Aoud Forest

This seems to be a very polarizing fragrance in terms of how it's been labelled. Spraying this on for the first time was like being transported to a national park in the Rockies during the heat of summer while sitting in the shade of an alpine grove with a strong breeze next to a rocky stream of fresh, mineral rich glacial water. This is a perfumers forest, not a literal one. Don't expect a cascade of woody notes that smell like literal forest but a delicately balanced blend of fragrance molecules that combine to create the olfactory feeling of a forest. The overall profile does destabilize as it enters the drydown with the aquatic and mineral notes dominating over the rest. Eventually, the aquatics calm down further and the more subtle aoud appears while the greener notes that lingered from the opening, return to shine anew beside the aoud's musky, pungent base. The opening is truly fantastic and well balanced, I even detect the aoud that many others say is absent. The overall fragrance is cool and refreshing, not sunny and warm. I bought it as part of a sample bundle and don't regret it in the least. I will be buying a bottle very soon. Not a safe blind buy but a fantastic summer fragrance for those who don't like more traditional sunny or clean fragrances.

This is an absolutely beautiful mix of to my nose green leaves, seawater, and rose. The dominant notes are seawater and rose along with green leaves to my nose. It is also totally unisex but some may think it leans slightly feminine due to the rose note. But what a rose note it is! It's absolutely stunning and one of the greatest impressions of rose I have ever smelled. It's like a salty rose in the ocean just floating adrift but near an island with long grasses. I don't really get much oud in this but that's ok thanks to the wonderful rose note in this that I'm a huge fan of. I actually tried a number of niche perfumes while on holiday at a niche perfume store in Vancouver, Canada called The Perfume Shoppe, and this one captivated me like no other to the point that I bought it on the spot. Sillage is moderate while longevity is pretty good with 4 hours of solid projection. Overall, this is pretty great. 4.5/5 EDIT: This actually reminds me a lot of Creed Silver Mountain Water and Xerjoff Mefisto, due to its prominent salty rose note and its fresh mountain stream vibe

I like this but the name is in no way an idea as to what this fragrance smells like. To my nose I get very little "Aoud" and I don't get any type of forest smell. The citrus and over all "fragrance" at the start is similar to Mancera Aoud Lemon Mint. This is in no way as strong as the Mancera but is similar. It is aquatic and overall a very nice spring/summer juice. I would try before you buy if possible. I also wouldn't pay big money for it either... Enjoy!

I love it. Smells unique, loved the mix of Oud with aquatic notes is as if I was bathed in the Dead Sea, folks this is good, I can not understand how people who still have not like it. The mixture was perfect, enough oud mixed with floral notes and oriental or animalic, this innovation is the mix of Oud. I simply love it. I classify it thus: Smell: 10/10 Projection: 10/10 Longevity: 10/10

How this has a 3.6 i don't know. This is way better than a 3.6. Is it a great performer? No but it's above average. The aquatic feel in here is super nice. 8.5/10. Does it smell like a forest? No, but it smells darn good. A nice freshie from montale. Adding to this review I'd like to say this is one of my favorites from the house. I can't wait till summer to wear this.

I'd also like to add that the performance on this is much better than what it's rated as. Lasts 8 to 9 hours and projects very well for 2 or so hours. It's not a complex fragrance but who cares for under 50 bucks. For the price this is a 9.5/10 fragrance for me. Gonna be my summer signature scent.

I actually do get quite a bit of oud from here, it’s just soft, not as earthy. With a very pretty aquatic drift enveloping the woody notes! My relationship with rose is complicated but here its almost tea-like quality is very fitting :)

I can not understand dislike votes for this fragnance.. It is very fresh, pleasant, watery with pine/rosemary note stuff. Projection moderate, last on my skin 5-6 hours, on clothes 2 days. 9/10

The dry down for this scent is really good! Can’t speak for everyone obviously but for me i went from like to love after a few sniffs

It reminds me of an american fragrance called "Sharp Image" ( late 90's?)... but this one is more intense-love it!

dry rose with aquatic blue small hint of oud excellent longevity and sillage. stands out from designers

