New York Oud

Perfumers could save themselves a lot of grief and many dismissively nasty reviews (a trend which may have been popularized by "The Holey [sic] Book"), if they would simply stop naming their creations literally. Another case in point from Bond no 9, NEW YORK OUD, as so many reviewers have complained, does not smell like oud. Because nearly everyone focuses upon the literal name of a literally named perfume when it come times to pen a review, all sight is lost of the quality of the perfume, as the quest to prove false advertising exerts a strangely powerful effect on sniffers, who proceed to spend most or even all of their words denying that the perfume is what it says that it is. In the meantime, some among them forget all about the much more important question: does it smell any good? I think that reviewers would do well to heed the wise words of Socrates, who maintained that poets are the last people to ask about the meaning of their poems, and perhaps olfactory artists, for their part, should not presume to be able to tell us what we can expect to experience when we spritz on their perfumes. Do yourselves a huge favor, O Noble Perfumers: name your wares metaphorically and leave it up to us to decide which notes are salient! Fortunately, for the vast majority of their expansive collection, the folks at Bond no 9 have not made this mistake, because the names of their perfumes are, generally speaking, non sequiturs. Do they have anything whatsoever to do with the compositions themselves? No. They are nearly all the names of streets or neighborhoods in the greater metropolitan New York area, which, you can take on my testimony, do not smell anything at all like the contents of any of the Bond no 9 bottles. Thankfully, this house is not avant garde enough to bottle the sickening odor of serial killer crime scenes and the like, so their offerings actually tend to smell like perfumes and colognes, not some "revolutionary" but totally unwearable nonsense which seems to me about as masterful as a plate of plastic food. It is true that, in the naming of their perfumes after neighborhoods and streets, Bond no 9 has gone astray in a few cases with their "map of Manhattan method", throwing darts which landed a bit far afield, on the state of Texas, or the city of New Orleans, or (?) department stores such as Saks Fifth Avenue or Harrods. But, for the most part, the names of their perfumes are just plain old places in or near New York City, ironically enough, one of the stinkiest cities I've had the displeasure of visiting. I actually cringe at the thought of living there, with the omnipresent bags of garbage piled up in the street, the complete lack of wind (obstructed by the buildings) and, in summertime, the sweltering heat causing all of those ugly, noxious odors to vaporize. In a word: No. If success be a job in New York City, by all means, let me fail. But I digress... The interesting thing about NEW YORK OUD is that once you get beyond the fact that it's not really an oud perfume--certainly not in the classic sense--then you become open to the discovery that, in fact, this is a fine saffron-rose oriental composition. I don't think that it's the best one around, but it's certainly not a worthless piece of junk, as some "Where's my oud?" reviewers have suggested. Based on my preliminary testing, I'll definitely be giving this creation another try. It is quite potent, so there is plenty left in my sample vial for another time. My neutral rating reflects my dissatisfaction with the opening of this perfume, which reminded me somewhat of the toner cartridge opening of ENCRE NOIRE, but here it was more volatile and nearly overwhelming. However, all of that appears to have been a mere distraction, and after a few minutes I ended up being pleasantly surprised with the saffron-rose drydown.

Okay so I am wearing this for the second day in a row. Let me first start by being honest. I thought, this was waaaayyyy toooo feminine for me. The most feminine fragrance I own is the Prada Man and some think that toes the line. This one here puts me on the Unisex bandwagon, scratch that, I have bought stock in the wagon company. At the inital spray plum with a hint of citrus and a little flower (very little). The initial spray is dominated by the plum note. In about 30 minutes (maybe shorter, give me another wear to deal with the transition more precisely) the rose kicks in and shortly after that I guess it is the oud that comes in but the most dominate notes in the middle is rose and yes.... patchouli. It is a sweet yet earthy dank smell. The rose gives the patchouli a very sharp kick. Finally the dry is honey/rose/musk combination. Very, very "sexy" very appealing to my nose. The dry down comes in around 5 hours later, the patchouli comes along for the ride but the honey and rose and musk dominate. So rating this I say: Projection: 5/5, this thing leaves a monster of a scent trail for the first 6 hours and good sillage at 10 hours. Longevity: 6/5, impossible right? Listen to me, this thing makes Le Male and 1 Million bow in worship! Yesterday I put it on out of the shower at 9:00 P.M, at 7:30 my wife tells me to wear the same cologne because this one was still going. Not only that, it was still projecting (she wasn't even close by) 10 hours later. Versatility: 4.8/5 This may be the question. I do believe it could work for any occassion except somewhere like a church, unless you are going with 2 sprays max on the neck. I put on 4 sprays (1 on my shirt) and this thing is going strong so be careful. Either way first date, club, office all works wonderfull and the floral sweetness mixed with the projection and longevity makes it good for any season. Scent: 5/5, the only one I know like it. There is something in Prada Amber that gives it some similarites, but where Prada smells soapy this one is sweet and floral with an earthy background. Overall: 5/5, worth every penny! Why? Simply put a 100ML bottle should last you at least a year even if you wore it as signature for 365 days. Two sprays in the summer, 4 in the winter and only needs to be applied once. If you own multiple bottles then this one would be the staple in your collection. I was getting GIT or Bleecker for my first big niche purchase this one may end up getting the nod!

