Dear Oud: How can we miss you if you don’t go away?

Are you little tired of ouds at the moment? Have you noticed the unusually long duration of this fragrance trend? It’s been at least two years now, and it shows no sign of abating.  We’ve been inundated by ouds of every variety from all directions, and everybody’s getting in on the act. To name afew of the companies that have rolled out their own version: Bond No. 9, By Killian, Giorgio Armani, Jo Malone, l’Artisan Perfumer, Dior even Comptoir Sud Pacific.  There’s many more, too.  Just do a search using the word “oud” on any major frag website and see how many hits you get.  

It’s an interesting resiny, woody, herbaceous scent that conjures up images of being in a palatial gallery on a pillow strewn night, the air heavy with incense, the night breeze wafting in carrying ribbons of fragrant woods, resin and pitch.

If you haven’t already tried some on, do sample a few to see how this note has been interpreted. You’ll find that they vary from hardly, barely there (Van Cleef and Arpels Precious Oud) to a rich, deep dark and resinous mix  (Chantecaille’s  Kalimantan Perfume) that made such a lasting impression on me that I had to stop in the ladies room on the way out of the store and  scrub it off.  You can also get a single note oud, or agarwood, from sellers such as Madini Perfume Essences if you want to know what it’s like without all the flourishes.

Agarwood has an interesting pedigree: (“Agarwood or oodh (or just agar) is a dark resinous heartwood that forms in Aquilaria and Gyrinops  trees (large evergreens native to southeast Asia) when they become infected with a type of mold. Prior to infection, the heartwood is relatively light and pale coloured; however, as the infection progresses, the tree produces a dark aromatic resin in response to the attack, which results in a very dense, dark, resin embedded heartwood. The resin embedded wood is commonly called gaharu, jinko, aloeswood, agarwood, or oud (not to be confused with ‘Bakhoor’) and is valued in many cultures for its distinctive fragrance, and thus is used for incense and perfumes.“ Wikipedia. From the article “Agarwood”)

I can appreciate it for its beauty, but it’s all getting a little repetitious. Now when the sales clerks whips out the latest thing and it turns out to be an oud, all I can say is “Thank you, but I’m ouded out.”

What do you think of all the ouds out there?