Very nice aquatic. Very very safe. Good longevity

This is perhaps the most inappropriately named fragrance I've ever tried. Knowing nothing about this before trying, I was expecting something dark, intense and woody based off 'Aoud Forest'. The opening barely has any oud and had an aquatic, citrusy and spicy scent profile that reminded me of many designer freshies. Rich citruses, peppery and spicy, slightly salty and very refreshing. While it definitely smells different from Acqua Di Gio but I can't deny it has a similar scent profile. All the notes here smell high quality. The performance of Aoud Forest is quite lacking compared to its other Montale counterparts, this fresh scent fades rather quickly. When it does fade though, the oud comes thru and lasts quite a while, it's way more subtle here compared to the other oud Montales. I'm a little confused about Aoud Forest, it's definitely a very pleasant and safe scent but personally I feel like if I were to buy from a niche house known for its intense sweet DNA this wouldn't be it for me. You want something unique, bold and beast mode. The opening is slightly 'generic'. But if you already have a good amount of Montales on the intense side and want to add something to your collection that's more wearable and great for the hotter days, this would be a good choice. Opening: 8.3/10 Dry down: 8.3/10 Uniqueness: 5/10 Versatility: 9/10 Presentation: 7/10 Sillage: 8/10 Longevity: 7.7/10 Sprays: 3-5 Season: Summer, spring Occasion: Signature, casual, all around Overall Rating: 8/10

This is pretty nice, but what a misleading name, there is no forest in this whatsoever! Also, the bottle has totally the wrong colour. Without having looked at the notes, the name and bottle had me expecting something like Wonderoud, but it does not even exist in the same realm! That said, this is a nice fragrance. I can see this getting compliments. Safe, mass appeal, all that. It's essentially a rose with aquatic notes and some citrus. It's both fresh and sweet. I don't smell a lot of oud, but supposedly it is there. The aquatics with citrus give it a slight masculine vibe maybe, but I see this one as unisex really. I don't understand the voted notes, to my nose the rose note is by far the most prominent! But you won' t get it so much until it starts to dry down. I'm guessing most people voted right after smelling just the top notes? I can't explain it otherwise. The funny thing is I'm kind of surprised how much I like this, as I generally hate aquatics.

Like many before me have stated, the name does not match the fragrance at all. There is nothing Auod or Forrest about this... maybe the green notes would lead to a forrest feel but, eh, maybe an after the rain falls on the forrest smell. You get that rose right away when spraying and it comes off super feminine...a part that I hate for myself and about a lot of the Montale’s...BUT, as opposed to many of his other creations like this, this one does dry down and fade that away. Turns into a nice aquatic when it dries down and it kept reminding me of another fragrance for the past few days and I couldn't put my finger on it...until now. This was reminding me so much of the original Nautica ( but a sharper version of it ) I personally love the original Nautica but, I wouldn't go and run out for this Montale version because of it. So it's definitely a try for the summer and a nice like for me... but, a pass for me.

Between creating his fourth and fifth juice of the week, Pierre Montale was in enough of a hurry to forget the name of his newest concoction. "I'm sure it was Oud something" he thought, looked outside the leftmost window of his lab and saw the forest. He never noticed the mistake since he'd gone on to create 112 new juices the following month, and the marketing department didn't dare to question the masters work. So Oud Beach, now named Oud Forest, never really found the audience of people wanting a nice marine freshie with a hint of rose, rosemary and oud to make the waters warm. But if you're looking for a non-generic aquatic freshie, here you have one. Oud Bea-- Forest is nice, very versatile and will displease no-one. Edit: Coming back to this, this is my favorite Montale and a hidden gem.

Another misnomer from Montale. Why do they even bother naming their fragrances anymore. Aoud Forest is a beautiful aromatic fresh scent, made up of an aquatic seawater note, tingling juniper, and rosey musk. A hint of citrus is there without an obvious zest. It's a fresh musk scent to put it shortly. There is no "aoud" here and the "forest" stands for fresh aquatic juniper, which is accurate. But Aoud Forest is not a proper name. Still, this is a lovely fresh summer/spring scent. But wait! This smells extremely close to CK Free. Yes. The old CK Free. Almost identical, in fact! If you want a version of CK Free with a much better performance, try Forest Aoud. If you want an easier, more affordable choice, just go with CK Free. Casual warm weather wear. Big "Like".

Aoud Forest by Montale is my favourite by the house. I absolutely love the watery notes combined with the airy beautiful citrus that you get in the opening. I love the subtle balancing act that the rosemary provides. I also adore the dry down, which is a perfect match of rose, oud, and musk. All subtle and no one note dominating. Aoud Forest is massively under appreciated by the broader fragrance community in my view. I’m not sure if I like that because it means I can wear it and virtually no one else knows it, or hate it, because it shows my taste is not aligned with the rest of humanity. It’s not a typical freshie to my nose, but given the wide range of views, I’d definitely sample and not blind buy.

