NoMad

The most mass appealing fruity oud I've ever smelled! Personal: 9/10 – Fruity, amber, and oud-lite goodness. It's awesome and super easy to love. Mass appeal: 8.5/10 – Fruity ambers are easy to enjoy and carry a glamorous vibe. Still, the richness may be too sweet for some. Performance: 8/10 – Very strong projection and longevity. This clings and radiates well. Value: 5/10 – Bond pricing is notoriously high, and while this feels luxurious, it doesn’t justify the cost compared to alternatives. But, if you find it discounted or on Reddit, it's a solid bottle. Uniqueness: 7.5/10 – Fruity amber-oud blends are common in niche and designer lines. NoMad is VERY lovable and smooth, but not revolutionary. SCORE: 76/100 Full bottle buy? YES, if I found it discounted. It's one of my favorite fruity ouds. Blind buy? NO, it’s pricey so sample first. Otherwise, it's a very safe fragrance, honestly. Recommend? YES, if you want a glamorous, ambery fruity-oud fragrance and don’t mind Bond pricing. Date night? YES, it’s bold, sweet, and seductive enough for nighttime. Office safe? YES, it's a bit heavy, but I think a couple sprays would still do just fine. Pros: Loud fruity-amber presence, luxurious polish, strong performance, and smooth oud. Cons: Overpriced, a slightly generic DNA, and performance could be better. NoMad fits squarely into Bond’s glamorous, bold style. It's a little bit loud, very rich, and the oud and fruits blend so beautifully together that it *almost* earns its exorbitant price tag. It opens with a smooth red fruit accord, and the pear and vanilla and violet leaf almost morph into an apple note, to my nose. It's surrounded by a smooth, sweet, warm oud that's not barnyard-ey at all. The oud manifests as something a bit dry and papery, which I think is absolutely beautiful contrasted with the sweetness from the top. I think it's a beautiful blend that everyone needs to smell. Truly a masterpiece in the world of easygoing oud fragrances. You're hard pressed to find something this mass appealing and pleasant. Highly recommend. Review #140 in my fragrance journey – this fragrance I own as a decant

This is going to sound weird, but bear with me: Bond No. 9 NoMad essentially smells like a fictitious love-child of the auras of Manhattan and Dubai. It's got the surging Manhattan energy, with zingy quince and blackcurrant in the opening harkening to a spring day in Central Park, contrasting fragrant rosewater and a rich, woody, hearty oud that transports you to a sheikh's palace. The sandalwood lingering at the very drydown acts as a perfect medium between these two separate vibes. It's an invigorating concoction, warm yet bright, and quite attractive, honestly. An amazing, versatile choice of fragrance year-round. Though I will say, this is a night fragrance, through and through. It gives off peak date night energy, especially for more elegant or urban dates. As with most Bond fragrances, performance isn't an issue. You get a minimum of 10 hours with this fragrance (though the last 3-4 will lack the wider sillage from the first half), and will only need 5-6 sprays to leave a scent trail that might just have people chasing you to ask what your sexy fragrance is (just kidding, that doesn't happen as often in the real world, despite what some fragrance influencers on TikTok might try to tell you). Overall, a beautiful job from Bond No. 9--no surprise there--and a new favorite for nighttime. I'm hoping to get a full bottle soon, when I'm no longer broke (which will probably never happen). Here's a pro-tip for you: since this is not exactly blind buy-safe, you may find more success testing this fragrance on your skin as opposed to on paper. I remember smelling this in Saks on paper and thinking to myself, "What's even special about this?" I wouldn't have ever looked back if not for the fact that the saleswoman gave me a sample that I tried on later that night after the cologne I was previously wearing faded off. Oh, and like Chelsea Nights, the magic is in the drydown, when all the different notes and vibes mesh together into one addictive accord. Okay I promise I'm done. Bottom line: if you're lacking a night fragrance, try this ASAP. More than likely, it'll fit the bill.

