Montale Aoud Amber Rose

Montale released this one in 2010. So it’s a relatively new contender in the world of aouds and I’m happy to see this house embrace aoud with such open arms.

Aoud Amber Rose

Aoud Amber Rose

In Bottle: An incense woodsy fragrance with a core of roses.

Applied: Initially this smells like a sophisticated rose settled down by a bit of smoke and spice. The fragrance evolves into a woodsier floral composition adding a bit of ambery musk to my nose. It’s warm and dry, but quite nicely blended with the rose making itself the star. As Aoud Amber Rose continues to age it takes on more and more woodsy qualities with a tinge of animalism too.

Extra: I have to question Montale’s methodology. Once a year, we get a few new releases from them. And usually at least one of those releases is an aoud fragrance or something closely related to it. It’s at the point where I’ve sampled my share of Montale aoud fragrances and they all start to smell the same with a couple of components taken out or added in. When a house releases what is essentially the same composition with a couple of tweaks, is it really worth it (aside for collection’s sake) to get the next iteration year after year?

Design: I’ll admit, the shiny metal tubes are wearing thin on me. Other niche houses with their simple bottle designs are fairly understandable. They usually have some sort of distinctive aesthetic appeal. But Montale’s bottles started off beautiful with the brushed metal look. But Aoud Amber Rose? Well, it’s pink. It makes me want to tuck it away in a sock drawer for how inconspicuous it looks. Sorry, Montale, I’m not a fan of the color choice here.

Fragrance Family: Oriental Floral

Notes: Rose, saffron, guaiac wood, cedar, agarwood.

There are novels that have been written about the beauty of aoud notes if used well in a fragrance. I’m on the fence about Montale’s many faces of aoud, but overall, I think they do a pretty good job. Aoud Amber Rose is a decent contender, but I have to concede to By Kilian’s Rose Oud as a more complex fragrance. In the end, this stuff isn’t bad, but it’s got some stiff competition.

Reviewed in This Post: Aoud Amber Rose, 2010, Eau de Parfum.


Creed Royal Oud

Oud has always been popular amongst perfumistas. It took me a while to get used to it myself. But how could I delay it? People love oud. Companies have entire lines of fragrances dedicated to oud.  So how does Royal Oud stack up to the competition? Eh.

Royal Oud

Royal Oud

In Bottle: It’s oud all right. Dense and warm oud with a flowery bit of woodsiness and a major spice going on.

Applied: Okay, so here’s the problem with Royal Oud on me. It opens with a big spicy kick. Like the spices are a bit strong and overpowering at first and that makes it hard for my nose to adjust and get to the rest of the fragrance. As the spices settle down a bit, I get a warm, dense, slightly dirty oud and woodsy fragrance. The woods are a little distracting because I swear I smell a cedar note that’s threatening to take over and pull me away from the smooth richness of the oud fragrance. Royal Oud is a strange but rather boring creature. It’s strange in that it uses oud throughout its progression but the other notes in the fragrance seem to always be stronger and trying to overpower the oud. It’s boring because it smells like a spicy woodsy men’s fragrance with a little hint of dirtiness.

Extra: Oud has this dirty, dense, very resinous quality to my nose. But to describe oud is nearly impossible because there are so many ouds and so many different ways that oud can smell. It can be dirty, dense, deep, warm, sweet, and sticky. It also all depends on what type of oud you’re smelling and whether it’s a synthetic or a natural oud. It’s a talented ingredient that takes a good perfume to the next level if used right.

Design: The bottle itself is shaped and designed in a similar fashion to other Creed fragrances. Nice, heavy glass. Simple exterior with no unnecessary flourishes. The colors work well, the focus is on the fragrance and not the crazy gimmick bottle (here’s looking at you, Agonist. Even though I love Agonist bottles). It’s just a classic-looking Creed bottle that combines form and function very well.

Fragrance Family: Oriental

Notes: Agarwood, woods, spices.

I don’t know how I should feel about Royal Oud except to say that Amouage did it better. Get yourself an attar if you want something that focuses a bit more on oud. Get yourself Royal Oud if you’re not sure you like the stuff yet but you want a confident fragrance that features oud but won’t overwhelm you with it.

Reviewed in This Post: Royal Oud, 2011, Eau de Parfum.


