Russian Oud II

A wonderful creation by Russian Adam. Starts off with pronounced cocoa and oud and smoothly transitions into oud and resins. Oud is not fecal, does not require trained nose, however, you got to be ready for the true niche experience. Longevity and sillage are decent. Reminds me of Bortnikoff creations, namely Oud Monarch, Oud Maximus, Mysterious Oud, which I own. However, Russian Oud II is ahead in the race, at least to my taste, as I’m a fan of cocoa/chocolate forward scents like Guerlain LIDGE. Excellent composition, quality materials and presentation tuned to the perfection. The box conveys the vibes of Russian culture and is very pleasant to touch, the edges are magnetic, and very easy to handle. The bottle deserves to be on the front row of any collector. The supply is scarce and, due to the unbeatable price-quality ratio, it sells out in a matter of days, despite the fact that only a limited circle of sophisticated noses knows about this brand (so far). I was late, but lucky enough to receive my bottle by surprise, for which I am eternally grateful to Adam. Russian Adam's customer care and work quality is head and shoulders above everyone else, a true gem of a company. I wish him all best in his business endeavors. As for me, I’m waiting for the next RO iteration.

Artisinal Ouds, specially from the house of ALD and Ensar have been quite a different experience compared to my journey with ouds in niche perfumery. At first, they can come across as challenging, something we never thought an oud would smell like, maybe because their respective compositions are based on aged naturals and a more traditional approach in perfume making. Where niche tries to blend everything together in a harmonious way, artisinal blends highlight their core notes with a powerful slam. In my opinion, both have their moods and occasions to be enjoyed at. Russian Oud II is unapologetic with its picturesque oud and cacao. Smoky, earthy with a hearty dose of dark chocolate. The first few minutes are raw and direct, later transforming this composition in a soothing mixture of the main notes along with ambergris, musk, resins and cedar wood. This scent can be really appreciated in the right setting. No worries about the performance, projection and sillage, it's sort of never-ending!

This is one of Russian Adam's easiest fragrances. It begins with the Russian Adam DNA then you get a full body of Cocao and a woody base could be a blend of the Cedar and Oud. I also detect some incense and I feel quite a decent amount of Deer Musk. Maybe I'm not experienced enough to recognise the Ambergris in it. In saying that it's an easy fragrance I mean it is not too challenging or complex to understand or with a stinky oud that is hard to like. It is smooth, well blended, warm and likeable and very Cacao-y. Even from people who are not fans of other Areej Le Dore Ive showed them they actually like this one. Performance is ok with a few sprays you can fill a room. I'm glad to have this in my collection. This is actually the first chocolate based fragrance ive brought. I enjoy the scent and the presentation is very nice.

I've tried over 20 Areej frags. This oud is very pleasant. It doesn't seem to have any very unique quality, but it's so well supported by the secondary notes. The cedar wood note is prominent, and maybe the best cedar note in a fragrance I can think of. The chocolate and ambergris with a bit of animalic, perfection. This seems to have a smoky incense note, not listed? The natural musk and salty ambergris lift the dark resins with a bright zing. You do get some floral and fruity undertones from the chocolate I believe. If someone wants the best chocolate/ Oud fragrance out there, this and Oud Zhen or Zen would just about be tops. Rating: 10/10 God bless. John 3:16

This is the first time I've smelled natural musk and I love it! Its slightly barnyard scent that you can almost smell the hair of a wild animal. Its mixed to absolute perfection. The cocao is well pronounced and the amber balances out the barnyard. One spray to the wrist produced a dark, resinous puddle so I dabbed my other wrist in the puddle and I was in OUD heaven! It radiates off the skin a good 3' for 4 hours and then becomes a skin scent. I do not mind smelling my wrist in this case. Like my other ouds, this is not for going out. This is for lounging around the house at night. I need a 10ml of this for sure! 8.75 and ranks at the top of my real ouds.