Oud Zen

I have worn this for the second day in a row. This is the less celebrated among the first trio from the House Areej le Dorè, Siberian Musk and Ottoman Empire (which I own) being the other 2. Reviews on Oud Zen have been undertone so far. Great reviewers and bloggers celebrated the other 2 with a lot of fanfare, with a good reason, highlighting the very well blended ingredients used to make up the fragrances and very low attention was paid to OZ so far. The fact that it has taken longer to sell out is partly a result of this (the other is 100 USD higher price). Well, imo this OZ deserves more attention and reviews can be objectively made after some proper wearings. It took me one month to try this out without fear of being called a skanky/smoky/Oudi guy. There's more to it. This is the most difficult fragrance I have worn so far. You should try it with different approaches. You must understand when you can wear it and how many sprays you can apply. This is really a subjective matter, but once you got to it, you will take a 24 hours journey that hardly will you forget and the good news is that you can take it whenever you feel like taking it :))))). I will not breakdown the notes as I am not good at it. I can only say that if you want to try a different take on Oud/Spicy//smokey/thick resinous fragrance, a different journey, actually a real journey that most of the fragrances are not able to provide, go for it. This is now sold out, but I think that decanters and samples will easily be available among the fragrance community, especially in the USA. Too bad that here in europe theres no such a vast community whom you can speak and exchange opinion with (as far as I know)

The most unusual perfume out of the 3 on offer however being an Oud lover esp those lovely oud oils from Russian Oud I knew what to expect. I can smell Feel.Oud olfactory signature from a mile away. Starts off as a dense heavy nauseating intoxicating blend of dirty animalic musk, rose and a spicy sweet Oud. All.at once. Not as well crafted as the Ottoman or Musk but the ingredients are golden. This perfume definitely disobeys its master and takes it own course. The drydown has a wonderful soft smokey resinous chocolaty Oud finally transformimg into classical fruitiness of thai ouds which takes you on a dreamlike journey just based on the merit of the powerful raw materials used. It's got everything I love so I purchased it asap because he only made 50 bottles in total LOL. I didn't want to wait too long. Anyone who understands the true complexity of Ouds will treasure this. The beauty of musk adds a sensual dimension to the whole perfume. Performance is bombastic. Can last ages. Don't spray too much and esp on clothes. It's dark and can cause spotting. Thank you brother Adam.

Wow, this is unbelievable. My top fragrance of all my collection...I also own Ottoman Empre which is also excellent. This is the best oud scent I have ever come across so far. Very natural, longevity and sillage the best. Pricey but well worth it if you can afford it. Grazie Areej Le Dore.

It lasted on me at least 24 hours, woke up and still noticeable. Longevity is one of the best I've worn.

With time this juice gets even better, a true masterpiece.

I've already tried Frederick Malle The Night, all the ouds from Roja, Kemi, Xerjoff, Sprit of Dubai, 2 Rasasi Boruzz, and Ajmal Rose Wood (waiting to try the rest of W Series, and hoping to try Tiziana's Harrods Ouds soon), and this is unlike ANY of them! It actually reminded me of an all natural oud-cedar oil from Soivohle I tried awhile ago—not as dark & animalic as it seems, but soft & fuzzy. Blind bought this...wished it was heavier, sweeter, and with more detectable saffron :/

The Arabian style oud. This is Indian oud, an aged Indian oud lightened a bit with saffron, but the myrrh & the balsam are adding a bit of salt note to it. after all, ladies and gentlemen, THIS IS the oud. The problem with the ones who doesn't know what real oud smells like calls this fragrance skunk! It's not, cause this is oud, they just got drifted away by that hype that commercial slash designers brands created back then in 2010 that supposed to be oud, while it's not! it's just a note that formed up by mixing few notes that has nothing to do with oud & labelled it "oud", ironically people believed that lie and hated the concept of oud because of that. However, this screams quality and "Russian Adam" knows what real oud smells like, so if you want to know the real smell of oud then you either buy a ticket to Gulf countries (Arabian Peninsula) and indulge yourself with the essence of heaven or sample this fragrance in here and witness for the first time what oud does smell like IF you think "Gucci Oud", "Orchid Oud", & "Royal Oud" by creed are oud. I remember once when i was in London a gentleman asked me about the the essence of the women in black veils that he sees in Harrods, and London's grant malls, he said "i really want to know the type and name of smell that i witness every-time an Arabian woman in black veil passes by me or when she access an elevator while i'm in, she flows up a breeze of essence that i haven't witnessed in my life, it's like an aura, like a barrier that surround her and gives bless to people around her", then he said "it was a piece of heaven, and for all my years of experience in fragrance field, i haven't witness anything charmer than that! i just couldn't find an answer" then, he complete "i felt like a pervert wanting them to stay in that elevator for as much as i am satisfied". I then asked him if he ever visited the middle east! he then said "i wanted but couldn't have the chance", well that's what oud is, that's the essence of an Arabian heritage. Oud is extremely expensive cause it's about to extinct, governments in Asia forbids hunting for that certain trees in order to grow natural, so that's why it's extremely expensive, and rare to find. So imagine, if "Black orchid", "Oud imperial", & the rest of that commercial flops are real oud, then how come it didn't extinct so far! & why it's that cheap & available in almost every department store! they just lied to people stating that skunk is oud, and people acted on it perfectly cause few hate oud thinking it's skunk.

Opens with a warm and smooth woody accord, its very smooth, and has an amberry warmth to the wood. Smells incredible high class and of very high quality. There's an element of smokiness to the woods also. The opening with warm and smooth woods, with the smokiness if of course coming from the Oud, which smells incredibly high class, it raw and edgy but by no means is it barnyard or pungent. As the scent develops you start getting the whiffs of the sandalwood, giving a slightly creamy touch to the composition along with some gentle powderiness. Performance is brilliant, excellent strong projection with 10+ hours of longevity. Overall rating of 5/5 You can check out my video review on my YouTube channel: Handsome Smells

Bought this one along with the two others that were released as the first from Areej Le Doré two years ago. I must admit it wasn ́t instant love as the two others, Siberian Musk and Ottoman Empire took centre stage with their very strong scent profiles. So I left it untouched (and unloved) in my closet until I picked it out for a full wearing this evening. Boy, has this matured on the shelf! I was even considering selling my bottle, but now I ́m very pleased I didn ́t. Instead I look forward to follow its development in the coming years. I expect that it will deepen further and become even fuller. Nothing barnyard about this, instead it ́s creamy and full, almost chocolaty, make sure to overspray!