White Aoud
by Montale

Starts out with medicinal aoud, but this is quickly overcome by a sweet powdery vanillic accord touched with saffron and florals. Regrettably, it is much too sweet for my liking.

22nd January, 2012.

White Aoud by Montale - The initial opening is a blast of aoud, with its harsh, medicinal and sharp aura. Thankfully, after percolating sometime, the agarwood is joined by a sweet rose and a boatload of warm saffron, tempering the aoud with a sweetness and a creaminess. The beautiful rose wrestles to provide a powdery dimension. Transitioning, cardamon and labdanum, as well as glimmers of jasmine, add spice and a smoky, somewhat fruitiness to the melange. The mysore sandalwood, with its nougaty flavor, and hints of vetiver begin to beckon, and signal the approach of the drydown and the exit of the aoud. The sandalwood melds with delightful patchouli enhancing the sweetness and underpinning the powderiness, and provides an enticing background for the milky vanilla and amber drydown. This refined composition strongly leans towards the feminine side, and has excellent longevity and projection.

17th November, 2011.

The other reviewers are spot-on about the wacky medicinal opening of White Aoud, it is very harsh right out of the gate. As I blind bought this, I was like "what have I gotten myself in for?" and I just ignored it for about 90 seconds. Then, I smelled it again, and it was another fragrance entirely, a wearable sweet creamy rose. Thus was my introduction to White Aoud, and to Montale in general. If you are a collector of rose fragrances with classic Arabic styling, you will want to pick up a Montale for sure. If you are looking for a feminine rose/saffron/oud, I would say, Montale White Aoud might be it.

10th August, 2011.

The opening of White Aoud is fairly pungent, especially when smelled for the first time, and for the first couple of moments, it even felt somewhat chemical to me. The relatively sharp (medicinal?) top notes persist for at least about 10-15 minutes, and at this time, spices and flowers begin to compete for attention as well.

At first they emerge rather tentatively, but gradually, the combination of saffron and rose takes the center stage. After about an hour or even longer, the fragrance settles down to its compelling, smooth, velvety base. The rose here is dark and inky—a rose with dusky petals, laced with saffron, which makes it slightly salty, before I can feel the touch of warm amber and the subtle vanilla surrounding it as a veil in the nascent night.

Sillage is quite powerful, and it lasts for a long time on me.

7th October, 2010.

I received a sample of this and it is very lovely. The aoud is sensual but not overwhelming. I love the floral notes of rose, jasmine and saffron melding with creamy vanilla and sandalwood. It and Aoud Velvet are my favorites of the Montale line. Il lasts (as do most of the Montales I've tried) 12 hours on my skin, and 48 hours on a cotton round. I definitely would buy a full bottle of this sometime in the future.

3rd October, 2010.

White Aoud - Pierre Montale

WA begins strong, messy and loud. I get nasty associations such as urinal cake and/or mosquito spray. The ingredients which produce this horrible potpourri I cant really distinguish. It's oily, a big folral aspect playing it's role, almost rancid to a degree.
However it quickly mellows into a soft, lush floral Aoud over amber/vanilla as background. One flower still dominates the playful/girly side of the development, some mentioned jasmin, to me it smells more of heliotrope.
With the fade out the vanilla becomes more and more of the main factor as it lingers on while the rest evaporates.
I wouldnt wear it (I favour others Aouds of the like) but would love my GF to try this on.

19th April, 2010.