Oud Maximus

Opening: glorious sour, almost stewed orange but with a bit of sparkle from the pepper and bergamot, possibly a touch of cheesey oud (maybe that's what's making the orange seem sour) and non-indolic jasmine with cardamom to smooth it out . Whereas I almost always percieve all notes in a given pyramid at once, this genuinely gives me only the opening notes (OK, plus the oud which is already there). The perfume keeps undulating and wafting out different elements, and seamlessly tránsitions to the mid: here the rose and clove comes through, with a sort of warming effect from the magnolia and tonka. I don't perceive the frangipani necessarily but I'm sure I'd miss it if it were gone. Maybe it's giving the creaminess... Now the tart blast of the orange has calmed down and it's become a sort of pomander with the clove, but the rose and other florals stop it from seeming festive. I'm trying to find a context that the smell evokes, but aside from sharing Bortnikoff DNA with other scents, it's totally unique. There are natural, almost agrestic elements to the way the florals come across, but also the opulence I expect from the house, an opulence with transcends showiness, money, brashness, and instead is just marvelous and elegant, an all-seasons class act who is also friendly and down to earth. The dry down: the sun sets and the perfume turns darker, but still retaining the sumptuous, semi-gourmand charm. The magnolia starts to dominate the floral side, and there's something woody or vetiver-like, but I think this may be a facet of the oud(s). Something else starts to pique my taste buds, birch tar! And there's a magic something or other I can quite place, which is when I remember there's natural musk in here, as I suddenly recall other natural musk perfumes, giving a fluffy buffer to the dark wooden edges. The real civet perhaps provides a slightly sharp, urinous twang, which I attibuted to the florals at first. It's an astounding perfume, even if you didn't like it, I think you'd recognise the staggering complexity. It's also rather more restrained that some of his other perfumes, making it wearable in most situations, while still having stellar performance. It's not gonna offend or choke anyone out.

Stay with me here... This was my very first sniff of authentic oud (unless the MFK Oud line has any substantial amount of REAL oud in it, which I sincerely doubt.) I wanted to smell the real deal. At first spray, I was bewildered. Real agarwood truly isn't comparable to anything. I got some of the barnyard funk that people describe from the Hindi Oud and also the medicinal note. Truthfully, at first sniff I was turned off. I think it's because I had no grid for such an aroma and my brain was trying to compute what I was smelling. Warm and wet. Sweet and bitter. Old furniture. Tea. Wet, mossy jungle. Brought to mind the colors brown and olive green. I gave it a few hours to settle down and the animalic funk had disappeared and it became much more resinous and honeyed. That's when I noticed the florals. Beautiful rose, magnolia, and frangipani (which gives it a slightly tropical vibe). Came back a few hours later and I'm smelling fruit - peaches, plums and citrus. It's like I experienced the note pyramid in reverse because my nose was blindsided by the oud. My overall impression is a good one. My advice is to not make a judgement based on the opening. It is a little scary for the untrained nose like mine, but if you have some patience it does mellow down to something beautiful. I don't know if I could pull off wearing this, but I am so glad I tried it. Very well blended. I can definitely see why this is highly regarded as a masterpiece. EDIT: After spending some time with this one, I am utterly floored at the composition. It is exquisitely beautiful. Now that I'm familiar with real oud I can get a sense of the orange and florals right from the start and see how the oud ties it all together, giving the whole scent a honey like denseness. It has been so much fun dissecting this one and learning as I go.

One of my very best purchases of 2018, This is a dreamy olfactory interpretation of what is in my opinion, the most multifaceted, polarizing, yet enchanting of all materials “oud”. Throughout the years I’ve spent collecting I’ve developed an immense affection for oud perfumes, I like my oud fragrances full body, syrupy and skanky, love my animalic ouds but preferably when they’re complimented by sweetness and beautiful florals to soften the beast that agarwood can be, and rich spices . I love my ouds paired to a good civet, jasmine, honey, vanilla, a good caramel accord is always a great compliment to oud as well. With Oud Maximus I’ve found everything I love the most in my perfumes exceptionally well layered out ,crowning the cocktail of natural ouds featured in this majestic composition with impeccable harmony from the juicy spicy opening, to the sweet animalic floral heart featuring rich fruity nuances, jasmine and three different kinds of roses gifting a majestic harmony throughout the wearing, and into the intoxicating and extremely long lasting gourmandish oud vanilla base, radiating a skanky caramelized aroma for many hours. This is exceptionally well put together, I’m highly impressed.

The first time I wore it, I wasn't so impressed but the more I wear it and pick up the nuances in the notes, the more I love it, especially the dry-down. The opening is a bit cheesy and skanky (although not overly so like a strong natural oud), this is due to one of the three natural ouds used in it (I'm guessing the Indian), but after a couple of hours it disappears and you are left with a beautifully pleasant, sweet and floral smell. I don't actually get much civet or musk from it, the rose, oud, and vanilla are more prominent. The sillage seems pretty good, I sprayed it upstairs and my wife (who has a very sensitive nose) was on the lower floor and shouted, "Are you wearing that deer-musk wee again?!" This is definitely for connoisseurs and the bold, always try before you buy. If you are a lover of natural oud oils, I would say it is a safe blind buy that you won't regret. Roja Dove would charge triple the price for something like this.

I have sampled almost all Bortnikoff line. This is by far the brand flagship in terms of smell and quality. It doesn't radiate much of the top notes listed. It's an animalic oud, which means oud smell composed together with animalic notes. Civet and musk is making this a sexy fragrance. Birch tar provides some darkness. It's a fragrance that can be worn by young adults. I don't smell vanilla and balsam even if they are noted, might be the low traces. Middle rose and flower notes are trying to soften the aggressiveness of the fragrance. It is still a statement making fragrance, but it's not as tough as I expected. It's definitely daily wearable. I will purchase a bottle absolutely. Due to the price tag, I would spray this in special occasions. But I believe it deserves the price tag because of the quality of the ingredients. It makes more financial sense than paying $350 to a synthetic smell.