This is a nice and safe unisex scent for mild weather, spring and summer, day and night but also leans slightly to masculine scents imo. OK, where is the oud? And where is the forest? Lol quite misleading the title but it's a pleasant scent with dominant juniper, ginger and sea water with mild musk, noticeable grapefruit, faint rose and faint ambergis. Montale scents are known for their strenght but Oud Forest is not one of them. Moderate performance overall, decent for a warm weather scent.

This is very very masculine in my opinion, but still good in that way. I usually don't like aoud very much, but in this fragrance, it's totally fine. The top notes were even better than the base notes. I like how it's fresh, green and spicy and the same time. There's strong marine notes and rosemary in it. Not for women in my opinion and I wouldn't wear it, but still good.

Un Montale frais, avec des notes aquatiques, on dirait pas que c'est un parfum Montale a mon avis, mais bon... on dirait qu'il on voulue changer un peu leur style... c'est un parfum pas très coriace, pour été et qui donne des allures de citronnade de temps a autres... le parfum réunit aussi pas mal d'ingrédient de foret pour représenter l’appellation de ce dernier !

It took me by surprise, as I was expecting a green, maybe earthy, dark fragrance, with plenty of oud or woods but what I got is a marine scent. It has clear marine/salty/ozonic notes backed up by fresh citrus and spicy ginger. There's that Montale DNA also of synthetic rose/oud for an extra kick.By the end is your basic marine scent. 6/10

Def not an oud fragrance. I would call this a fresh, musky, salty and slightly aquatic scent with a touch of rose to soften it up. I wouldn't consider this fragrance that has a bunch of character and is going to make you scream for joy but it's still not a bad scent. Very enjoyable for me. Could be an everyday scent.

I find it more aromatic than aquatic. It’s a meh to me. Not bad at all but at the same time is a bit generic. It could easily fit into an A&F, Hollister lineup. Masculine, youthful leaning, unremarkable yet attractive.

It's a nice non generic freshie. Good choice if you do not want to buy the DOLCE&GABBANA Light Blue Eau Intense ))

This is neither oud nor forest. This is aquatics amalgam, which smells decent but not good enough to buy.

It's a great fresh oud scent, but only projects a couple of inches on me. Is this Montale?

its nice light Oud Woody Fragrance and Long Lasting very good

The opening of Montale Aoud Forest is an explosion of sharp, zesty citrus—imagine a burst of freshly squeezed lemons, almost to the point of being overpowering. As it dries down, the citrus softens but remains dominant, creating an overall fresh yet slightly sharp lemon-forward scent. While marketed as an oud fragrance, there are little to no detectable oud notes at all. Instead, it leans incredibly fresh and earthy, with an almost sterile, clean quality that reminds me of high-end cleaning products. That being said, I can see this fragrance working beautifully on a man—on my husband, for example, I think it would translate as a crisp, outdoorsy, and invigorating scent. It’s definitely more suited for spring, offering a bright and refreshing take on citrus, but without the depth or richness typically expected from an oud fragrance

Too much of a sweet marine note than forest. Opens up as a sweet generic youth perfume. Interesting how there are Way more forest-y perfumes in the Montale range, and the one that you`d expect to be the main one- is really not. (same with their Wood and Spice- almost none of either). It does have the famous heavy, knockout Montale oud though. The dry citrus gets drowned in the-again-overly dominant marine note, which just makes everything smell generic. Meh, from a die-hard Montale fan.

Very Montale-y. (In a bored and “ugh” way (blind bought)) The Montale thing is coming from the Ambergris. (One more thing, i think Montales, when they mention “Amber”, they mean Ambergris.). To describe this fragrance, Imagine Montale’s Fantastic Oud for example, toned down a lot, yet with added Marine/Sea notes. Totally unisex, A bit too boring tbh, Nothing special nor groundbreaking, yet very versatile if you’re looking for one scent fits all...

Unrecognizable as far as “aoud” or forests - unless you’re ok with a fresh breeze around a forest. Reminds me more of a bubble bath scent than anything related to woods. The clueless will remain confused when trying to make excuses for this.

