CaptainOdour

When Viking was announced, everyone was hailing it as the successor to Aventus, managing to overlook Royal Oud in the process. Everyone thought that Creed would once again capture lightning in the bottle, and forever change the fragrance industry once more. Instead, they gave us a very safe, perfectly pleasant, spicy masculine fragrance that is reminiscent of the barbershop scents of yore.

And people absolutely hated it.

Years later, now that the dust has settled, I can say that this is one of my favourite fragrances from Creed and was, for a time, my signature scent. It’s perfectly masculine, with a minty, peppery opening and a smooth, creamy drydown. It projects well, and will be noticed, but not necessarily commented on. This is a great fragrance for when you want to make an impression without making a statement.

Probably the only Creed that deserves its pricetag today, and even that is debatable. Royal Oud smells of opulence. Creed prefers to present their fragrances to customers by way of visuals as opposed to note breakdowns, and most Creed reps worth their salt will position this one as smelling like the inside of a Persian palace. Wood, spices, leather. You get the picture. And this is one of the few fragrances that doesn’t fall short of that visual. I first smelled this one back in 2017, and only bought a bottle this year. I had a small decant I worked my way through in 2018, but hadn’t smelled it since. This fragrance was genuinely on my mind for 4 years before I pulled the trigger.

I think it’s a little too formal leaning for my liking. Royal Delight is my go-to fragrance for when I’m suited up, so Royal Oud has a rather odd place in my collection. Still, I reach for it often enough. Woody/oriental fragrances are right up my wheelhouse, and Royal Oud is no exception.

Decent silage and projection, but this fragrance wasn’t made for the “14 SPRAYS MINIMUM” crowd anyway. If you subscribe to the notion that a good fragrance should be discovered and not announced, Royal Oud will be a great pick for you.

This is a dark, animalic, leather dominated fragrance. There’s nothing wrong with it, but it certainly isn’t worth the ridiculous process required to get your hands on a bottle.

For a grey cap EDT, it performs admirably, but isn’t going to blow away any of Creeds EDPs by any stretch of the imagination. I reach for this stuff once a year for my birthday, and beyond that it just sits gracing my collection. I’m happy to have it, but if it disappeared tomorrow, I wouldn’t be in a rush to buy it again. If you’re a Creed fan, it’s worth sampling. But I wouldn’t bother going for a full bottle.

This one needs to be smelled to be believed. It is perhaps the most beautiful honeyed tobacco (and the most beautiful tobacco period) that I have ever got my nose on. It’s smooth, creamy, masculine and eminently wearable. I think the right person could dress this down for use with a t-shirt and jeans just as easily as it could work with a suit and tie.

The tobacco in this one really is the centrepiece of the fragrance, and it’s a delight. Not as strong as the tobacco in Red Tobacco, nor as sweet as the tobacco in Naxos. The closest comparison that comes to mind is Tom Ford’s Tobacco Vanille. ATH is a known admirer of Tom Ford, so I’m sure it isn’t an outlandish comparison to make. And much like Tobacco Vanille, this is a very easy to wear fragrance, though perhaps more masculine leaning.

Now, this scent is fairly linear, which seems to be par for the course with ATH. Some people will be put off by that, but it doesn’t bother me. I never went noseblind to it, and would catch whiffs of it throughout the day. This is a real statement making fragrance, and is one I’m very happy to have in my collection.

Personally, I think this one is dreadful. Too cloying, too synthetic, too sickeningly sweet. It comes across as an ambrox bomb. When I used to work as a fragrance salesman, I had to spend all of my day dealing with nuclear powered blue fragrances. Yes, I’m looking at you, Sauvage. This fragrance took me right back to those days. I’ll be the first to admit that I’m biased, I’ve never been a fan of ‘blue’ fragrances, and while this one may not officially meet that category, it certainly does to my nose. To put it bluntly, this is a fragrance I’d LOVE to smell on somebody else, but not one I’d want to wear all day. Wearing this for a few hours makes me want to go home and wash it off. Smells great on my clothes, though!

Personally, if you’re a younger man with a lot of confidence, this fragrance will work for you and set you apart. It has the same youthful energy that the likes of Sauvage do, but it’s so much more refined and unique, not to mention statement making.