drank ice cold - it dulls the taste). They NEED to spend it to CONVINCE you to buy it!
Oh, what I would give to have a Czech Bud right now. How ignorant could I truly be? There's simply no comparison - which brings me to this fragrance.
I mention "beer" as an analogy to fragrance, both being a hobby. Sure, I started out like most others. Designer stuff, though my first scent with Oud was 10 Corso Como which predated YSL's M7 by a few years. After M7, it seemed there was a lull until Montale released Black Aoud and even then, it still seemed to take a while before everyone and their brother making fragrances had Oud in them - even ones in the name that really didn't contain any Oud (here's looking at you, Creed Royal Oud. You're still a little gem, though.)
Along the journey, I've delved into attars and other stuff like Al Haramain's Obsessive Oudh and other authentic stuff like Arabian Oud's Blue Oud and Majestic Special Oud which is like a more refined, niche version of Montale's Black Oud. There's also Arabian Oud's ridiculously priced, but pretty-dang-close-to-worth-it Royal Oud that is about as well blended a rose/musk/Cambodian Oud scent as you could hope for.
And then there's Taif Al Emarat's UAE Oud (Black). This... This is what some of the designers could only hope to be. Dark. Sultry. Spicy. Love at first spray - when it hits your nose, you immediately begin to think about all those designer Ouds and think "book reports vs. thesis." It has a high concentration of essential oils for an EDP, the alcohol content at only 67% (I believe. EDIT: I keep forgetting, Taif Al Emarat declares their fragrances to be all-natural, using sugar cane and water.) It seems to allow for the more gradual development of notes as it's quite a few hours into this when the vanilla appears adding another entire dimension to its wearing.
I could probably go on and on, but this stuff is truly in a class of its own. Extremely well-blended and long-lasting and multi-layered. Wearing it is akin to going from drinking Guinness at 4.2% alcohol to something like Dogfish Head's World Wide Stout at 18% alcohol. Don't get me wrong; Guinness will always have its lovers, as will the designer world of perfumery when it comes to Oud, but for those looking for something richer and world-class, this very well could be the elixir of choice. Cheers!
EDIT: After owning this for several months now, there's something about the opening I couldn't put my finger, er, nose on. It wasn't until I wore Arabian Oud's Aqua Royal Oud recently that I finally figured it out: Ambergris. There's a very prominent Ambergris note through and through in UAE Oud and I was surprised to see it listed here as a note as it's not on their website or written material.
That's not surprising, though, considering Year of Zayed has differing notes listed on their packaging vs. website vs. included printed material (the back of the box lists Coffee and Frankincense which isn't listed anywhere else.) Everywhere else, "Amber" is listed as the note in UAE Oud, but there's a distinctive difference between Amber and Ambergris. As in Aqua Royal Oud, in UAE Oud, it has a very addictive salty accord.
EDIT #2: Having purchased Octavian by Electimuss and sampling Nebulous from Boadicea the Victorious (along with Midnight Degree), I can provide some additional information comparing it to those fragrances. Yes, there are similarities; I bought Octavian because I was looking to purchase a backup for UAE Oud, but I found a great deal on Octavian and thought it was tough to beat for the price and volume. UAE Oud is, to my nose, the darkest and most animalistic of the scents listed. Octavian is similar but more rose-centric and airier, with pink pepper and frankincense. UAE is closer to Nebulous but still darker, as Nebulous has a brighter rose note though it smells like there's a heavier emphasis on the oud.
Midnight Degree has some similarities but lacks wood/oud altogether. That being said, there are moments when it does manage to smell close, though I don't really get the POAL comparison too much; the orris note completely differentiates Midnight from the rest of the field and, at least on my skin, smells the least rosy of them all. The four fragrances would make for one heck of a battle royal as they're each outstanding in their own rights.
During my college years, I had the pleasure of taking a spring break vacation to Germany. Yeah, even a basketball coach I ran into at JFK Airport in NYC asked "Don't most students go to Florida?" Sure, but Germany has better beer! While there, I had the opportunity to try the original Czech Budweiser. I remember taking my first swig and making a sour face. Bleh! Wretched! This tastes nothing like Budweiser! Well, the water-down American stuff as I know it today.
