Aoud Gourmet

Aoud Gourmet is a relatively (not really) sweet, honeyed woody smoky strawberry marzipan to me :) I don't find any of Micallef Aouds to be heavy in terms of, well, aoud-ness, and this perfume is no exception. I'm slightly reminded of Jo Malone Velvet Rose and Oud (must be the combination of "praline" and aoud). Very lovely, not overpowering, not overly sharp. Yummy, but still on the "serious" woody base (cashmeran, oud, sandalwood). I personally thought of it as of a much sweeter perfume before I tried it. It isn't that gourmand one may suppose basing on the name. I mostly smell sandalwood, cashmeran, honey, almonds, and a bit of strawberries (olfactory hallucination). Moderate sillage and longevity.

Aoud Gourmet is most definitely not a woody spicy scent on my skin. It's more like a fruity-woody-gourmand scent. It smells like aoud and strawberry pie filling. I don't get any of the marzipan note that I am craving. The aoud note was tame and made its boldest appearance in the heart of the dry down. But overall the fragrance was rather linear on me. I look forward to retesting it in cold weather to see how it changes.

Cannot decide. I have a sample of this for almost a year now, I've ordered it because of the marzipan note. I love marzipan, but cannot actually find the fragrance that would perfectly express it. At first, I was disappointed, of course, because with Aoud Gourmet it is not all about marzipan. There is oud, obviously, honey, woody notes and something else, which I cannot define yet. Each time I wear it, I get confused, because it is somehow not special niche oud scent, but on the other hand, it has something that appeals to me totally. It is like this silent agent, it fills the room, it stays with you, but in a way you can barely notice it. It is blurry, but strong, gourmand fragrance that makes you feel safe and warm. Marzipan arises gradually, but oud still dominates. It is sweet and gourmand, but not in a foody way, at least not on me. It kind of reacts with my skin so it feels like this is the sweetness already inside of me, but this fragrance just knows how to pull it out on the surface.

I find Micallef's creations similar to those of Parfumerie Generale, in the sense that they are generally pleasing and come with a dose of sweetness, with a few exceptions. Which make them easy to wear, difficult to displease or be negative about, but also I find it difficult to warrant the price tag when it's just not special enough. A friend gave me a personalized perfume from Cyprus that contains a sweet light musk and oud. Aoud Gourmet is basically that, in pleasant proportions- sweetness, musk and oud. I do like Aoud Gourmet, it lasts long enough (about 8 hours), it's not a mega loud scent nor is it a skin scent, would do well in company. However I find it a struggle to part with the required funds for it no matter how beautiful the scent and bottle are. It's just not special enough and for 2014, I've vowed to only add bottles that have that extra special touch. For now I'm very grateful to have a large decant to last me while I ponder over getting a FB of this.

Oud first, then incense. Followed by the "pissy-ness" (ha!) referred to by apixiefan. Sweet, a bit fruity and very middle-eastern in character. So much so, that I hallucinated rose in the composition. - Which isn't in the notes! I haven't worn an oud-focused scent in some time, so I had to get used to it again. It changes throughout the day, finally becoming a soft powder-oud, still with recognisable fruit. It's high quality, interesting to the nose, but like all oud niche scents it's not mainstream, to the extent that if you wore it on a date, you'd get some puzzled looks. Having said that, it's a good oud scent, pleasant, warm, with that fruity touch. I don't get much of an almond note, but maybe I will in winter. It lasted a long time, but not on clothing. For oud fans I'd say "go for it". For the uninitiated, I'd say "try it first" :)