Aoud Pur Oriental
by Montale

According to Montale, Aoud Pur Oriental is still in production but now known as Original Aoud. Personally, I found it to be disappointing and totally the opposite of what I was expecting from something that is supposed to be pure unadulterated Cambodian oud.

[Original submission date: 05 January 2009]

My favorite Montale. Oud, oud, and more oud. It's in the same vicinity as M7, but much drier, and with just the right amount of Frankincense. I've not tried any Oud oils, so I wouldn't know how to compare. This wasn't for sale very long, and I'm very happy my favorite BNer was willing to sell me this prized bottle.

Talk about being pulled two ways by a scent! I’m really not sure if I love it or dislike it. Oud Pur Oriental—I’ve tried and tried to deconstruct it to discover its secrets, but I feel that it eludes me. When I first tested it, I thought I was smelling an electrical fire. So help me it originally smelled like electrical burn. By the fourth or fifth time I tested it, it smelled like what I think is “oud”…that’s about all I’ve discovered in all the times I tested it…Oud. There is a touch of labdanum, but not enough to have a significant effect on the oud. I get few florals and not much amber—but primarily, overwhelmingly I get oud. The oud, though, is interesting in itself—medicinal, highly aromatic…it is almost as much dry-eucalyptic-herbal as it is woody. It’s actually an intriguing smell, and I can certainly see why it’s so highly prized in the East. It is clean and fresh and it’s nothing like other woods. But I don’t think it’s the kind of note that was meant to stand on its own in a fragrance—at least not for me. Actually, I would really like to own Oud Pur Oriental—primarily because it is the most remarkable wood fragrance I’ve ever smelled. But at the price of a Montale Oud, I think maybe I’d be better off looking for a couple of ml of oil. It IS intriguing but I don’t see actually wearing it as a fragrance—at least not very soon.