Royal Aoud

Strong, sweet, and rich, with hints of a realistic oud note right up front accompanied by a mélange of spices, dark red roses, candied citrus peel, honey, and other woods. This one made me fall head-over-heels in love at first sniff. I’m normally not fond of prominent citrus notes, but here the use of kumquat and other citrus is outstanding. The citrus complements the rose, giving it a deep, dark, sensual aspect that is missing in lighter rose scents while bypassing the marzipan notes found in so many Arabian-style rose compositions. At the same time, the citrus complements the woody notes, playing up their pungent, resinous aspects. Although strong at first, the fragrance quickly settles down into a well-mannered rosy-citrusy concoction. Once there, the honeymoon is over. The scent remains a linear rose for the rest of the time, so the initial reaction was more infatuation with the top notes than true love over the long haul. Sillage is strong at first, moderate later, and the scent lasts all day. The opening of Royal Oud is the best perfume I’ve smelled for a long time. The drydown is not as exciting, but it’s good. I have to say that Royal Aoud is worth wearing for the first couple of gorgeous hours alone. If my fairy godmother sent me a bottle, I would wear it often.

Royal Aoud opens with medicinal aoud and a very strong citrus blast for the first hour, but as it dries down, the spices emerge and the citrus soften, creating an almost edible vanilla sweetness to this, and the combination of aoud and citrus becomes like candied orange wrapped in dark chocolate. At this point, the frag is an absolute masterpiece. The scent is almost gourmand and smells edible. Whilst I am not sure this is a "royal" scent, it is definitely incredibly distinctive and will get you noticed. This is certainly a unisex scent.

Very unique. Intense at first, but give it a bit and it smooths out wonderfully into a spicy, tropical, creamy and sticky oud. Montale synthetic oud is oh so good, b/c it's sharp and not too animalic and barnyard-y, similar to Western oud. The notes on this are wild and they do come together to make something special.

After I put it on, I love it when at the most unexpected moment, I get a whiff of the scent. Just a lingering scent of comfort and deja vu. Definitely a keeper.

There is a sugar note I would not have expexted from R.A.,I really love it, a big surprise for me , thought it would be too dry for my nose just the opposite!