Oud Afghano

A niche quality fragrance, with authentic oriental vibes. A must-have for the ones who like the smoky notes and the amber – cedar – oud combo. It has good performances, it is very well-blended, it has some gourmand vibes, it is manly (but can be worn by confident women), and as sexy as one can get from a smoky and dark fragrance. The first part of my review shares my thoughts about Ahmed’s Oud Afghano; the second part is the comparison between Ahmed’s Oud Afghano and Nasomatto’s Black Afgano. Like many other Arabian fragrances, Ahmed’s Oud Afghano transforms over time, after the first uses. While most of Arabian fragrances perform better after maceration, Ahmed’s Oud Afghano performs the same, but its notes change over time. Thus, it should be considered that you’ll have one fragrance in the first year or so and other fragrance starting from the second year of use. In the first year, Ahmed’s Oud Afghano is very gourmand. It is also spicy and smoky-sweet, maybe too praline-like sweet for the taste of the ones who want a dark fragrance with oud notes. The opening is like a knife of zesty-spicy notes, acrid and sharp indistinct citruses, amber and oud. In this opening stage, which lasts approx. 30 minutes, you may cause "damage" around (some people may find the smell too strong, sharp, zesty, and offensive). After this stage, the violence of the zesty-spicy notes slides towards the woody-oriental zone, and the amber and oud are calmed by labdanum. It inspires something gourmand and sexual at the same time, especially after the praline and woody notes become more potent and the musk in the composition can be detected. It lasts for hours like this, with more than satisfactory projection; it can still be felt on clothes the next day. Oud in the composition has nothing fecal; on the contrary – it is very manly and sexy. Starting from the second year of use, the zesty, spicy, acrid notes in the opening, as well as the praline sweet notes disappear. It still has some amber-sweet notes in the background, but they are rounded and muted by labdanum. The gourmand vibes are not in the spotlight anymore, but they are still whispering in the background. Sweetness becomes smokiness at its best. The cedar and other woody notes are amplified, and the vetiver can be detected as well. In this stage of evolution, the fragrance is more linear and it can be described as a well-crafted combo of smoke, amber, cedar, oud, with musk in the background. The sillage, projection and longevity are very good (but not nuclear). However, the votes on Fragrantica do not do justice to the performances of the fragrance. Comparison between Ahmed’s Oud Afghano and Nasomatto’s Black Afgano: Don’t be fooled by Oud Afghano’s name or the reviews that say it is a Black Afgano clone (this is just marketing). Ahmed’s Oud Afghano is an original creation, sophisticated, and well-blended, which shares with Black Afgano the smokiness, some tobacco vibes, and the amber notes. But that’s all. The oud notes are completely different – very well defined and potent (but not fecal) in Ahmed’s Oud Afghano, while in Nasomatto’s Black Afgano they are deeply hidden in the composition. The smokiness in Nasomatto is defined by three different components – hashish, incense, and tobacco –, which are rounded by some resins and that brilliant chocolate & coffee combo. The smokiness in Ahmed’s Oud Afghano has nothing to do with tobacco notes nor incense; it is given by labdanum, burned wood notes and the darkest and smokiest vetiver I’ve ever encountered. With caramelized, sweet-amber notes that are held in a woody and spicy-oriental aura, shrouded in smoke, Oud Afghano is an oriental gourmand fragrance, with seductive undertones. Nasomatto’s Black Afgano is not gourmand at all, even if it has that coffee note and that chocolate – hashish sweetness.

Really good smoky fragrance. If you’ve been living in Dubai your whole life and grew up here like me I’m sure you might have smelled this here and there when you’re walking in Dubai mall and u get the bukhoor type scent or when an emarati walk past you and smell a scent around them.. this is almost like how it smells like.. you might or might not like it but like I said if you’re used to middle eastern smells the smoky bukhoor burning type smell.. this is for you.. it smells like luxury and comfort. Love it!

This is very underrated fragrance by Ahmed Al maghribi.. if you really like the middle eastern woody, smokey oud this is for you. The performance is top notch.. it lasts for days on my clothes and 1 day on my skin..

not everyone’s cup of tea if you don’t like smokey or arab fragrance because as per me this is one of the best oud I have in my collection... Smokey and hard/strong yet a bit sweet

This is not a clone of black afgano. It's a wonderful scent with just the right amount of smokiness. The mandarin gives it a subtle sweetness that makes it more wearable.

Very Encre Noir vibes with oud and incense on top. I love it!

Smoky woody peppery oud This oud is of the medicinal kind and not the barnyard one. Opens pungent with a punch to the nose but mellows down to an ambery-smoky- woody -earthy oud, cedar and vetiver complex with a touch of gentle sweetness from the Jasmine and rosewood although they are not distinguished separately as individual notes Definitely very high quality as with all ahmad al maghribi perfumes. If you like scents like laudo nero by tiziana terenzi, black avarita by memorize london, black Afghano by nasamatto, oud 01 by swiss arabian and oud makatum by swaleef, then you will definitely like it . Definitely masculine and for someone who is 35+ in age or attitude or both.

Big fan of this fragrance, great oud smell, surprising compliment-getter amongst the western audience

Strong animalism skank oud overdose

A most excellent perfume! Smoky, smoldering bokhoor oud chips overlaid onto sticky, thick, animalic and resinous labdanum absolute with subtle supporting notes of sweetened caramel, Egyptian rosewood and Egyptian jasmine flowers that has a persistent base of crisp cypress. Seriously, this is some fantastic and very well executed stuff. Lovers of labdanum will be elated to adorn this (like myself!) I am an avid fan and user of bokhoor. Oud Afghano recreates this titillating sensation perfectly, smoke, oud resins and all. The perfume is balanced, very long lasting and the sillage is narcotic and intoxicating. This is in no way an overwhelming creation if applied judiciously. As mentioned previously, the balance and execution of creating an entirely incense based perfume is spot on. I’m certain that perfuming yourself with oud smoke and then applying a couple of spritzes of Oud Afghano is sure to leave yourself and others around you mesmerized for endless hours. This is a stellar perfume. As a side note: Nassomatto’s Black Afgano is ‘similiar’, but Oud Afghano is not an intentional dupe. Both aromas are in the same ball park although the differences are clearly noticeable.

I tried this in their store and im writing this in the car after an hour or so of wearing it on my clothes and it's nowhere near as terrible as black afgano, this smells very woody and oudy and very bakhoor like from the beginning till now while black afgano has this overly smoky dark element this replaces it with a bakhoor smokyness that is softer as well as this touch of oudy sweetness in the base, it hasn't changed much and it's not overbearing, if i calm it down with the sprays i could genuinely see myself wearing this in high summer heat and still smell very clean and woodzy, this smells like how every house smells after Eid prayer here in kuwait, im very impressed easily one of the top woody scents that ive tried, im already thinking about how good this would smell if i was to layer it with amber saffron by french avenue or really anything it smells very layering friendly it would go well with many scents very easily

The best and very affordable clone of Nasomatto Black Afghano, if you are looking for a good alternative to Black Afghano then do not look any further.

Got to smell it today, its a lighter version of Orto Parisi Terroni and not Black Afgano