L’Oud Marin

Oud Indochine's younger brother who loves the sea. L'Oud Marin and Oud Indochine are undoubtedly very similar fragrances, but there are a few key differences that make them stand apart clearly from one another. L'Oud Marin's opening is considerably less "gourmand" compared to Oud Indochine's opening, the bitter chocolate facet is toned down and the honey/beeswax and myrrh are way less prominent, L'Oud Marin instead focuses more into the ambers and oud, which itself is also less aggressive and a bit less photorealistically barnyardy. Early on there's a noticeable mineralic, almost salty note up close on skin, which after some time it changes to a pretty realistic seaweed note. These two notes aren't detectable in the air, however, you have to get your nose closer to the skin to really sense them. If I remember correctly there was some information about the second batch of this fragrance on Maksim's website that mentioned the marine aspect being amped up, so newer bottles/samples may have a much more prominent "ambergris" and seaweed notes. I like the way these marine notes combine with the ambery oud base in my sample, but I'm not sure if amping up the marine aspect could break the balance between these two facets. I have no way to make a side by side comparison between a new batch and my sample to verify this though, so for all I know it might be a fantastic change. Another big difference between Oud Indochine and L'Oud Marin is that the latter is much more subdued, yet it's still a very well performing fragrance. Oud Indochine is a beastly fragrance that hits people like a battering ram, L'Oud Marin on the other hand is more gentle while still being strong and notorious. This might be more preferable for a lot of people (myself included) since I think Oud Indochine can be excessively potent. To me L'Oud Marin, Bestia Sacra and Oud Indochine are Maksim's Holy Trinity, they're his best fragrances by some margin and the ones I recommend sampling the most, especially if you're an oud lover. As for the set as a whole I have to say I'm a bit disappointed. It was an expensive set, retailing at $140 for 10 samples, and in the end 4 out of the 10 fragrances smelled extremely similar to one another because of my skin chemistry (can't fault Maksim for that at all obviously), my Café Mystique sample simply didn't spray at all, and even after prying the atomizer off and using the sample as a dabber I didn't really like the scent, Chypre de Grand wasn't much to my liking, and Cologne d'Agar was alright. I'll be going through my Bortnikoff discovery set next, hopefully it won't be a similar experience.

Not oud. Chocolate. Seriously. What a weird little ugly duckling this thing is. How did this start? How did Bortnikov get to this? “I want to take an oud accord, make it smell like dark chocolate, and turn it into a marine perfume.” The man must be nuts. The opening of L’Oud Marin is packed with enough seaweed and algae to start its own underwater ecosystem. Watery, salty, vegetal, and musky. The seaweed and the algae sit like some very pungent sea salt over what I can only describe as a very deeply roasted cocoa note. A bit of refined leather, earthiness reminiscent of tonka, some sweet floral tones from beeswax, a touch of fruitiness, a deep aromatic woody facet, some vanilla at the base - these are makings for what is one of the most complex flavors and aromas known to man: chocolate. The animalic side of the perfume - that unwashed leathery beast in a barnyard type aroma - is pretty loud. This is about the only thing distracting my mind from calling this a full-on gourmand perfume. The styrax and burnt cypriol looms large at the base, making sure the animalic leather note is always forward and a blackened wood note at its backside. I am completely transfixed and fascinated by L’Oud Marin, but here I am, now, wearing it and I’m not convinced I would ever want to wear it again. It just might be a bit too much, a bit too out there, and its density and strength make it feel as though it’s on top of me. Full commendations and respect, but from a distance.

A pleasing powdery aquatic take on the oud scent, this is an enchanting natural composition. The scent has a brief opening with aquatic notes of seaweed, algae and laminaria. The heart has balsamic resins, papyrus and cacao. The perfume settles on a base of oud, vanilla, cedar, beeswax and ambergris. The unisex scent has moderate to strong projection and very good longevity. The perfume is happiness right from start to finish. Enjoy!

This is the most challenging of the current fragrances, but only in the opening. There is a strong smell of ocean or seaweed, perhaps from a combination of oud and ambergris. However, during the dry down it becomes lighter and brighter and turns into a wonderful (real) ambergris fragrance.

I hate for my first review of the house to be a negative one, but as others have also noted the similarities to Oud Indochine run a little too deep—while that same chocolatey, leathery, incensey oud is always delectable, to me the aquatic/marine aspects aren’t prominent enough given the name, and it seems nearly as if the saffron and cardamon from Indochine were merely traded in for algae/laminaria, with some extra woody aspects added as well... I’m afraid for me while the cocoa-beeswax-oud-leather-ambergris core is a timeless classic, here it proves redundant, and worse, beyond being unoriginal I believe it might objectively be considered the less pleasurable of the two. However please bear in mind, I am a little salty due to the lack of additional touches to things. I got three 9mLs with the costly delivery with the faint hope that a sample of a scent I hadn’t tried might be included, but alas, ‘twas in vain... and that’d be okay, but one other thing worth mentioning is that of all the 9/10mLs I’ve procured, these are the only ones I’ve had to give additional sanding to the bottoms of in order to get them to stand up straight. Lastly and most pettily, they ask you to submit your birthday when you subscribe saying they send a little something something, and my birthday just went by a month ago and a little something something I received not. Although I did bashfully add on “since I’m in the US, don’t worry about it!” I must admit I was hoping for something nonetheless. Nothing substantial, just a card—anything! Was this a rant? I normally don’t rant. Genuinely sorry to let off these vibes in public, but again, I have to say, “alas”... Ultimately, please don’t let these remarks be thought of as my view on the brand as a whole, as I look on some other scents quite favorably and know the young prodigy is still at the beginning of his journey, so I still have much faith in his progress to come. - H

