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Posted by Colleen Shirazi, Thursday, August 30, 2007 1:49 PM (Eastern)
Just got a sample of this, from Parfums Raffy. In fact I have several samples, but went straight for the Aoud one, and placed a tiny drop or two of it on my wrist.
Why oud? What is oud? As there is, apparently, a musical instrument by the same name, let us first borrow some text from the Parfums Raffy site:
...The luxurious Aouds are fragranced ointments extracted from the oils of the Arabian Oud Tree. Oud is a precious oil from the bark resin of Aquilara - known as Ud (also Ouf or Aoud) - oil. Only trees of a certain age (50 years) deliver this essence. A thousand-year-old secret process, preserved in a cave for several years. Its subtlety and richness come from its vintage nature. Aouds are the sole perfume of Arabian kings and sultans since the dawn of time and are believed to possess aphrodisiac properties.
And some from the Wiki:
Agarwood or just Agar (from the Malay gaharu) is the resinous heartwood from Aquilaria trees, large evergreens native to southeast Asia. The trees occasionally become infected with a parasite mould and begin to produce an aromatic resin in response to this attack. As the fungus grows, the tree produces a very rich, dark resin within the heartwood. It is this precious resinous wood that is treasured around the world. The resin is commonly called Gaharu, Jinko, Aloeswood, Agarwood or Oud and is valued in many cultures for its distinctive fragrance, thus it is used for incense and perfumes...
I was warned about oud...that it was either love or hate. But I have a fair amount of exposure to Middle Eastern cultures, where the people can be all about perfumes. This smells...wonderful. Okay here are my impressions:
First sniff: saffron, with somehow an imaginary hint of somagh and dried lime. I mean I don't think this contains somagh or dried lime, but the saffron note is so authentic, my nose automatically anticipated the other ingredients, in the initial few seconds.At first this perfume smells sharp, almost acidic, and not sweet. The kind of scent that might send a perfume novice into a minor state of panic. Since I'd been forewarned, I applied only the small amount and was prepared to wait for it to mellow some.
About half an hour later: it's mellowed some. No longer as sharp nor as acidic. Now you can really smell roses. But not roses in the soliflore style, which would tend to disinterest me. Actually this is reminding me a bit of Yves Saint Laurent Paris...but a touch sweeter and older, imo a bit nicer and more complex. Paris would be the lighter-hearted younger sister of Aoud Roses Petals, but imo, Roses Petals would be a bit more beautiful.
Now it's smelling sweet, almost a blend of dried and fresh rose petals, with a slightly...sappy...undertone, and the saffron still hanging in there.
The Montale perfumes are reputed to wear extremely well. That's refreshing, considering the ephemeral nature of other scents I've tried recently. Strength and staying power imo should be factored into the cost of a perfume.
Overall, I wouldn't recommend this as a "young" scent. To me, it has a mature feel to it. Nor is it necessarily a rose perfume lover's scent. As much as I like smelling rose fragrances, this is the first I've ever considered buying; there's much more going on here than plain roses.
Drydown: this develops into a soft and candied, almost honeyed, rose, after a while, with the cedar note coming to the fore and the saffron and oud receding slightly.
More than twelve hours later: those one or two tiny drops of Aoud Roses Petals--barely faded. I'm not exaggerating. The perfume has become a tad muted, that's it. Homina-homina-homina! This is the first Montale I've tried, but I already love it!
images courtesy Wikimedia Commons
Labels: montale, parfums raffy, perfume, perfume reviews
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