An Ode to Oud

Bloom’s selection of perfumes with oud, both natural or as a fantasy accord.

It’s quite rare that perfumers use natural oud due to its cost and inconsistency in character (ouds from different years, trees, batches and regions all have different aromatic profiles and a perfumer will need to adjust the formula for each batch). Most perfumes that boast an oud note in them (or even have in the name) actually contain accords – an idealized smell of oud made with other natural materials as well as synthetics.

However, in the world of niche perfumes where production happens on a limited exclusive scale, perfumers have the luxury of experimenting with natural oud.

Perfumes containing natural oud in this selection: Ghost House, Vi et Armis, PG20 L’Eau Guerrere and Whispered Myths.

Oud has very rich complex character that has contrasting themes of sharp medicinal woody and warm honeyed amber, plus leather, plus salty driftwood. Try Ghost House for dry woody vibes of oud, try Vi et Armis for warm leathery and the smoky side of oud and Whispered Myths reveals how ambery oud can be in the company of vanilla. In PG20 L’Eau Guerriere the perfumer actually avoided calling the material oud, but instead listed it as ‘aloe wood’ to escape the expectations customers might have after having smelled countless badly executed oud replicas.

For fantasy ouds try: Origin (a phantom oud very close to top grade oud oil, but made with rose, patchouli and vanilla), Cuirs (a smoky crisp leather oud), Oud Occult (the closest to mass lux sweet oud fashion), Nooud (a meticulous reconstruction of the oud smell)) and Hatria (a winning opulent rose-oud combination).