Midnight Oud (2009)
by Juliette Has a Gun

In a new quest to expand my very limited "go-to" fragrance wardrobe, I decided to re-visit incense based potions 'cause I really love the smell of mixed incense a lot!! Not being a fan, however of the "church" incense scents, I decided to try fragrances with oud, mixed "incense" notes and a host of other elements listed as fragrant notes.

Additionally, I recently purchased an open bottle of Kilian's "Incense Oud," after sampling the fragrance and falling in love! However, with a price tag of $395/1.7 ml, I hoped to find a more affordable alternative. Additionally, detractor's of Kilian's IO cite the absence of any true "oud" in the ingredient notes, as well as the perfume's aroma. So, curiosity got the best of me and I decided to sample JHAG "Midnight Oud" as well as a few other oud fragrances.

After sampling "Midnight Oud," I, uhhh...I think I understand what pure oud fragrance is all about. Yet, after closely reading other reviews of this fragrance, perhaps I do NOT know what a REAL oud fragrance smells like after all. Truth is, I'm confused; yet after sampling "Midnight OUd," I am not sure that I WANT to know what a true or truer oud IS all about. I simply didn't like this fragrance.

I am not a parfum or oud expert by any means; however on my body, this fragrance wore as a completely linear oud scent. I positively and without question identified the dark, earthy, dirty, woody, resinous scent of fungally infected agarwood tree bark in this parfum. I feel like the odd person out here and I certainly do not wish to offend any of my fellow Basenoters who LOVE this fragrance. Having said that, to my nose the opening of this fragrance is a wee-bit odd (perhaps this is the saffron or rubbery note some reviewers mention), very heady, pungent, heavy (like, almost oppressively so) and loaded with oud...lots and lots of oud.

The JHAG Website describes this fragrance as "...heavy oriental notes of traditional ouds represented in a very wearable and refined manner...a bridge between the perfect balance of rose-chypre-patchouli and the purest oud perfume note." With exceptional longevity and lots of sillage, I primarily smelled linear oud notes throughout the entire wear of this fragrance-opening, middle and base.

At one mini mid-point (approximately 10-15 minutes after application), I detected a rather pungent, animalic, dirt & dirty, foul, musk-y kinda urine note that others have cited, which fortunately didn't linger (although I thought I was gonna have to scrub for a few moments there). Morphing back to its overwhelmingly linear oud note, I did not find Midnight Oud to be a bridge between much of anything even faintly resembling rose or patchouli, nor did I find it to be very refined, complex or wearable.

I imagine that for pure oud lovers, this fragrance might be a real winner. Also, "fragranceluvr" summed it up nicely by describing this parfum as "trendy & fun versus elegant or urbane." For my tastes, Midnight Oud is not complex enough, waaaay too masculine and not a fragrance I would ever wear. If you've experienced Kilians "Incense Oud," you may understand my sentiments. Just alright, "Midnight Oud" is simply not for me.

17th November, 2011.

It's oud. Good job making something that closely resembles oud that's bearable enough to wear for the "mass market". Don't normally like oud but this made me raise an eyebrow.

15th July, 2010.

I am wearing the sample vial today and absolutely love it. This scent to me is more of a masculine fragrance rather than a unisex scent; under the Luckyscent website and here it is catagorized as a femme/unisex scent with a leaning towards the women. It's NOT, it is more of a masculine scent with rose included.

Midnight Oud opens with an odd rubbery facet [ I suspect it is the saffron] which makes this a unique and different Eau De Parfum. This odd facet gives this cologne a unique somewhat sharp aspect, different, quite nice. It sounds odd but do not think of "rubber" as brash or putrid.

Midnight Oud is actually a linear scent. When the top notes start to fade, the rose and title note, Oud, become more prominent and stay this way through the drydown, they do soften and become a little more powdery.

I would wear this scent during the Fall/Winter months, out-on-the-town, to clubs, or to a nice dinner date. This is a trendy scent, not elegant or urbane, but fun, trendy, in-the-now fashion fragrance.

I do highly recommend this Eau De Parfum for those of you who love the Oud aroma as I do.

26th March, 2010.

I've been impatiently waiting for this one to hit Lucky Scent, and finally got my sample today. So here are my thoughts:

Some may have noticed that M Oud ($135/100 ML) is almost an exact replica of Czech and Speake's Dark Rose ($185 for 100 ML)DR has Sandalwood, whereas M Oud has Geranium. There is the difference. The edge, imo, goes to M Oud, which is a smoother fragrance. Now I love sandalwood, more than I like Geranium, but DR (which is on my right hand) when compared to MO (on my left hand) is like high heels to a pair of walking shoes.

Overall, a standing ovation for Midnight Oud. Very wearable. Does not have the longevity of the perfumes currently in my collection, but I have not found an Oud (outside of Montale) that is long lasting. Oud, imo, is an acquired 'taste', and for anyone interested in this scent this is a good fragrance to nibble.

27th February, 2010.

Juliette with a Gun - Midnight Oud. Yes it is similar to C&S Dark Rose and also is close to AMAZE by People of the Labyrinth. Midnight Oud's opening is all sharp, acrid but warming saffron. The saffron introduces the roses by their contrasting warmth, for a very naughty saffron/rose scent combination. When most people think they smell oud in this fragrance it's probably the saffron as it jumps out against the rose. Has anyone ever noticed that saffron smells a little like pee? The roses take over the middle and the base has warmth from sandalwood and amber. Where's the oud? - there is an undercurrent of oud throughout the scent that gives a hollow "lost in the night" aura to the composition. The oud adds mystery. This is one of the very best saffron/rose/oud blends I've tried. I put it right up there next to AMAZE for this kind of thing. It doesn't smell much like any of the Montale Ouds to me. I am very tempted to get a bottle of this except they make such a big deal of it's female fragrance nature. Any woman with a gun scares me a little!

29th January, 2010.

Very similar in structure to Dark Rose and Black Aoud, however Midnight Oud is sweeter (there are slight strawberry overtones to the rose) and the dark, barnyard feel of the oud is lightened here, due to a cleverly placed accord of geranium. Midnight Oud is, in other words, a sweet rose fragrance with notes of cool and fresh geranium supported by patchouli and a modest oud note in the base. I do think this is the most wearable rose/oud fragrance released to date, but I also find it to be somewhat perfumey and a little feminine (although still unisex).

I like how the oud in Midnight Oud is only a supporting note (as opposed to being the medicinal and leathery star of the show like in most Montale fragrances). At the same time, I'm not blown away, as Midnight Oud has traded in a bit of its exoticism and spiritual edge in order to be more friendly to Western noses. At least the price is right, and the fragrance is very wearable and enjoyable. As for me, I still haven't found the rose/oud holy grail.

8.5/10

26th November, 2009.