Nomad has been my second favorite fragrance overall for a while, after Louis Vuitton Myriad as my favorite. The contrasting tart, fruity notes and the rich more complex oud notes work with my nose in a way that few others have so far. It's been a rough year, because my wife died in January, just a couple weeks before her 34th birthday. We had the funeral on Valentine's Day. A few months before that, I used a few sprays of Nomad right before I went to the liquor store, and as I walked into the store, a random lady walked past me, but she was looking at her phone. I heard her loudly announce "Oooh, you smell REALLY GOOD!", so I stopped and turned to look, and watched as she looked up to see me. Her expression changed to horrified embarrassment, and she quietly added "well, someone smells really good." I just replied "Thanks!", and went on with my mission to buy more vodka for my wife. I'm not sure if the lady at the store expected me to be a woman, rather than a married, middle aged man, or if she was worried that I thought she was hitting on me, but I didn't care and thought it was funny. I told Katie (my wife) about it when I got home, and she thought it was funny too. That's a bittersweet memory now, since my wife's alcoholism is how she died. I hate myself for enabling her to keep killing herself drinking now, and wish that I would've taken her to get help despite her protests. I didn't want her to be mad at me, but now I miss her so bad, even the times she yelled at me for no reason. I would take her screaming at me now over her being gone. My bottle of Nomad is pretty low now, so I barely use it lately, but I still love that stuff. I haven't tried every Bond No 9 fragrance, but I've tried a bunch of them, from the sample set to trying the test bottles at Neiman Marcus and Saks Fifth Ave, that I visited on vacation a couple years ago. Nomad is my favorite one of theirs so far.

I was honestly prepared not to like NoMad. Rose + oud has become one of those combinations every niche house seems obligated to release sooner or later, and Bond No. 9 prices usually make me roll my eyes before I even smell the thing. But this one surprised me. The opening is fruity, yes, but not in that syrupy “designer perfume trying to be niche” way. I definitely get the pear and black currant, but there’s also something slightly tart and green underneath that keeps it from becoming sticky. On my skin it feels rich without becoming heavy. What I really like is the oud accord. If you're expecting some dark animalic monster, forget it. This is a polished New York oud — smooth, dry, slightly woody, almost clean. The rose is blended well enough that it never turns into one of those loud Middle Eastern-style rose bombs. Everything feels controlled. A few hours in, the amber and vanilla start coming through more, and that’s probably the point where the fragrance becomes really addictive for me. It gets warmer, softer, more elegant. Expensive-smelling without screaming for attention. Performance on me is very good. Not nuclear, but easily all-evening territory, and I still catch traces on clothes the next day. Is it overpriced? Probably a little, like almost every Bond No. 9. But unlike some others from the brand, this one actually smells finished and coherent rather than just loud luxury for the sake of it. I can honestly see why people get hooked on it.

This is the smoothest oud I’ve ever smelled. It smells fantastic. No notes ever stick out, the fragrance simply transitions into its base but it’s still greatly blended throughout the entire lifespan. I think this leans pretty heavily masculine, but unisex enough I suppose. The sales rep had it arranged on the masculine leaning side of fragrances in his booth. This fragrance had me describe it as a very heavy yet fresh fragrance. The fruit contrasts it very nicely but the deepness also comes through. Bond seems to excel at providing a very refined strength/deepness that never feels too much or too strong. I was surprised at how many whiffs I could take of my hand and still want to sniff again for such a scent profile that usually can come off as cloying after a while. As for the occasion that this is appropriate for, I think it’s a 3 season fragrance excluding summer. It should be dark outside when you’re wearing this, or even just cloudy. It’s not a spring morning type of fragrance at all. This is an evening/night fragrance that smells smooth, deep and fruity and will last you your entire night out. For 170 for a 3.4 ounce bottle I think it’s worth it, you’ll get plenty of wears as I can’t imagine this will require many sprays per wear at all. I recommend it and probably would rate it as a 9.