Aoud Café

I have owned a bottle of Aoud Cafe the past few years and, although I haven't been wearing it this past year (I have a lot of fragrance), I wore Aoud Cafe today and it reminded me of how much I love it; very nice and unique take on a coffee fragrance. In a nutshell, take the coffee note from A*Men Pure Coffee, blend it with the sweet notes from Mancera Aoud Black Candy minus that loud licorice note, and add some extremely smooth woods, spices and musk...and there you go! Another comparison in the making of Aoud Cafe would be taking an empty coffee cup and filling it half-way with crushed assorted hard candies, and then filling it to the brim with strong espresso. Voila! It's Aoud Cafe!! Although this fragrance is somewhat linear, I find that the woods, amber and musk push forward a bit more in the drydown while the coffee and sweet notes become more subtle, but are still present through the life of the scent. Performance is stellar in that Aoud Cafe lasts an solid 10-12 hours on my skin leaves a nice, thick, scent trail. It's not beastly, but it will leave a nice scent bubble and leave a favorable impression. There is no hint of celery in this fragrance, as some have mentioned, and I have received favorable comments from others. It's not one of those people-pleaser scents, but I find it to be a comforting cool weather fragrances that many will appreciate smelling in your presence. Finally, this is very different than Montale Intense Cafe...which is actually similar to Mancera Roses Vanille. Cheers!

Aoud Cafe: best coffee scent on the market, I have smelled. It isn't just a coffee scent, and the scent isn't prominent enough to be obnoxious. It's like a carousel of musk, cream, wood, and fruit revolving around a coffee base. Aoud Cafe is less of a coffee smell, more of a coffee house odor--a pretty coffee house with fruit and baked items and wood and a flower on your table. It's a classier scent than most other coffee-based perfumes; it is slightly eccentric and very well blended. Some have said, "Oh, forget this and get Montale's Intense Cafe, or if you have Intense Cafe, forget this redundant scent!!" ....BALONEY. Montale's Intense Cafe smells EXACTLY like you dumped a Grande Triple Cappuccino on your head. Aoud Cafe smells less definite, less of a coffee product, and smells more like a relaxing cafe environment. CELERY BE DAMNED! I smell none of that from my bottle or on my skin. Not sure where that is coming from with others' experiences. Downside: of Mancera's line, this might be the weakest longevity and sillage yet. It isn't abysmal, but from a house where a couple sprays conquer entire office buildings, this thing can take 6-8 sprays and barely fill a moderate living room. I get about 3-4 hours before it is just a mild surface scent for another hour or two. It's unique and quality stuff, but it lacks the Mancera Perfume PunchTM. 8/10 within the Mancerasphere. 9/10 within the entire Fragransphere.

Another fantastic niche fragrance from the house of Mancera. This one opens with a combination of sweet fruitiness and coffee. I can't say that I specifically detect the peach. Nor do I ever smell a "celery" scent that some report. The coffee is forward in the scent, but not overpowering. It's beautifully blended. As it begins to dry down to the heart notes, the sweetness dials back and a subdued floral emerges and joins the coffee accord. It's at this point that the fragrance is most feminine, but at all times it remains a true unisex fragrance. As the dry down enters the base notes, the oud becomes more apparent, but it's never overly strong. It joins the coffee, which has been apparent during the duration, and settles into a comfortable and enticing "symbiosis". I could see this fragrance being worn in 3 seasons. Not in the dog days of summer, it could become cloying then. Good for both day and night. Truly an alluring scent with great longevity and projection.

I get a strong coffee and spicy wood opening, yes really do get the coffee in this one, like freshly ground coffee beans on my skin with a citrus musk vibe hanging out in the background. The initial spray fills the room with this delicious scent. Aoud Cafe quickly develops into a coffee, woody, musky dry scent with just a tiny bit of sweetness, but this is not a sweet gourmand type fragrance to my nose. 3 hours in Aoud Cafe Settles down a little and the coffee recess just a bit, but is still present, while the wood becomes more pronounced. Projection reduces to about arms length at this point. 6 hours in and I still get a coffee / wood scent on my skin, but it becomes a skin scent. After 24 hours I still get whiffs of coffee and wood on my skin. I don't get the celery note that others have talked about. To me this is almost all coffee and wood on my skin. Bottom line: If you like coffee and / or woody scents, you should try a sample of this.

Aoud Cafe by Mancera: This is good. Obviously you have to enjoy the smell of coffee to like this, that goes without saying but even then you might be able to tolerate it since it's not a screechy synthetic coffee note, rather a blonde roast smooth almost chocolatey note without being synthetic or overly sweet. Definitely an autumn/winter scent with great quality and performance. It's one of the most unique frags I've ever smelled that pulls together notes of warm spiciness, woods and somewhat sweet touches. I get it's not for everyone but for me it's a very inviting gourmand that will have you standing out. Top notes: Coffee, bergamot, slight peach accord. Chocolate isn't listed but I pick it up, no hint of blackcurrant Middle notes: Coffee, amber, very slight floral Base notes: Woody, delicate musk, touch of coffee 5/5