Reviews of Aoud Lime
by Montale

Ok, this is absolutely not like what I was expecting. It's proper name should be "Aoud Patchouli Rose." After it settles in around 20 minutes, all you get is metallic rose note (as PigeonMurderer likes to call it: "soul of lime"), that eventually develops into a monotonic rose note which reminds me of Rose Otto essential oil that I have. This rose note is not feminine but very wearable for both sexes. This rose note dominates the fragrance. In drydown all I get is spicy woody patchouli. If you like monotonic rose on steroid and nothing else then this your solution.

Rosy citrus and sandalwood? Actually, it smells a lot like M7 with a heftier tropical citrus instead. Not a well defined aoud/oud/aoudh/whatever in blazes you want to call it. I don't what all the fuss is about though not a terrible scent overall.

The opening is huge and pungent, medicinal, almost iodine. Then a note emerges which reminds me hugely of Turkish delight - which I take to be chiefly the rose. I don't find any lime here, unless it is that here the rose and lemon of traditional Turkish delight is here subtly rose and lime. This mixes with the pungent notes in such a way that the overall effect is like eating Turkish delight washed down with a very peaty Islay malt - Laphroaig or a very aged Caol Isla.

As time goes on (and it really does last) the phenolic element die away and the rose/patchouli accord dominates, no longer Turkish delight. A rather dusty, musty rose, slightly oppressive.

I have to admire this fragrance for its grandeur, but it's not really something I would want to wear very often. I would class it as masculine rather than unisex.

The notes are: Patchouli leaves, Aoud, Sandalwood, Ambre, Iris, Saffron

The Aoud (agarwood) series of Montale fragrances are created around the agarwood note. My first encounter with agarwood was M7 - a finely crafted YSL fragrance. Motales Aoud line intrigued me - I was curious to see how diverse could Montale make its various aoud offerings. And Aoud Lime was my first target.

Aoud Lime, as the name suggests (and the notes dont) does start off with a sharp lime and agarwood notes. The lime is a bit sharp, and in my opinion, sharps contrastly with the smooth agarwood (which, with time, grows stronger and more prominent). For some reason, the way Montale has conjured this, these two dominant notes never flow along smoothly. After 1-2 hours, the lime note has nearly all but disappeared, and what you are left with is an excellent but boring base of aoud and sandalwood.

The longevity is excellent, but Aoud Lime doesnt do much except for provide a slight variation on the agarwood note. If you are a big agarwood note fan, you will ike this. I will pass.

To me Aoud Lime seems to be a less intense, less focused version of Montale's Attar. It seems like a softer oud, rose, and sandalwood scent to my nose, especially after it dries down. Again, I find this one to be completely unisex. Oddly, I think Aoud Lime may be the most inappropriately named fragrance ever. I'm not sure I get lime at any point in the development of this scent. In fairness to Montale, they don’t list lime as a note, at least in the listing I saw. Please don't take my comment about the name to mean that I don't like this scent. I do like it; I just don’t comprehend the naming of it.