I was trying to figure out why I liked this one so much. Then after a second cup of coffee I realized why. It's because I already own it and it's called Jardin du Nil by Maître Parfumeur et Gantier (the original formulation). Bond 9's version is leaner and less powdery, perhaps a bit more cinnamon, but it's basically the same animal. For me it's worth a buy because since MPG's founder left the house in 1997, things have been downhill ever since -- many of the house's unique, idiosyncratic scents have been reformulated to calm them down for a wider, blander audience. Jardin du Nil is one of the ones that got seriously dumbed down. Very happily, New York Oud is closer to the original formulation of JdN than MPG's current, neutered version of the once brilliant, toothy and truly original frag. Update: Aoud Purple Rose by Montale is a more intense, rosier, and spicier version of New York Oud. Better balanced too -- ingredients a little better harmonized. Less like the original JdN by MPG, but just as good in a different way. Wish I'd known how good the Montale was before I bought the Bond No. 9. I've learned very quickly that originality is not what Bond is about. They're good frags and I enjoy a number of them, but they're mostly very expensive copies/interpretations of more edgy and auteur type creations. It should tell you something that Bond has produced so many frags in such a short period of time and that Saks is their main US retailer. I own Bond frags and I'll buy more, but philosophically and olfactorily I'll enjoy wearing the Montale more. It's true that Montale may have overextended its reach into Aoud territory, by a few kilometers to be sure, but on the whole its idiom is much better defined and articulated. And it's very consistent. Bond is all over the place and trying to please everyone. Montale and Bond represent two completely different product identities and marketing logics, and it doesn't really make sense to say one is "better" than the other since they're basically apples and oranges and subjective tastes ultimately determine what "better" actually means, but Montale's eloquence and commitment to its own voice earn my admiration and my money.

I'm doing a re-review because my experience with this has changed some. First and foremost, this is a very potent perfume. So much so, that it can be quite off putting at first. Almost to the point where you can't even smell anything for what it is! If you allow yourself to get acclimated to it, you will then be able to enjoy this perfume to its full potential. It opens with a beautiful Rose, tart plum, and Oud a backbone. All in one massive explosion! Once everything calms down a bit, theres some saffron that creeps it head out and adds a bit more depth to the atmosphere. I don't really get much of the other ingredients that are supposedly in here. Although there is a soft musk late in the drydown. One interesting thing is that every single time i wear it, and i'm around certain people, they say " MMM you smell so good! Like incense!" I personally don't smell the incense, but these people have metioned multpile times that they smell incense. Could possibly be that they are associating Oud with Incense. But who knows! As for performance, its definitely above average. I don't however get 24+ hours longevity like many claim. Unless these people are factoring in how long it sits on your skin as a barely there skin scent. I dont ever take that into consideration. That said, i get massive projection for the first 1-2 hours. Then after that, for another 5 hours or so, i get easily arms length projection. then another handlefull of hours its a personal bubble type thing. So about 12 hours or so, you WILL be smelled. It really is an Incredible smell. Its got such an amazing and vibrant Rose. Its not just a rose that sits there, acting like a rose, and waiting to be sniffed. Its a rose that screams for you to some smell it! This is a good thing. If you're familiar with Montales Black Aoud, this is NOT even close. This is an effervescent rose and oud combo. One that will invigorateyou, rather than make you feel dark and gothic like Black Aoud. Get your hands on a sample and check it out!

I am a male in my early 30's and I really like this scent. New York Oud, along with Creed Aventus, are my girlfriend's favorite fragrances on me. Some people will not like New York Oud due to the monstrous potency and the polarizing nature of Bond No. 9 fragrances. Some people feel Bond No. 9 is overrated and/or overpriced, although I think that same argument could be made for a lot of niche brands. It really comes down to whether the house has offerings you can identify with. Bond has several fragrances that I love and New York Oud is definitely one of them. I really enjoy wearing this at night and on the weekends. I would never wear it to work because it is so strong. This may actually be the strongest projecting fragrance I own. I think it is best used in colder weather. (i.e. <50° F.) I definitely pick up more rose than oud in this fragrance, but there is a slight trace of oud. I also pick up the orange zest, plum, and traces of honey & musk. This is basically like Bond No. 9 Perfume (Signature) with a lot of rose and oud added. I noticed some of the reviewers on Fragrantica think New York Oud is feminine. I would have to disagree. I think a man or woman could easily pull this off, but it is in no way overtly feminine. I've also read reviews where people said this has a strong bug spray smell when you first spray it. I do not get that at all. This reminds me of some Arab-inspired perfumes I have smelled, but it is certainly not medicinal or synthetic smelling like some Montale fragrances. The two fragrances I'm reminded of are Montale's Dark Purple and Black Aoud. It's closer to the Black Aoud, although Black Aoud is even stronger and has the synthetic medicinal vibe I mentioned. If you want a Bond No. 9 that's closer to a pure oud, go with Harrods Swarovski Limited Edition. I would encourage anyone to try this fragrance. It is a good Western take on the oud-rose combo that is pretty common in perfumery.