Oud Ispahan by Francois Demachy for DIOR 2012

Hey there Posse, Oud Ispahan is one of mt favourite DIOR Privée fragrances. Discovered when it was first released in an AndreaW split. When I went to Paris in 2013 with Jin on our first big trip together it was one of my big ticket purchases.

Oud Ispahan by Francois Demachy for DIOR 2012

Oud Ispahan Dior FragranticaFragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Labdanum
Heart: Patchouli
Base: Sandalwood, rose, agarwood (oud)

New story? No. Oud Ispahan retells a fragrant story nearly as old as fragrance, oudh & rose. It’s a typical middle eastern fragrance but put through the DIOR mill. A few perfumistas complain about how so much of our current fragrant offerings are oud based or designed for the middle eastern market. I like that fragrance embraces the whole world’s scent histories. It’s like fragrance has become the great joiner, a link and look into another culture.

Ous Ispahan feels like I’m wearing an oil based fragrance from the middle East but in the cleanest, most modern way. The note list is exactly reverse to how I smell the fragrance. Oud (no don’t freak out, it’s a pretty tame recreation. More of an oud nod that full blown poopy, medicinal, animal extravaganza) and rose in the forefront, the patchouli riding alongside is almost transparent, all the bits I love have been sawn off and truncated but you can still tell it was once patchouli, this is a Disney patchouli suitable for even the most exquisitely discerning western noses that don’t really want to smell like a souk, or as if they’ve been up a camels ass, but who do want to hint at far away places and mysterious travels. Oud Ispahan is perfect for exactly this. Fragrant armchair travel, Oud Ispahan would be the perfect scent to wear to watch a TV show about the middle east (He He He).

Oud Ispahan DIOR Himmel_Harem WikiMediaWikiMedia

Drying down gives me a dusty, amberish and honeyed animal oud. Sandalwood? I get hardly any but still the memory of a garden rose, spicy and sweet weaves in and around the remnants till it’s faded and gone.

I love Oud Ispahan and when spritzed with abandon I am lounging in the harem of a desert king or am a fabulously jewelled Indian Maharajah.

Further reading: Candy Perfume Boy and Katie Puckrik
Oud Ispahan can be found at some large department stores and all DIOR stand alone stores.
Surrender To Chance has samples starting at $3/ml

What in your collection sends you on journeys in your mind?
Portia xx

  • Diana says:

    I generally really dislike the band-aid smell of oud, but I actually find Oud Ispahan pleasing. I also liked Kurkdjian’s Oud (the one simply named “oud” not the “oud something or others”). I wouldn’t go full bottle on either, but like to have a sample around to use every so often.

  • Ann says:

    Howdy, Portia! What a lovely post. I’ve not tried this Dior, because — well, you know how I feel about oud 🙂 But next time I’m in Saks I might try the teeniest, tiniest drop, thanks to your description.

  • FeralJasmine says:

    One of the most precious items in my collection is an aluminum sample bottle from Dior labeled Oud Isphahan. I bought it on EBay thinking that it was a bottle of the edt, and instead it’s a wonderfully rich thick viscous fluid of the pure base for this scent. I have since learned that this paste is supposed to be mixed into a liter of perfumer’s alcohol to make Oud Isphahan. It is a glorious thing to dab, and dogs can probably smell me from blocks away. Well, they don’t seem to mind.

  • Sun Mi says:

    It sounds lovely – and the color of the juice is just heavenly!!

  • eldarwen22 says:

    Ever since I read about Amouage’s description for Epic Woman and Turnadot, I fell in love with that. Vintage Bal conjures up the mental image of being in the late 18th century courtesan, lounging in her bed after a night with her lover.

    • Portia says:

      Hiya Eldarwen22,
      BaV is one of my faves. Yes, so elegantly and refinedly OTT. Exactly how I would dream a courtesan smelling.
      Portia xx

  • HeidiC says:

    I like the idea of a scent journey in the literal sense — one that takes you to a place, imagined or historical. Off the top of my head, Arquiste Nanban makes me feel like I’m on an East India Company ship in the 17th Century, laden with goods. And Comme des Garcons’ Avignon makes me think of being in a small Provencal town with an old stone cathedral.