L'Oud Marin was my fourth and last sample I tried from Maksim Perfume. I had never come across an oud and marine/aquatic combination and didn't know what to expect. L'Oud Marin's opening was the oud in a powerful and barnyard/cheese-y way. This was surprising for me since oud is in the base notes. Given the top notes, I was expecting a marine-like opening. The strong oud persisted for some time but gradually it diminished during the dry down into a more plain/woody scent. This was also accompanied by the appearance of a marine or aquatic accord that was surprisingly weak. It didn't strike me as a very successful combination mainly because the aquatic accord was too weak, especially in the air. It was more noticeable nose to skin. Not impressed. Longevity is pretty good while projection is moderate.

Marine consommé oud L’Oud Marin avoids nearly every marine cliché. The opening is saline and concentrated, where seaweed, kombu, and ambergris evoke less a sea breeze than a reduced coastal broth: dry, umami, and almost tidal in depth. No citrus brightness or botanical freshness interrupts the composition. As it develops, the marine severity gradually shifts toward a darker leathered warmth shaped by oud, styrax, and beeswax. A faint ambered sweetness emerges in the dry down, less vanilla than overripe fruit left in salt air, adding tension rather than comfort. Original and uncompromising, the fragrance succeeds not through freshness but through material richness. A striking study in marine density, whose leathery warmth may prove more divisive than its seaweed opening.

100% absolutely natural smell of a small pond on the hot summer day. With stale water green from algae and overgrown with half rotten vegetation. Though pond is large enough to hold one or two dead bodies in its murky water, so if you think you might smell some poopy oud, that's not it. If you like to smell like you just finished making love to an old corps in swampy pond, you get your winner in L'Oud Marin!

This review is based on a sample from LuckyScent. This is one of the most transportive fragrance I have ever tried. The marine note is uncompromising, but presented in a way that gave the big picture or even better, the whole experience. And this is where the transportive quality of this perfume comes in. I have been in search of a perfume since 2016 of a perfume that reminds me of a special birthday trip to Fort Clonque in Alderney in the English Channel. Fort Clonque is a former military fort that every high tide gets separated from the island. It’s a unique experience, with sea sprays, damp granite, seaweed scattered about, the regular rain, and campfire on the beach. We all ended up smelling like saltwater and smoke, and I freaking loved it. I still remember that smell vividly. There was an occasional memory of booze. LOL! L’Oud Marin does not have any booze note (at least not to me), which is fine. The perfume willserve its purpose for me, which is to recall one of the best times spent with close friends whenever I want. To make a long story short, I have found the perfume I’ve been searching for.

You immediately get that marine freshness, but it’s far from the typical blue scent. It’s deeper, more refined. The bright citrus and aromatic notes lift the composition and give it an energetic spark, while the amber and cedarwood provide a warm, steady backbone. The “loud” aspect is definitely there : it’s strong, direct, and unapologetic; the high-quality ingredients make it stand out from most fresh scents on the market. Some people will find that uniqueness very appealing, while others might consider it too intense. Also i love the Cacao, Vanilla and Beeswax accords, which i think gives a slightly gourmand scent. If you want a fresh marine-woody scent that smells distinctive, powerful, and premium, this is the one.

I was on the hunt for an oud with kakao and ended up with this (and Oud Indochine). This one is a beautiful mix between my wishes of oud and kakao but with something extra, the seaweed. The fragrance dances between the deep dark oud kakao and the salty, somewhat uplifting seaweed. One minute the oud kakao is more prominent and suddenly the salty sea comes in as a surprise. Looking forward to spend more time with this one. I got a sample set before I made my choices and one thing that is consistent thru all the scents is the quality, I have a feeling that more Maksims will make it to my collection.

One of the most amazing perfume I’ve smelled last month very complex and challenging but beautiful in the same time my kind of scent 😍 Not for everyone but deserve to be checked 💯 😉

This is a beauty. On first sampling, I thought I liked Oud Indochine but wasn't sure about this. Now, I prefer this. So much depth to it. Fantastic and addictive.

The most complex perfume blend iv come actoss recently. Still figuring out what it’s trying to tell to me. Need more time on this.

This is similar to ALD Russian Oud II in the sense of it being cacao and oud but more screechy