Lao Oud

BORTNIKOFF Lao Oud (2021) Extrait de Parfum Unisex Bortnikoff’s ouds are quite easy to love but there are four which are more challenging than others. One of them is Lao Oud (others Sayat Nova, Oud Loukoum and maybe Triad for some). The master himself says “the note of Oud has never been so strong and animalic” in his perfumes. I don’t think it’s so animalic (for beginners definitely yes) but it’s very dense, dark and mysterious. Lao Oud is a blend of the exceptional Oud oil, the richness of Lao Coffee, and the Frangipani like sweetness (not listed here though) but it doesn’t remind me of freshly roasted coffee beans. It’s rather a some kind of the most darkest coffee syrap which has aged in the wooden barrels together with spices. There is a whiff of sweetness from which I smell honey and flowers with subtle animalic tones. You can smell a very dark Cacao, it’s not chocolate like but like that dark cacao powder which you didn’t wanted to be used in your drink when you was a kid. The whole blend is extremely sumptuous and unforgettable, it’s complex and addictive. Lao Oud is very close to Indian but it is much softer. Actually earlier I was thinking Oud Monarch to be like Lao Oud is. I was never thinking there is something that easy in Bortnikoff’s collection like Oud Monarch and I was thinking that Lao Oud would be too much for me. This is like a next step from Oud Monarch but there is a huge possibility that I’m just in the next level while exploring ouds, I love very animalic and edgy ones. I enjoy a lot of this masterfully blended piece of art. Top: Pink Pepper, Magnolia Middle: Beeswax Absolute, Cinnamon, Chamomile, Peru Balsam, Cacao Absolute Base: Oud from Laos, Tonka Beans, Crocodile Wood, Coffee, Oud from India, Vanilla Absolute, Birch Tar, Guaiac Wood Thank you for reading, I hope my review was helpful. I would appreciate a lot if you want to follow me on IG and/or YouTube (English subtitles): @ninamariahperfumes It gives me a lot of motivation to write more. 🤗

Of the 6 Bortnikoff samples I have on hand Lao Oud was definitely the most impactful on first spray, in a bad way. Animal manure, cheese, barn - take your pick, it certainly stinks. It honestly stunned me and I put it away feeling confident that this wasn’t going to be for me. Paradoxically it is now at the top of my purchase list (alongside Oud Hindi). I won’t pretend the fragrance isn’t challenging or polarizing as some reviewers have. My own initial reaction was viscerally negative. I’ve also received mostly negative feedback from the few people I subjected to it. But as with most things, 3 or 4 applications in I did end up growing desensitized to the initial stink and I think once(or rather if) you reach this stage you’ll start picking up on a lot of nuances. I’m not particularly knowledgeable on notes, so the following is largely based on the image that has formed in my head after a few wears. It opens with dirty spice, fermented woods, slightly herbal, certainly stinky(lactonic), but with some very faint floral aspects too. The main thing that sticks out to me as an obvious note at this point(besides the Oud) is coffee. As the fragrance dries down the stink and dirty spice fade slightly and Chocolate along with the other gourmand notes enter the foreground. This is a process that takes many hours on my skin. It is not a linear fragrance and goes through quite the transformation. This is the only Bortnikoff I have on hand you can really say this about and its one of the things I love about it. The main thing that draws me to Lao Oud is the interplay of the challenging and appealing facets and the mental imagery it evokes. If you want a more floral, less spicy, less stinky, cut to the chase gourmand experience definitely try Oud Monarch over this.

Oh là là Lao Oud, what a great surprise! Gorgeous dark oud, long lasting, very appealing, bold but not offensive... very wearable!! I tried not to imagine much as I was reading people comparing this to Oud Monarch (which I appreciate but don't particularly like) and to Oud Maximus (imho the best concept of the line but I already have it...). I definitely see a link to the latter but not much to the former really. It shares some notes with L'heure exquise as well (something beeswaxy in the first 20 min) and indeed with Oud Maximus (imagine it without the orange and with some strong bitter coffee in the background). I am raving over this as it is something I've been looking in the Bortnikoff universe for months: the high quality, strength, boldness many of them share but in simpler blends. Here you get to feel the spices, the bitter full-bodied Laosian coffee is so real it transported me immediately to Luang Prabang cafes by late afternoon, but the king is the Laosian oud in full display. Unapologetically so. I like that idea mentioned below of the rural cousin as it is indeed a rougher version, more direct to the point, totally unsweetened (don't get misled by the notes, this isn't a gourmand) and still distinguishable from others in the line. If you already have Oud Maximus, sample first to see if it is that different for you. For me they are and I may have found my new signature oud. Great job Dmitry!

I have Sans Fleurs and Triad, both of which I love, and find completely dynamic, each wear giving a journey that's never quite the same as the last. Now I have Lao Oud, and it's totally in the same ball park. What's really strange is that it opens like BAM stinky poo in your face, then suddenly drops off to leave a chocolate, honey oud fragrance, which left me slightly disappointed, but actually, wait a minute, it comes back stronger than ever, and it keeps doing this, playing hide and seek, but somehow each time it comes back with more of a vengeance. In the dry down I find it very similar to Sans Fleurs, although smelling them side by side reveals a multitude of differences, but i think it's that they both have the same sort of oud plus little to no floral element, and a dose of vanilla. This perfume is an absolute beast, and now comes just below Triad in terms of scary, monstrous beast frag. This is easier to wear than Triad (due to Triad's epic latrine filled with hyraceum) if you can get past the opening minutes, which I love, but which do take me aback every time. Update: no, the drydown doesn't remind me of Sans Fleurs, the mid does. The actual drydown suddenly reveals a dry, realistic coffee smell, like fresh ground coffee beans, absolutely marvelous and unexpected!

A gourmand with balls. Yes, the somewhat cheesy (but beautiful) Laotian oud is definitely present, but extremely well blended - think cheesecake. The main players to my nose are oud, coffee, cacao, and honey. It smells like a mocha cappuccino with dense woods and birch-tar leather giving it depth. I totally get the comparisons to Oud Monarch, but after several wearings of both, I find Lao Oud to be superior and much more versatile. Oud Monarch, while beautiful in its own right, is a tad austere, formal, and leans more feminine to my nose (I would LOVE to smell it on my wife!). I'm also smelling some L'Heure Exquise DNA with the cacao/bitter woods, but Lao Oud improves on even that masterpiece by balancing the bitterness with honeyed sweetness. It leans more masculine to my nose, but I wouldn't mind it on woman at all. Overall an absolute winner (maybe even my favorite so far) from the house of Bortnikoff that takes elements of his previous creations and expertly improves upon them. 10/10