Pure Oud

So werid. I had never smelled oud until a few weeks ago. My first reaction was repulsion and that it smelled like rubbing alcohol and disease! (I worked in nursing homes for years)....then something strange happened.... I couldn't stop smelling it despite being repulsed....then I tired a few different brands of oud (Montale, By Kilian, Mona di Orio, etc.). I then went home and kept smelling the oud. I really hated it. Then a week later, I loved it. I just purchased this Pure Oud By Kilian and can't wait until it arrives because I've used up my samples. Really, this oud thing is inexplicable. The only thing I can say, which is weird and still not really explaining anything, is that it does smell like a barnyard and animals but maybe that's part of the appeal...visiting barns and pet zoos as a child and with my child was always a great experience but I don't want to smell like it but THIS JUICE smells so sexy despite a bit of a barnyard memory....like I said, it's werid! Anyway, if a man wore this I would have a very difficult time taming my libido....in the meantime, I'll wear it and think about Viggo Mortensen.

This was the one. This was the perfume that started it all for me. My love affair with oud. I don't recall where I stumbled across the need to try this particular note but I ordered a sample of this and a few others from lucky scent. The others were forgettable. I think one was Heely oud and one was mona di orio or something like that. Anyway, this was one and I put it on my wrist and I couldn't stop smelling it. I was hooked. Stark, dank, cheap band aids, somehow cold like sticking your nose into an axe wound you have just administered to a tree in the depth of winter. It just smelled like nothing I,d ever smelled before. I have smelled many ouds since. Some better, some not, but this one will always hold a place in my scentual heart. I just got a refill bottle (so much more cost effective) and an Atomizer and have added it to the collection. This one is an addiction. Scent 10/10 Projection 5/10 Fortitude 7/10

The aptly-named By Kilian Pure Oud includes a heavy dose of the eponymous note, balancing slightly medicinal and animalic nuances. It's smooth, specifically due to the animalic side being rather leathery, as opposed to castoreum- or cumin-like. It's a bold oud scent without being even borderline offensive, in my opinion, which is a difficult tightrope to walk with oud-intense fragrances, which tend to be overbearing even when pared down via a blend with rose or gourmand elements. Pure Oud performs excellently, roughly the best of house, save Pearl Oud, which is more exceptional. The retail cost of $395 for 50ml, like many of the oud-named By Kilian offerings, is absurd, but there are usually deals to be found that omit the expensive (albeit lovely) presentation of the coffin and key. This is certainly one I'd consider buying at a much lower price point. 8 out of 10

Pure Oud has to be one of my favourite fragrances from Kilian, although the name is a bit misleading. It obviously doesn’t contain real oud, but if you were expecting that from Kilian then that’s on you for the most part. If you can accept that fact, it smells brilliant. A dry, earthy oud accord is used here, furthered by the dry papery-ness of guaiac wood. To contrast, you’ve got some rugged balsams and a powerful blast of sweet saffron and cypriol which is intensely dark, rich and oily with subtle apple-y nuances. It does come off rather sharp and medicinal, but it smells absolutely fantastic. This definitely isn’t a scent which anyone could enjoy, it’s clearly made for a very specific sort of taste. That oud/cypriol combination is very polarising, but nonetheless is a combination I absolutely love. I would buy this if it wasn’t for the obscene price tag.

I must be very lucky because this lasts every bit of ten hours on me. It is also quite strong and aromatic on me in the way that Santal-33 is. I really don't understand it because according to the other comments I am apparently in the minority. pata1's and Doc Elly's comments were spot on in my opinion. I have several oud based frags and several real oud oils, and if I am in the mood for oud this one is a standard go-to for me. After a fleeting top note of saffron (thankfully), this smells just like oud and Guaiac wood to my nose, with the oud in the driver seat for a couple hours. After that, the Guaiac wood becomes more prominent. I have found that I become easily anosmic to this (like Aventus, etc.) but if I spray it low (hands) and also on the back of my neck, I definitely get wiffs of this for eight to ten hours. I quite like it!