Reviews of Oud Cuir D'Arabie
by Montale

Yeah, try before you buy. Oud fans would like this. Leather fans would like this. Rose? Yeah, Montale NEVER has a fragrance without a rose. Too dry. Too bitter. Too bleak. Not an enjoyable fragrance. Not because I'm more of a fan of "fresher" scents that make you feel good this is just something to not wear. To me, the overall effect is "rusty old car".

Cuir d'Arabie-- Fresh leather with a bit of hay. There's a light mint, maybe vetiver? This goes flat on me and reminds me of those red erasers on top of yellow pencils. Weird.

Notes: tobacco, leather, burnt wood dry notes, Oud

After having tried many spanish, english and russian leathers, I came upon Montales' Cuir D'Arabie (Arabian Leather). While I love many classic leathers, Arabian Leather left me indifferent.

Cuir D'Arabie opens with an extremely antiseptic smell - it smells sharp, like some disinfectant. I wonder what note this is ... is it the result of mint and tobacco ? Things get worse - within seconds, a dirty soggy unwashed sock accord appears. This seems to be the result of the leather and burnt wood notes. Its quite disconcerting. I dont know whether true Arabian leather smells like this, but even if it does, its a very repugnant smell. I prefer my leathers to be Russian or English, thank you very much. Are camels some how involved in the creation of arabian leather ? Just wondering. Their meat has a distinct smell, you know. Eitherways, Arabian leather lovers might like this scent (if its an accurate creation, that is) - even then, this leather accord doesnt last long. 20 minutes max before it disappears like Aladdin on his magic carpet running away from Jaffars castle. Slowly but surely, that familiar high quality oud makes an appearance. And just like in Aoud Lime, takes over the fragrance. 30 minutes into the fragrance progression time line, and its all aoud. Its not bad, its just not what the scent is about. Longevity is good, but the leather accord is short lived.

Montale Cuir D'Arabie falls short in two main areas:
1) Its leather accord doesnt last,
2) Even if it is an accurate recreation of arabian leather, I find this leather smell not to my liking. Montale Cuir D'Arabie falls short of the lofty standards set by Royal English Leather, Cuir D'Russie and Knize Ten.