Montale Steam Aoud- a review

OK, after much... anticipation , I received my Montales today. One of the freebees I got was a 100ml bottle of the strangely named "Steam Aoud."

The reviews for this one are mostly negative, but I find it to be a versatile, minimalist take on the "Aoud" line. For starters, this is MUCH weaker in impact than some of the Aouds which are just sillage monsters. I don't really get much out of it but oud wood and a salty iodine note.

But it's exactly what I was looking for in that it's stripped of all the rose notes that are in the others of the series-- they can be nice, but sometimes you just want a "single note" scent-- something uncomplicated and true. This goes on kind of flat--again it doesn't have some of the extra notes of the other aouds, so it doesn't project as much. But this is why it's perfect for those times when the others would just be too intense. The initial smell is something between wood and grape jam-- which is actually really good. This is bringing back all kind of memories of places I'd been-- especially the church basement where we used to have Boy Scout meetings when I was a kid.

If you find most Montales to be complicated and overly ornate, you'll find this one to be the opposite. It's so singular of feel. A dark, woody, salty moody scent-- no roses to come crashing in, blowing the mood. I do wish it were a little stronger (just so I could keep taking it all in). I don't know why it's called Steam Aoud, but it's a good wood scent with minimal interference from other notes. It's got a nice boozy tartness that gives it some life. Nothing remotely feminine about it. It's all man, though it's not loud. I also get the smell of an old library, which is cool. Aoud Lime remains my favorite, but I'm so impressed with the understatement of Steam Aoud-- I think it's the most wearable Montale Aoud I've tried.

I haven't smelled the Tom Ford.

When I do an A/B test with Steam Aoud and M7-- they're quite different (as M7 has all that extraneous amber/vanilla/musk etc) but if I just smell the Steam Aoud, it IS to me, similar to the oud wood note from M7-- but without all the extra stuff.

I wouldn't advise anyone to buy Steam Aoud blind, because they may be underwhelmed by its simplicity and "weakness" in contrast with the other full bodied Aouds. I can see why it's earned somewhat lukewarm reviews. It's tough to describe. There's something in it that smells like a freshly painted park bench. Strangely pleasant.

I can't really comment all that much on longevity-- it seems weak, but then I've been sniffing stuff all day. I find that ANY scent after I've acclimated to it for a week or two has better longevity as time goes on. The one negative I can give to this scent is its "flat" disposition. You put it on and it just seems to sit there without doing much. That's not really a negative for me though. I perceive it as the rare Aoud that you can have on your skin and not really have it noticed unless someone is close. Maybe kissing your neck.

I like it. It's nice to have an Aoud that doesn't try to cram a bunch of roses in your face. I like that it's dry and plain. It's also a bit dusty and murky with some of the notes difficult to make out. I could almost guarantee that most Basenoters would probably be dissatisfied with Steam Aoud because it just doesn't "do enough" for them. For me, it's the classic "addition by subtraction"-- by taking out familiar notes like roses and such, the fragrance takes on more of an unplaceable, exotic aura. (There are still roses, but they're not all that prominent).