Not sure why they call this "forest" anything. It is an aquatic scent with a hint of oud on the dry down. The dry down is nice, but I can't handle the overpowering aquatic citrus when first sprayed.

it is a fresh gragrance, i didn't get any oud, nor any "forest" notes. It is a fresh, with salty and oceanic notes. It has much similarities to Versace [our homme, but a little lighter

There is something here that I like, that could really make this a favourite among fragrance enthusiasts as a summer choice like AdG Profumo. The marine notes, oud and florals combine to create something that has more dimension than most fresh summer fare. However (in my opinion) the "sea water" accord is incredibly overpowered especially in the opening. It reminds me of gargling warm salt water when I've had a sore throat. Concentrated, nauseating salt. Like when the cap falls off your salt shaker and half the salt goes into your food. This saltiness does settle a bit on skin with a delicate, almost feminine leaning rose starting to dominate and rosemary giving it a pleasant fresh green contrast. I wish the salt diminished more but it never quite stops being over the top. I find myself liking the smell and then being put off by the overabundance of salt over and over again. I like it. It grosses me out. I like it. It grosses me out. Rinse and repeat. This is a fragrance that could do with an intensive reformulation to dial down the sea water accord, and while they're at it, it's time to choose a new name (Aoud Forest? Who came up with that? It has nothing to do with how the fragrance smells at all). 4/10.

In keeping with the forest name, it starts out on an evergreen theme, with cedar, pine, lavender and rosemary, but within minutes warms up to reveal green grass, a tiny pinch of spice, and something vaguely woody. Then it turns blatantly aquatic and green, with minor woody-ambery undertones. I’m not a big fan of aquatics, and have to say that the combination of manly mowed grass and strong aquatic notes ruins the whole forest impression for me, giving instead the distinct image of any number of commercial men’s colognes that are out there. I don’t know where the promised oud is, but if it exists it’s been drowned in a raging sea of calone-like aromachemicals. The green aquatic phase lasts through the entire rest of the day, with little change except a slight whiff of white musk toward the end. Not my style.

It's not a forest, it's a beach surrounded by fragrant trees. It sounds nice but I actually am not a fan. On my skin, the sea accord, rosemary and ambergris combo doesn't smell pleasant at all. ot reminds me of a mix of Clean Reserve Rain and Radiant Nectar. However the calone / ambergris accord here is toned vs the two perfumes mentioned above, and after a moment it gets really quiet in comparison with the fresh woody notes. Refreshing but I find it too rough and abrasive, even for Montale.

Not bad, but it doesn't do it for me. Oud is one of those notes that usually disagrees with me, as does green notes and aquatics. As such it is a wonder that I don't hate it, but I dislike it. It reminds me of Cool Water, the female version, actually.

Well, Montale Aoud Forest smells like a strong bathroom cleanser to me. As with other "freshies," I just can't get past that cleanser note. It's a strong NO for me.

The dry-down of this scent unfortunately reminds me of a perfumed cleaning product.

literally smells like domestos or another toilet cleaner

Clean musky rose soap opening. Devolves into a feminine screechy rose mess. I understand the comparisons to a cleaning product. This is awful.

Dihydromyrcenol and laundry white musk mess.

I perhaps wouldn't be so harsh as to criticise this fragrance as some of the votes appear to be. For the right person I think this has solid appeal. However at first appearance the popular notes listed can be a bit deceiving - and especially with a fragrance that has the word 'Forest' in the title. Some clarification is required... For sure, the first sniff when applying presents a very aquatic smelling scent. However, take note that a close sniff of the skin presents a different almost 'herbalish’ note mixed with oud. Interesting. As things progress the herbal note (rosemary) tends to increase it's presence causing a mix with the aquatic that does indeed produce a fresh 'Forest' like scent that I find to be most reminiscent of Pine. It's an interesting fragrance because of the way it plays with notes to produce this result. I think though that it might be more aptly named 'Beach Forest' or 'Aquatic Forest' as there’s a somewhat salty aspect. It’s as if you were near a beach with the salt air washing over you while you're standing in a pine forest. I've been in that environment so I know how it smells, this is reminiscent of that. There’s also a presence of citrus mixed in there as well. That would be the whiff of the lemon drink under your nose you're enjoying on a hot summers day while standing in the beach forest. And a very light sniff of a rose mixed in with it. The oud is relatively light and complimentary, adding to the depth of the mix. As things progress about 3 or 4 hrs in the citrusy aspects become just a little more noticeable as the fragrance continues to maintain its fresh appeal. it tends to soften somewhat at about the 4 hr mark but still maintains its presence. I get a full days wear and still notice silage at the end of the day so the longevity performance is excellent. Overall I like it - a lot actually. It’s balsamic but it's not hard to wear. It reminds me of some places I've stayed on holidays by the sea actually. There's a lot of places with plenty of seashore pine in my country, it’s not uncommon. So if you like pine but are looking for something a little bit different, give it a try.

