Reviews of Aoud Ambre
by Montale

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.