Accord Oud

#1006 in my "Tour de Fragrance" Got this as a decant. For starters, like every Byredo scent I've tried, this has acceptable EDP level performance. Moderate but acceptable. As for the scent, for me the main feature here is the blackberry note. I'm happy to find a blackberry note in a scent a man can wear (there's a ship container load of blackberry options for the ladies), and it doesn't overpower the rest of the fragrance, but harmonizes with the rest of the scent in a way that raspberry notes never seem to do. You know what I'm talking about. If you don't already have at least one of Tom Ford "Tuscan Leather", Byredo "Black Saffron", Bois 1920 "Oro", Kilian "Back to Black", Rasasi "La Yuqawam", or Alhambra, Dua, Oakcha, Alexandria and Fragrance World clones thereof, you must be new here. If you've worked your way through these popular and well-regarded scents you've experienced that overwhelming and unnatural "raspberry" note that your nose identifies as "raspberry" but not like any raspberry you've ever found on a bush or bought at the market. And at first it seems delightful, but after the fourth of fifth time you wear it the charms wears off, and you're thinking, "they could really dial back all that raspberry." Then you realize you don't really enjoy the scent until well into the dry down when the raspberry has stopped being so "in your face." And if you're like me, you eventually can't remember the last time you took any of those bottles off the shelf. What I like about the fruitiness here is it's blackberry like the berries I used to pick from the plants that bordered my family's back yard in Illinois, that as a kid I could eat straight off the bushes. Those virtually unkillable bushes supplied us with enough berries to have blackberry jelly and jam year round. This is that in a scent for me. If this is a synthetic, it's a damn good one. Of course as with all fruitiness in scents, it fades away in about an hour, but what's left behind is very nice mild leather and woodiness. Admittedly it's not as strong as Tuscan Leather, but with the patchouli and mild western style oud it's very pleasant and attractive, and it certainly won't offend anyone. And FYI there are some non-leather scents out there with a blackberry note I like as much as this, like the old formula Amouage "Jubilation XXV" (not the new watered down version). BTW Paris Corners "Killer Oud Jubilant" is an amazing and inexpensive dupe of the old formula. I'd also point you to Vilhelm Parfumerie "Room Service" and Jo Malone "Blackberry and Bay." The latter leans a little feminine for me, but it's nice for layering. So I think this scent is car pool, elevator, small office space safe. You may want to reapply midday or hit your clothing with a couple of sprays, but it holds up as as skin scent for six hours or so. It's pricey, but so is the Tom Ford, and for me this would get worn more often. I haven't decided if this is a buy for me or not. It's a Byredo scent, so there's probably an inexpensive dupe out there somewhere.

EDIT: I had to revisit this fragrance and decided to get a bottle, as part of a swap. I love this... something about it is just working for me, even on par with Jubilation XXV. Definitely requires a long term sampling to appreciate. ______________________________________________________ The first spray of Accord Oud is divine. Take some oud and garnish it heavily with some leather, berries, rum, and sweetness, and you've got a modern, Western fragrance that is very approachable and happens to contain some oud. So delicious that you almost want to taste it. :-) So yes, oud is not center stage here. Some have questioned if there's any oud at all. There is. Not a lot, but it is there. In perfumery, "Accord" means "a balanced blend of notes which lose their individual identity to create a completely new, unified odor impression." So oud is not meant to sit out in front alone. But... What about longevity? Does it linger for a long while or fade off in short order? In the same vein as Amouage Jubilation XXV, it is possible for the wearer to become acclimated enough to not notice it. Sillage is moderate to light into the drydown. I did some longevity tests and found that you can still smell Accord Oud some 12 hours later (a very close skin scent at that point). The patchouli helps temper the sweetness, and adds some dryness that balances it well. The flacon is terrific. In step with Swedish design motifs, it is minimalist, no eye catching flair but yet elegant in simplicity. The crown point is the rounded black dome shaped cap with magnetic closure. The bottle is a nice chunky cylinder, reminiscent of some high quality ink bottles made of ultra smooth defect free glass. The label is plain but nicely done (semi-gloss finish with raised black lettering). Definitely display worthy. From what I see, most people who bash/degrade "Accord Oud" miss the point. Fragrance: 9.3, Longevity: 8, Value: 8