See, my experience had been limited based on my, well, limited exposure. Budweiser was readily available anywhere in the US. Just like your designer colognes at Macy's, Dillards, etc. But, as I began drinking more and more beer, tasting different varieties and styles with the proliferation of microbrews, I developed a better sense of taste. Budweiser? The king of beers? Pfffftt. Let me make this clear as somebody with degrees in Psychology and Media Study: there's a reason why some companies resort to spending millions and millions of dollars on advertising and gimmicks (ohhh! Mountains on cans turn blue to prove it's cold! Side note: beer isn't meant to be drank ice cold - it dulls the taste). They NEED to spend it to CONVINCE you to buy it!
Oh, what I would give to have a Czech Bud right now. How ignorant could I truly be? There's simply no comparison - which brings me to this fragrance.
I mention "beer" as an analogy to fragrance, both being a hobby. Sure, I started out like most others. Designer stuff, though my first scent with Oud was 10 Corso Como which predated YSL's M7 by a few years. After M7, it seemed there was a lull until Montale released Black Aoud and even then, it still seemed to take a while before everyone and their brother making fragrances had Oud in them - even ones in the name that really didn't contain any Oud (here's looking at you, Creed Royal Oud. You're still a little gem, though.)
Along the journey, I've delved into attars and other stuff like Al Haramain's Obsessive Oudh and other authentic stuff like Arabian Oud's Blue Oud and Majestic Special Oud which is like a more refined, niche version of Montale's Black Oud. There's also Arabian Oud's ridiculously priced, but pretty-dang-close-to-worth-it Royal Oud that is about as well blended a rose/musk/Cambodian Oud scent as you could hope for.
And then there's Taif Al Emarat's UAE Oud (Black). This... This is what some of the designers could only hope to be. Dark. Sultry. Spicy. Love at first spray - when it hits your nose, you immediately begin to think about all those designer Ouds and think "book reports vs. thesis." It has a high concentration of essential oils for an EDP, the alcohol content at only 67% (I believe. EDIT: I keep forgetting, Taif Al Emarat declares their fragrances to be all-natural, using sugar cane and water.) It seems to allow for the more gradual development of notes as it's quite a few hours into this when the vanilla appears adding another entire dimension to its wearing.
I could probably go on and on, but this stuff is truly in a class of its own. Extremely well-blended and long-lasting and multi-layered. Wearing it is akin to going from drinking Guinness at 4.2% alcohol to something like Dogfish Head's World Wide Stout at 18% alcohol. Don't get me wrong; Guinness will always have its lovers, as will the designer world of perfumery when it comes to Oud, but for those looking for something richer and world-class, this very well could be the elixir of choice. Cheers!
EDIT: After owning this for several months now, there's something about the opening I couldn't put my finger, er, nose on. It wasn't until I wore Arabian Oud's Aqua Royal Oud recently that I finally figured it out: Ambergris. There's a very prominent Ambergris note through and through in UAE Oud and I was surprised to see it listed here as a note as it's not on their website or written material.
That's not surprising, though, considering Year of Zayed has differing notes listed on their packaging vs. website vs. included printed material (the back of the box lists Coffee and Frankincense which isn't listed anywhere else.) Everywhere else, "Amber" is listed as the note in UAE Oud, but there's a distinctive difference between Amber and Ambergris. As in Aqua Royal Oud, in UAE Oud, it has a very addictive salty accord.
EDIT #2: Having purchased Octavian by Electimuss and sampling Nebulous from Boadicea the Victorious (along with Midnight Degree), I can provide some additional information comparing it to those fragrances. Yes, there are similarities; I bought Octavian because I was looking to purchase a backup for UAE Oud, but I found a great deal on Octavian and thought it was tough to beat for the price and volume. UAE Oud is, to my nose, the darkest and most animalistic of the scents listed. Octavian is similar but more rose-centric and airier, with pink pepper and frankincense. UAE is closer to Nebulous but still darker, as Nebulous has a brighter rose note though it smells like there's a heavier emphasis on the oud.
Midnight Degree has some similarities but lacks wood/oud altogether. That being said, there are moments when it does manage to smell close, though I don't really get the POAL comparison too much; the orris note completely differentiates Midnight from the rest of the field and, at least on my skin, smells the least rosy of them all. The four fragrances would make for one heck of a battle royal as they're each outstanding in their own rights.
Updated on 05/16/2024
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