By Kilian Rose Oud

By Kilian hits a weird spot on my wallet. I love their fragrances. Love that they have a more detailed than usual list of fragrance notes with their perfumes. But I’m not loving the price tag and I doubt very much that I would ever purchase a By Kilian fragrance. I just have yet to find one that I really like.

Rose Oud

In Bottle: Rose Oud is pretty much what it sounds like. I get a big rose and oud presence in the bottle and I can’t complain. This stuff delivers what it promises.

Applied: Heads in with rose, crisp and dewy like you dipped a rose in a cup of water. The fragrance wafts in a bit of oud, giving the scent that dark slightly sticky but very complex and very sophisticated feel and smell. As the fragrance ages, the rose turns into a creamier version of itself, combining with the oud to form a very grown up, very dense scent that speaks quite well for the powerful aura this fragrance seems to project. As the scent dries down, the oud gets a bit more woodsy and the fragrance warms up a bit with a hint of spices layering in with the rose.

Extra: Rose Oud was composed by Calice Becker, who has also composed such fragrances as J’Adore, Marc Jacobs Lola, and Tommy Girl.

Design: Rose Oud is bottled in much the same way as other By Kilians. A glass bottle with lacquered sides and sold in a box complete with lock and key. For the price they’re asking for it, you should expect nothing less than over-the-top luxury when it comes to the packaging.

Fragrance Family: Floral Woodsy

Notes: Rose, saffron, guaiac wood, agarwood.

So like I said before, I have a hard time justifying the price tag of a By Kilian because while the fragrances and the packaging is nice, the truth is the scents could be had elsewhere for less. Or if I wanted to go full-out expensive, there are other niche houses that I prefer.

Reviewed in This Post: Rose Oud, 2010, Eau de Parfum.


Juicy Couture Dirty English

All right, so I owe lemon a bit of an apology. It’s not the sole destroyer of scents for me. No, that prize goes to cedar. And when you add lemon into the mix, it’s like a mastermind and his nefarious sidekick getting together for an evil soiree. Oh yeah, Dirty English. Dirty English lacks the sharp lemon that would destroy worlds if it were also present in this stuff but it has plenty of cedar. Oh yes. Plenty of cedar indeed. Dirty English

In Bottle: Smells a little leather, a little woodsy, with a nice citrus kick at the start to wash things up. There’s a nice density to this fragrance that gives it a good smooth scent.

Applied: The leather is a very pleasant thing for about two seconds before Dirty English dissolves into its mid-stage where I end up losing everything but cedar. There is  a lot of cedar in this fragrance, and a lot of perfumes can overdo cedar and end up with something highly unpleasant. Bonus points taken off for including lemon with cedar thus making the concoction a sharp, chemical, and highly unpleasant mix to my nose. But Dirty English only tangos with cedar. And the dancing must be quite good because cedar is the predominant note for hours and hours on end until Dirty English decides its had enough and shifts into a more pleasant, slightly less obnoxious cedar with a bit of bitter, musty mossiness that I can assume is the agarwood at work. The agarwood is done quite well but is tempered by a sweet, warm ambery note and a dash of spice. Overall, Dirty English is a good masculine scent that’s had a lot of good press over the years. I only wish I could smell something other than cedar because there’s really a lot of it in this concoction.

Extra: Well, I finally tracked down and smelled Dirty English. I think that would be that for the readily available Juicy Couture line (not counting the pet fragrances).

Design: Dirty English shares a similar bottle shape with Juicy Couture and Viva la Juicy. It’s missing the big plastic crystal that the feminine perfume bottles tend to sport with a metal cap embellished with a chain instead. I do like the shape and nice weighty feel of the Juicy Couture bottles and the dual-purpose of the embellishments are a nice touch.

Fragrance Family: Spicy Woodsy

Notes: Pepper, mandarin, blue cypress, bergamot, cumin, cardamom, marjoram, leather accord, sandalwood, Atlas cedar, vetiver, agarwood, moss, amber, musk.

I really Dirty English had been a little less loud with the cedar as it sounds like it would have been a really nice fragrance that at least tries its best to shift itself a little further away from the standard men’s scent.

Reviewed in This Post: Dirty English, 2009, Eau de Toilette.