Oud by Mona di Orio Les Nombres d’Or

Woo Hoo Posse! Continuing the month of trawling through my lovely husband Jin’s fragrant wardrobe today. This was the most expensive bottle I’d ever purchased at the time. It was Jin’s birthday or our anniversary or somewhere such. While shopping at Peony Melbourne we were sniffing the new violet MdO when Jin tried Oud and went full apeshit for it. This led to a series of misadventures before I finally got him a bottle. When he wears it he says Oud smells like Cow Poo, in the most adorable way ever. He doesn’t wear it much but I know he loves it. Sadly it was first reformulated and then the company ceased trading. This is the BEST bottle. I love the whole idea and design.

Oud by Mona di Orio Les Nombres d’Or 2011

Historic lists give these featured accords:
Top: Pettigrain, green mandarin, elemi
Heart: Nagarmotha, patchouli, osmanthus
Base: Oud, Atlas cedar, musk, ambergris

Oud is a big fragrance. Surprisingly, it’s not only a punch in the face of oudh. It’s much more than that. It’s a resinous, woody fragrance that works on multiple levels. While talking with Jin about his ride I think it also works very differently for each wearer as well. Jin gets a spicy wooden ride with unmistakeable references to cow poo and full blown barnyard. I get a textured resinous journey with medicinal notes, including band aids and cough mixture, sodden earth patchouli, crisp woods and smoky incense. For me the barnyard smells more like an open air urinal, ultra sweet and ambery.

While oudh has been extremely overplayed this century, something as gorgeously, thoughtfully composed is such a joy to wear. It’s a crying shame we lost Mona so early, and that the brand is now gone.

I wrote about MdO Vanille a few years ago here on Posse

Did you ever get to smell Oud or the Oud Osmanthus reform?
Portia xx