"It's louder than words
This thing that we do
Louder than words
The way it unfurls
It's louder than words
The sum of our parts
The beat of our hearts
It is louder than words
Louder than words."
Pink Floyd's "Louder Than Words" song describes the feeling flawlessly. I bought a pack of decanters with the scents that intrigued me about this brand, one of which was More Than Words. If you are interested, here you find my "XJ 1861 Naxos | XerJoff". More than a Word is modern and classic poetry whose verses describe universal feelings that colour our lives. It is composed of conflicting feelings, reworked into a blend of emotions that distil vibrant prose of stunning clarity.
The fragrance is spicy, warm, and sweet with complex edges. Right off the bat, I get almost salty ambergris, so forceful, which cannot be valid from the sperm whale. It is chemical, a derivative of ambroxan, for sure. Behind that comes a piercing oud, not too medicinal at all. It feels like oud, but harmless, refined, not skanky, which slightly darkens the salty and flowery tones. The initial blast is not unique to my nose because I already have a similar scent, but I will tell you later.
The heart unveils with a bouquet, mingles with fruit accords, a delicate and sweet rose with a fruity touch. A creamy rose rules the floral tone—the rose is the blossom I get the most in the bouquet of white flowers—while the fruity edge comes from some dried fruit, which could be a blend of raisin plum, apricot, and sour berries. So, when the rose comes into play, it oozes with fruity and smoky nuances added to the gummy cistus flower, which pairs well with the other guys. Besides, I bet there is a faint spicy touch, subdued cinnamon.
The dry-down changes toward something more thick, sweet, and salty. The ambergris takes the stage now and gets prominent, while the oud still lingers in the back. Woody oud and resinous cistus create a dense side dish with a salty amber tinge. The perfume is now a skin scent, and I have a better idea of what it reminds me of; it's
Intense Cafe. Take out the coffee note, and you get the same vibe. The two colognes sit in the same ballpark and share many notes in common, mainly rose and oud paired with a dash of amber. Though they are not clones of one another. And the oud-rose couple is not ordinary.
I can wear it as a casual fragrance or formal evening and night events. It is a cologne that fights the cold weather. The fall and winter months are ideal. This is truly one of the most delicate fragrances based on oud it has ever privileged me to wear. It winds like something with well-mixed oud and rose typical of Arab scents but in modern ways.
I base the review on a decant I have owned since January 2022.
-Elysium