Aoud Ambre
by Montale

The biggest disappointment from Montale’s aoud line.

Aoud Ambre is flat, boring and hardly detectable on the skin. I was hoping that something would happen during the drydown but, nope, I could only detect a faint ambery sweetness (with some tobacco) and not much oud. Its presence is so lame that, if you don’t remind yourself, you’ll eventually forget you’re actually wearing it!

Fornication in a can my arse!

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[Original submission date: 25 May 2008]

I love the opening salvo, with super-sweet amber notes perfectly offset by the (pleasantly) medicinal oudh. Then, after ten minutes, the amber grabs the wheel and careens off on a sugar fueled joyride, tossing the oudh out the window just before slamming into the guardrail. The most disappointing drydown I can remember.

I have tried this many a time, hoping that the middle and end chapters will live up to the first sentence, but so far it's been a boring read. Moderate sillage and an extended, if not stimulating, lifespan.

One of very few Montale Aoud scents that I clearly dislike. I actually think Aoud Ambre is pretty awful.

I get extremely small dash of oud here. To me it smells a lot more like a nostril burningly sharp blend of aldehydes, patchouly and carelessly done and selected amber. Maybe there`s some labdanum too.

I love Montale, but once again I really don`t undertand the contradiction between the official notes and the actual smell.

Oh well....

In one thing with Montale I agree here, though : This is purely a fragrance for women. Probably mainly due the flood of aldehydes, I find this utterly feminine. (but to make it clear, I wouldn`t want to smell this on a woman either)

Aoud Ambre is no good.

A smooth, warm ambery aoud scent comes right off the top and already contains, in germ, all the notes that follow; but they reveal themselves more and more as the drydown progresses, and shine softly with a mellow light. This has quite a good sillage, and on my skin at least, excellent longevity. Some people say this a scent for intimate moments, and I can see why they think so. It does have a somewhat seductive effect on people who have smelled it on me, although I can't say I was in the market when that occurred. Pity!

Opens with a blast of sweet, medicinal notes of oudh, the oudh used here is kinda new to me of what i have tried so far from the montale line. i also detect bit of incense in this one...and by far this one has to be the Woodiest Montale that i have tried. it maybe the true form of Amber which is painting this Image of smelling the open part of a freshly chopped tree. half an hour into this and it turns in to a slightly sweet and smoky then progressing in a freshly made Amber notes reminding one of the amber base in Amber Sultan. the only difference is the presense of oudh, which doesnt really try to the the stage. is humble enuff to take the supporting role and walk away with the best supporting actor in this film. for anyone who is looking for a Amber based scent with more than one twist, look no further. as obvious, this one is not out there to impress anyone, it's a very pleasant amber based scent that could be easily worn by either sex. the base is pretty light compared to Montale standards. very comforting and cozy for Winters. i think it;ll shine in winters sitting by the Bonfire. for one of those days when you dotn want the Oudh to overwhelm but at the same time, be there for you. very close to a Thumbs up..

This is another scent that, on paper, smells just as it is supposed to. In the opening, I get a strong amber / moderate aoud accord with a definite honey element and an identifiable rose staying in the background. After a few minutes, I’ve lost the rose but I think I am able to identify a tobacco element in the accord, too; but I’m not absolutely sure. The honey is so striking in mixing with the other notes that it gives the feel of being almost brandy-like. I really enjoy the opening accord—it is playful, animalic, quasi-mysterious, and smooth—incredibly smooth. Even the honey note’s natural sharpness has been tamed to a simmering liquor sweetness, I get no sharpness or poignancy, but rather, that quietly seething honeynote and an undertone of silky animalism. The aoud is there in the background if I look for it, but I am not looking for it. The middle accords enjoy an interplay among the tobacco, the aoud, and the amber—it is a pleasant exercise, and it has enough rose and resinousness to it that the play doesn’t get flighty or meaningless—the fragrance is kept on task. The top and the middle move too quickly. They are delightful and they really should hang around longer than they do because they are replaced by mediocrity. The drydown is probably the dullest I’ve experienced in the Montale line. I don’t get any amber—which is strange—l get an emaciated shadow of an aoud note lost in an bland enormity of what I take to be an amber / wood accord: It is such a flat, indistinct accord that it is difficult to identify the notes.

That was what happened on paper... On my skin it’s not anywhere near the same scent. I immediately get a strident aoud note that smashes all the other notes to oblivion. It is very short lived for an aoud, but when it loses it’s forcefulness, there’s a muddled tobacco / aoud / amber skin type scent that spends its last hour inelegantly dying. I will be experimenting with how this fragrance works on clothes—maybe it’ll work if my skin isn’t there to mess it up.