Slight patchouli mixed with vetiver, celery, clary sage and cardamom with citrus notes spiked with safran throughout the life of the fume and Russian leather accord to even the fragrance and give it an depthy aromatic feel and don't tell me there's not aldehyde 7 and 10 all over this. To me this and Oud Immortelle are my two favorite powerhouse fragrances in the whole of the byredo lineup, they both last forever on me. The reason I mention the two together is to save myself another review for the Immortelle. I believe and sense that they share the same structural process to get to what they are with the difference being that the Immortelle is just a bit dryer and has a less pronounced berry note. I own the whole Byredo lineup and I mean all of them and in my experience nothing else from Byredo garners this many compliments from friends and complete strangers. I don't wear fumes for compliments, I wear them to accentuate my mood as is my style,I could care less if I get complimented, just putting that out there. Imagine if you could get oud oil from a piece of driftwood, that's what this reminds me of, like they've come up with a formula to remove the earthy part of the oud and turn it into an aquatic oud and yes I know there's no oud in this but the nuances are there. So we have a citrusy,aquatic,aromatic fire coming off of the skin that lasts for days,on me anyway. A lemon and orange grove while your sipping your rum next to the Pacific northwest ocean are is what this is to me. Beautiful and worthy of the highest praise imo, great job on these two Byredo, pure olfactive imagination and artistry. Oh yeah,completely unisex,just remember if you don't like compliments, you shouldn't get these because they will come in bunches,I assure you, wear it year round all seasons.

Ah, that sweet rubbery leather smell. This one is such a gem to me, but I get the feeling you have to enjoy a very particular set of smells to like it. It has ‘oud’ in the name, but it feels like an artistic interpretation of an oud accord that is very clean and bright. The combination of ingredients creates an accord that doesn’t allow you to identify the individual notes so well, a bit like when standing back from a painting and not being able to see the individual strokes. All I know is that the combination of bright booze (almost like a mead), leather, and a hint of sweet berry, gives this a light, chemical vibe in a good way. I’ve always been attracted to certain chemical smells like rubber cement, sharpie markers, coal tar shampoo, turpentine, gasoline, things of that nature. Accord Oud gives off a very familiar kind of sweet acetate scent, somewhere in the realm of a toned down clear nail polish, as another reviewer pointed out. I love that smell too, though I would never have thought it was something to wear as a fragrance, but that familiar scent is incorporated into Accord Oud in such a way that it creates an addictive rubbery sweetness that I can’t get enough of, which is a bit double edged, because the longevity isn’t fantastic. Add the outrageous Byredo prices on top of that and it’s a pity, because I’d buy a bucket in a heartbeat.

Masculine leathery scent with sweet berry and classy alcohol notes. A bit of incense. The opening is very fruity and a bit boozy, the first thing i always notice is a fruity sweetness. After it settles, leather kicks in but isn’t at the forefront. I get an oud vibe but it doesn’t strike me as medicinal at all. The saffron seems to linger on after most of the other notes pass. Smelling it on my wrists over 10 hours after application is mostly a dark sweet saffron. The scent to me is a successful attempt to make a dark masculine fragrance that is sweet and flowery but classy smelling. However if you’re looking specifically for oud, especially a medicinal oud, you’re probably not going to land on this one. Scent aside, the performances is grand. Almost ridiculous longevity, easily 8 hours noticeable on my skin, to 12 where it’s barely there unless you’re physically smelling my wrist. I’d say it’s highly apparent for 8, then around 10 you need to start getting intimate close. On clothes it lasts for over a day easy. I’ve hung sweaters up and smelled it on next wear a few days later. The scent bubble is basically perfect too, not so large as to be obnoxious but anyone near you will definitely notice. Accord Oud is pretty much perfect for me. It’s definitely on the pricy side but what i get out of a bottle is worth the price.