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Danke für's Reinschauen 🙂 (by Mustang69)

Oud Stars

Gao Xerjoff 2012

7.0 / 10 304 Ratings

A perfume by Xerjoff for women and men, released in 2012. The scent is woody-spicy. Projection and longevity are above-average. It is still in production.
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Main accords

Woody

Spicy

Smoky

Resinous

Oriental

Fragrance Pyramid

Top Notes

Spanish saffron

Persian saffron

Heart Notes

Gurjum balsam

Nagarmotha

Juniper berry

Base Notes

Amber

Indonesian patchouli

White oud

Ratings

Scent

7.0304 Ratings

Longevity

8.6271 Ratings

Sillage

8.2271 Ratings

Bottle

8.9279 Ratings

Value for money

6.2150 Ratings

Submitted by Kankuro · last update on 12/24/2025.

Source-backed & verified

Interesting Facts

The fragrance is part of the Oud Stars collection.

Smells similar

What the fragrance is similar to

Oud Cashmere Mood

Dejan

Pure Oud

Marylebone Wood

Nero Oudh

Dark Aoud

Reviews

16 in-depth fragrance descriptions

11/26/2024

5.5Scent 8Longevity 6Sillage

Smirky
495 Reviews

Smirky

2

Meh, nothing special

Gao opens up with a challenging smell but in this case, it's not barnyard or cheesey oud. I get a pretty unpleasant medicinal type scent, which I can only assume is the saffron. As it dries down, it gets a lot better - smoother and woody. There's still a remaining medicinal or camphor type of smell.

Longevity was good - got about 7 hours out of it but the projection was only moderate for me. Gao didn't really wow me. Out of the few in the Oud Stars collection I've tried, I only really liked Luxor.

02/08/2024

1.5Scent 8Longevity 8Sillage

JinBaba
33 Reviews

JinBaba

1

No where to hide with this

This is by far the worst Xerjoff I've smell yet. all I can get is mechanical oil & burned petroleum rubber. long lasting but for people who love dark, Safran boom at the beginning but then turn into something metal and burned robber.

anyone who use this can't hide him self in the crowd, this is very strong and long lasting but with awful smell unfortunately.

I can't think for any occasion this fits into unless if you want to push people away from you to enjoy you coffee :)

10/21/2021

Giles
87 Reviews

Giles

1

Dark but awful

This reminds me of Gucci Guilty Absolute which I can handle. I'm not liking this at all. It's certainly not unisex, no woman wants to smell like this. It last a long time but unfortunately the barn yard smell is just too much.
I can't find a single occasion where I would wear this. The worst of the oud stars line in my opinion.

11/11/2012

5Scent 10Longevity 7.5Sillage

Turandot
841 Reviews

Translated · Show original

Turandot

Top Review 23

Great fragrance experience with a catch.

Maybe I should have read Kankuro's comment beforehand, before I tested Gao as the first of the Xerjoff Oud fragrances. It seems to be the one where Oud is really at the forefront. But I want to appreciate each of these fragrances as an independent creation and not compare them to each other. Comparisons are often interesting, but with the Oud Stars collection, I am simply overwhelmed.

I recognize Gao as a masterpiece. The fragrance is wonderfully composed and there is actually nothing to criticize about it, except that it is not wearable for me. It feels like a robe from the Renaissance era. Adorned with braids and borders, fur-trimmed, and certainly a masterpiece of tailoring. Made only from the most precious materials. But what am I supposed to do with it, other than admire it? Even if it fit me, I would just feel like I was in costume. And that’s how I feel about Gao.

In the Oud perfumes I have tested so far, this once extraordinary note is usually a background for a fragrance. Here, saffron actually leads us straight to the point, as the spice truly supports and amplifies Oud and leaves no doubt about what this is about. Oud is not a mere accessory here, not valuable background noise, but is at the center, and that is too much for me. As the fragrance develops, it does become softer, and I could definitely warm up to the heart note, but that doesn’t last. After a while, Gao becomes woody, bitter, smoky, dry, and elegantly strict with excellent longevity, during which the boundaries between Oud and patchouli also become fluid.

Oud will certainly not be one of my preferred fragrance notes in the future, even though I have now come across quite different perfumes with this ingredient. Especially when it is subordinate and only “underpins” the other notes, then that is fine with me. However, when it is as prominent as it is in Gao, I reach my limits. Gao is one of those fragrances that I am glad to know, but that won’t make it onto my wish list. Now I am curious about the other Oud Stars. Maybe I will manage to create a comparative summary in the blog.

03/08/2013

9Scent

Bertel
236 Reviews

Translated · Show original

Bertel

Top Review 19

This is Oud

Yes, for me this is a correct, absolutely naturalistic and realistic representation of Oud, a kind of "Oud soliflore" :-) Whether one wants to wear this is a completely different matter.

Thai Pratchin Oud and Laos Oud await us here, as XerJoff informs us. The way there is paved by a strong, uncompromising, and unmistakable powerful, earthy, resinous, dry, smoky, almost sharp saffron, until Oud stands expansively, dominantly, confidently, almost brutally at the center. In the drydown, amber, patchouli, and vetiver with sandalwood unfortunately cause the base to tip a bit into the mossy-sweet, but up to that point we have an exemplary Oud of the dry, intense, medicinal, slightly dark-smoky kind in full size, beauty, and striking self-assured strength laid out before us on a silver platter for study and astonished admiration. Great!

"Deeply animalic" as XerJoff claims, I do not perceive this scent at all, rather deeply woody and mossy, I think of distinctly decayed-musty, deep dark underbrush. Would one want to wear such a scent? I certainly would not, but I love this very realistic scent that feels extremely high-quality and "right" to me for my personal occasional private enjoyment.

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