Montale AOUD FOREST opens with a decidedly Pine Sol-y demeanor: citrusy, aromatic, and relatively loud, with a lot of evergreen trees creeping in shortly thereafter. What I interpret as brash may well seem merely bracing to others, but I don’t think that anyone can really deny that, at least at the outset, AOUD FOREST is far more masculine than feminine. As the citrus and aromatics begin to fade, a dry vetiver-like woody base shows its face, reminding me vaguely of some of the more masculine Bond no 9 unisex edps (MONTAUK, BLEECKER et al.), especially the ones with gentle leather in them. I’m not smelling much in the way of aoud here, but it’s becoming plain after a few cases that Montale wields aoud with a measured hand. Most of the “Aoud” perfumes I’ve tried from this line do not emphasize the note, though they include it in the name-—perhaps for marketing purposes or to justify the cost? I’m thinking that some of these should be renamed: FOREST (with a jot of aoud), ROSE PETALS (ditto), etc. I do find the smooth quasi-leather vetiver drydown of AOUD FOREST rather likeable and something that I wouldn’t mind wearing in certain moods, but the Pine Sol opening is all-too-jolting for this tender nose. Désolée.

This was an immediate no for me. The opening is dominated by a sharp, synthetic citrus that smells more like a household cleaner than anything natural or refined. It’s harsh, piercing, loud and completely detached from the rest of the composition as in there are two different thoughts going on what this should achieve. On the dry down, things don’t improve. The transition into the woody base feels disjointed and poorly blended, creating a slightly rancid impression. There’s an underlying artificial quality throughout that never settles or integrates, and it eventually takes on a loud, “masculine deodorant” character while keeping the citrus cleaner expression. The whole composition feels incoherent and synthetic rather than intentionally abstract. Instead of tension or intrigue, it comes across as cheap, unbalanced, and unpleasant. This is one I actively dislike and wouldn’t revisit. Actually, I washed it off my arm pretty quickly, so can't comment on longevity but one can only hope that this monstrosity doesn't hug you for long enough to bother anyone who is in the unlucky position to stand close by.

In spite of all the ado about the name, I do think Aoud Forest is the right name. This gives me impression of a lash woods clearing with florals and green shrubs blooming and fresh oceanic breeze. Fresh ginger and aromatic green rosemary make it a very fresh forest and the floral aroma-chemicals make it more watery and ozonic (Cool Water like). This is not necessarily an aquatic scent as many try to present it as. On top of all, Cinnamal gives the fragrance fresh sparkly cinnamon overtone (Pery Ellis 360 Red like). So what you get is a tropical exotic forest near a lagoon with flowers as opposed to Siberian tundra everyone was expecting:) It reminds me of all the fragrances it's compared to above but only in parts. Very designer-like release, in the same group with Santal Wood and Wood and Species. Not a typical Montale but very likable main stream scent. Great longevity with average projection.

I just sprayed this on, so my review is based on the first 10 minutes of wear. I don’t anticipate much forest. Fresh, citrus and aquatic, yes. Reminds me exactly of Clinique Happy for men in the opening of this. It’s very well blended and high quality, this I can tell. Some other notes are making their way though. I get no woodsy, pine or evergreen vibe from this. Those are distinct smells to me as I grew up in Washington state. I know what woods smell of. Will update more later. Good not great. Sticking with decent, not even good. Staying power weak for a Montale. The dry down is basic and I almost didn’t notice it due to the fact it wasn’t that enjoyable. This is definitely a miss on the Montale front.

This is one of my favorite fragrances from this house, it was love at first sniff when I smelt it back about a year ago while in Lake Tahoe, this is fantastic for spring and summer months and is also unique!, And I do get the resemblance to a "Niche" version of Nautica Voyage🤔😊. But the only thing I don't understand as others have stated is why this is called "Aoud Forest" !??.... It should have been called "Aoud Mineral", "Aoud Marine" or "Aoud Aquatic"..... Anything but "Forest" lol 😆.......... Anyways fantastic fragrance recommend to anyone who likes Woody Aquatics and Freshies👍👍✌️💯🥳😎.

My nose is getting better and better and I pride that after the collection I have earned and worked so hard for. I say this because when I first sprayed this on skin, I was expecting the name oud Forrest, to be green, woody etc.. No. I was like this is aquatic. Like a beach fragrance. Sure enough after getting on here, I was right. If you are expecting this to bring what the name says, look elsewhere. If your looking for a wonderful aquatic scent that will garner complements, here you go! Longevity and projection are great for an aquatic scent!