Amber
Oud
Patchouli
Tobacco leaf
Tonka bean
Cedar
Coriander
Labdanum
Sandalwood
DrB1414
265 Reviews
DrB1414
Helpful Review
4
The Best Tom Ford
Tom Ford Tobacco Oud Intense. It pains me to review a perfume that is discontinued and sells for stupidly inflated prices on the aftermarket. Yet I realized I never reviewed this one properly and thought it might help people looking to purchase it blindly.
In many years of collecting, I have witnessed all the "fragcom behaviors" and "trends." One that seems perpetual is hyping stuff that is discontinued and hard to get, only to feel good for having it. However, this is not the case with this perfume. The hype is warranted. At this point in my journey and after going through a major decluttering, I am left with only two designer fragrances. Tobacco Oud Intense is one of them. I find it sublime, and all around, flawless. By far, the best perfume the house has ever put out, at least to my taste. What does it smell like?
To put it bluntly, this perfume comes across as a combination of Tobacco Oud, Oud Wood Intense, Plum Japonais, Tuscan Leather, and Amber Absolute. It takes bits from some of the most highly acclaimed Tom Ford perfumes to create this. It shares the original Tobacco Oud DNA and adds on top the heavy castoreum accord from Oud Wood Intense, the leather from Tuscan Leather, the fruity quality present in both Plum Japonais (and the spices) and Tuscan Leather, and finally, the sweet amber accord and smokiness from Amber Absolute. It comes across not as an "intense" version of Tobacco Oud but rather a "perfected" or "complete" one. It takes Tobacco Oud, stretches out its profile, irons its creases, and smooths everything out. More sophisticated, complex, and inviting.
It opens up quite aromatic and boozy but also fruity somehow. Aromatic in the sense that it makes me think of a combination of artemisia, juniper, and perhaps cypress, with a faint boozy vibe, and a raspberry/plum cognac touch. It grabs your attention immediately, as the opening of every good fragrance is supposed to do. This part doesn't last long and soon makes way to the tobacco accord, here veering on the dry leafy side of the spectrum, that is paired with a hefty dose of fine smoke and a leathery castoreum reminiscent of Oud Wood Intense, but not as assertive, here the smoky tobacco leading the way. This interplay of smoke, tobacco, and castoreum pushes for a good while before it starts to melt into the base. Once it settles down, I get the Amber Absolute similarities, minus the heavy Santalol part. I get the "amber fossil" accord that smells like it is leaning heavily on benzoin, not labdanum or cistus. It is on the sweet, powdery, and vanillic side of the spectrum. The tonka bean provides a nice support to that as well. The smokiness continues to push alongside, while the tobacco accord slowly fades away. It has incredible tenacity and lasts for a good 24 hours on the skin and dies down to this smoky, sweet ambery scent with a touch of dirtiness from the castoreum. It is a complex perfume that transitions in stages, masterfully blended with seamless transitions, a graceful presence on the skin without overpowering, unique, and one that will make a lasting impression. Again, I feel it is one of those long-gone perfumes worth the hype. As for a good alternative, I haven't found anything similar enough, except maybe for Sultan Pasha's Tabac Grande. The latter feels like an intense version of this, more butch, if you will, offering a similar vibe and wearing experience, at least for me. I would love to know the perfumer who put this one together as I'd like to see what else he has under the belt. For me, Tobacco Oud Intense is a winner and among my favorite tobacco compositions ever.
IG:@memory.of.scents
In many years of collecting, I have witnessed all the "fragcom behaviors" and "trends." One that seems perpetual is hyping stuff that is discontinued and hard to get, only to feel good for having it. However, this is not the case with this perfume. The hype is warranted. At this point in my journey and after going through a major decluttering, I am left with only two designer fragrances. Tobacco Oud Intense is one of them. I find it sublime, and all around, flawless. By far, the best perfume the house has ever put out, at least to my taste. What does it smell like?
To put it bluntly, this perfume comes across as a combination of Tobacco Oud, Oud Wood Intense, Plum Japonais, Tuscan Leather, and Amber Absolute. It takes bits from some of the most highly acclaimed Tom Ford perfumes to create this. It shares the original Tobacco Oud DNA and adds on top the heavy castoreum accord from Oud Wood Intense, the leather from Tuscan Leather, the fruity quality present in both Plum Japonais (and the spices) and Tuscan Leather, and finally, the sweet amber accord and smokiness from Amber Absolute. It comes across not as an "intense" version of Tobacco Oud but rather a "perfected" or "complete" one. It takes Tobacco Oud, stretches out its profile, irons its creases, and smooths everything out. More sophisticated, complex, and inviting.
It opens up quite aromatic and boozy but also fruity somehow. Aromatic in the sense that it makes me think of a combination of artemisia, juniper, and perhaps cypress, with a faint boozy vibe, and a raspberry/plum cognac touch. It grabs your attention immediately, as the opening of every good fragrance is supposed to do. This part doesn't last long and soon makes way to the tobacco accord, here veering on the dry leafy side of the spectrum, that is paired with a hefty dose of fine smoke and a leathery castoreum reminiscent of Oud Wood Intense, but not as assertive, here the smoky tobacco leading the way. This interplay of smoke, tobacco, and castoreum pushes for a good while before it starts to melt into the base. Once it settles down, I get the Amber Absolute similarities, minus the heavy Santalol part. I get the "amber fossil" accord that smells like it is leaning heavily on benzoin, not labdanum or cistus. It is on the sweet, powdery, and vanillic side of the spectrum. The tonka bean provides a nice support to that as well. The smokiness continues to push alongside, while the tobacco accord slowly fades away. It has incredible tenacity and lasts for a good 24 hours on the skin and dies down to this smoky, sweet ambery scent with a touch of dirtiness from the castoreum. It is a complex perfume that transitions in stages, masterfully blended with seamless transitions, a graceful presence on the skin without overpowering, unique, and one that will make a lasting impression. Again, I feel it is one of those long-gone perfumes worth the hype. As for a good alternative, I haven't found anything similar enough, except maybe for Sultan Pasha's Tabac Grande. The latter feels like an intense version of this, more butch, if you will, offering a similar vibe and wearing experience, at least for me. I would love to know the perfumer who put this one together as I'd like to see what else he has under the belt. For me, Tobacco Oud Intense is a winner and among my favorite tobacco compositions ever.
IG:@memory.of.scents
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