Kevinoud6969

On my skin, Manly opens with a boozy accord, similar to the one in Chinese Oud, but that doesn’t mean that it smells exactly the same. In Chinese Oud it was paired with orange and it lasted for a very short time, but here it leans more towards Rum with raisin like sweetness and it is paired with heavier notes. I also detect oakmoss absolute, now oakmoss usually forms a part of a fougere accord or a chypre accord and you usually need to wait until the late drydown to detect it in isolation, but here, it doesn’t feel like a part of an accord, just pure oakmoss with its green mossy slightly bitter nuances. I also detect a short lived Indian oud note from the opening, it is sweet resinous woody with hay-like nuances and is slightly barnyardy. In the heart the spices appear, at first I could only detect nutmeg and cinnamon, but after a few wearings I started detecting the beautiful realistic sweet spicy leathery saffron note, two or three wearings more and the heart became saffron heavy on me. The sandalwood is also present in the heart, it is very creamy, the same sandalwood that is present in Russian Musk II. The spices are further sweetened by the caramellic dry sweetness of tonka. The patchouli was very prominent on the first few wearings but now, it plays a secondary role in the heart, it has a dark sweet earthy dusty profile, without any herbal or mentholated nuances. The tobacco doesn’t appear until the second hour, it has a rich dry bitter cigarette-like profile that reminds me of the tobacco accord in some Amouage fragrances. The tobacco is combined with smoke (that reminds me of Interlude) and a non-animalic leather accord that feels like suede. I only detect the castoreum after 2 or 3 hours along with subtle vanillic sweetness. Now I don’t consider it as one of the best releases from the house. It is pleasant but doesn’t live up to the Areej le Dore standard IMO. The fragrance feels a bit familiar. Also, it lacks airiness; you are bombarded with all these heavy notes: Oakmoss, patchouli, leather, tobacco, booze, saffron, you name it! but nothing creates a contrast like a fresh aromatic note or a floral accord. The quality of ingredients is on par with any other Areej le Dore to my nose.

Sayat Nova doesn’t smell anything like Baque. Nor is it supposed to. Instead Sayat Nova is a dense, dark apricot vanilla fragrance with a gorgeous but intense amber that feels like Bahkoor mixed with Vanilla. It’s subtly Smokey with the right amount of depth thanks to some benzoin, labdanum and even maybe some Styrax in addition to a wonderful tobacco laced vanilla accord. This reminds me of smelling a room that has a large box of apricot flavored pipe tobacco. You don’t really smell tobacco but you get this deep, plush jammy vanilla aroma with spices and mulled fruits. In this case it’s apricot. Don’t worry, nothing here smells like it’s fermented or rotting. In fact this smells like a perfectly ripe apricot that’s been reducing on a stove top. If that’s somehow offensive to you I can’t imagine how fun you’d be at parties.

Anyways Sayat Nova is great. Incense, apricot, tobacco, and vanilla laced Oud. Excellent staying power.

This one I was taken with when I first tried, so I purchased a sample. Later on, it made me feel nauseous. Now, I'm deciding to try it again. Upon first spray, the cacao and coffee are coming out quite a bit stronger. It is definitely lao oud, though. The name is no misnomer. I don't think I'd ever buy this. Not because I don't like it (I actually don't know if I do), but more because it's more oud than I'd ever need. It does what it says on the label, and it does it well. It's a 'take no prisoners' approach, where there's never any real sign of relenting. It's strong... very strong. The notes breakdown is a little funny, especially when you see the top notes. You might look at the article and think "Oh, it has a floral spicy opening... that's cute!", but nope. This starts with oud and ends with oud. It's not linear, per se, but it doesn't drift from the main focus very often or for very long. The voters say its unisex, and I do agree, but this is one of the first times I've found a fragrance to be slightly more masculine leaning. Bizarre, but effective. Not for the faint of heart.

So, TL;DR, it's lao oud ... with a bit of less heavy, but still not exactly "light" notes and accords thrown in. There's complexity, though, no doubt.

This has been on my "must buy" list for awhile now... Finally got my bottle & couldn't be happier.

Don't be deceived:
It's so good you'll be tempted to overspray like crazy at first, but this really, REALLY warms up later in the wear.

I'll also say I didn't simply stumble across this as a great scent;
This was easily one of the best high-end scents I've come across in recent months focusing on incense, if not #1.

If this one doesn't do it for you as far as incense goes... I really don't know what to tell ya!
It's fantastic, full bottle & even blind buy-worthy greatness here! I will be getting a backup.

Kudos to Jimmy; Truly killing it on multiple fronts!

I'm enjoying this scent much. This is first a woody scent with spices. If you've smelled Black Afgano, then you now have an idea of what this smells like. Let me say this is not Black Afgano in any sense whatsoever. I use that perfume as a pointer to get you to understand the complexity of this scent. Unlike Black Afgano, which fades on the spices very early, and a flat synthetic smell begins to show, the spices on this one carry on with you as the day progresses. The spices on this are more intense than BA but is in no way nauseating. The blending of spices and wood compliment each other to create a beautiful scent. I can see a woman taking note of this one for a few sprays though this is not a feminine scent. Empire Oud is so alluring, that a woman can find this one tempting to wear.

Another similar scent to this beauty is Arabian Oud's Majestic Intense. Majestic is spicier than this one and overall more intense; hence its name ;)

The spice longevity with this one is a good days work with the woody lasting just a little longer.

If you enjoy any of the perfumes I mention in this post, you won't be disappointed with Empire Oud. I picked mine up from eBay.