Oud Imperial

One of my absolute favorites. It is a beautiful, dark, vampy, incensy, mysterious Oud. It even has a bit of a fresh cigarette smoke accord during the opening...and I love it. It's perfect. It is the late 1800s/very early 1900s. You are a young, ambitious, handsome and energetic English businessman born into a wealthy family. You are in the Hungarian countryside, never mind how you got here. It is late, it is dark out, but the bonfire is still burning and there are still Romani sitting around it, talking, laughing, playing their violins and clarinets, dancing, and smoking. Wizened old men and little old ladies in headscarves, middle aged couples with their children playing just beyond the firelight, handsome young couples with fat babies who have long been asleep at this hour, and dark, handsome young men flirting with curvy, sensual young women just barely out of childhood. But you are separated from this scene by a curtain of thick fabric, rustling gently in the warm night breeze. You are with HER. SHE has taken you back to her wooden wagon, it is hung with red and gold silks inside. There are herbs hanging up to dry, and incense burning on a brazier. The whole wagon is extravagant and thickly perfumed with smoke from the incense, her cigarette, and the bonfire outside and herbaceous, earthy scents. The bed is luscious and plush, and SHE is voluptuous, lithe, and beautiful. It is hot - you are both sweating and breathing heavily. Just as you're about to go further than you ever have before, SHE pushes you away and reaches over to languidly take a pull of her cigarette. No holder here, SHE is not refined. Sensual, sultry, earthy, intensely erotic, yes - lascivious, even - but...SHE is not someone you could ever bring home. SHE wouldn't go with you anyway. SHE is a gypsy. Wild, free, and untamed, everything for which your rebel heart secretly longs. you admire her thick luscious black hair, deep brown eyes, almost black; plump lips - deep red from your bites and kisses, and ivory satin skin. She turns back to you and you are lost in the moment........ hours later you lose consciousness in a delicious, satisfied, smoke-deepened slumber. This is your memory of that night, the scent gently lingering on your skin when you wake up the next morning, shirtless in a field next to the rural road on the edge of a small wood, robbed of everything of value you once carried, including your heart. Oud is very present, as is incense. As I said before, it opens with cigarette smoke. Very, very dry, middle eastern or Eastern European. Bonfires and incense, sex and betrayal, burnt herbs and smoke. Extraordinarily mysterious. Absolutely beautiful. Please, please try this. Ladies - it is not feminine at all. Who cares. It's incredibly sexy and alluring. Gentlemen - wear this and all the ladies will swoon. Not for those lacking in confidence. Edit: layers very nicely with Miller Harris Rose en Noir, but just as good on its own. Also, I forgot to say that longevity is incredible, somewhere in the ballpark of 48 hours, and sillage, while not overpowering to those around you, is very present 10/10

UPDATE: Well, I sold it. But, not because it's a lesser fragrance. This is a very dry incense heavy oud. If you love stark, dry, potent incense as well as oud, you'd definitely enjoy this. I'm not one to be drawn to the liturgical incense heavy fragrances. If it was only a little sweeter, I'd have hung onto it. _______________________________________________________ I recently got a bottle of Oud Imperial. Super rich incense oud, rather dry and ashen, without being too sharp. Extremely masculine. There was something... something that felt familiar, as if I already had this fragrance. I sprayed on Jovoy Paris Private Label on my other wrist. Smelled both. Wow. It's pretty similar to Private Label with an ashy oud note added in! Rather interesting. Must be similar concentrations of vetiver, patchouli, and sandalwood. Also, I wouldn't call Private Label sweet, but there is a sweetness I pick up right after smelling Oud Imperial. Very nice. As far as designer oud based fragrances go, I have YSL M7, AdP Intensa Oud, and Epic Man as my mainstays. I've long been curious about REAL oudh, but discouraged by the extravagant prices to get the real stuff, and extreme difficulty in finding quality mid-priced renditions that are close-enough to capture that "oudh experience" (too many variations and inconsistencies across vendors). I've started to dabble in very small oudh attars and gradually learning more about this curious substance. But most of my experience is with Western oud, synthetic based yet high quality crafting. Oud Imperial has been quite an interesting experience. This has what appears to be a pretty natural smelling oud, accompanied by lots of incense and ash. It's very bold and dry. It also feels a bit linear in its development, yet... it does soften over time. I realize it will take time to discover this one, wearing time and time again with gaps in between to let the recent memory refresh. I'm hoping that Oud Imperial and I will become good friends. :-)

This to me, Oud Imperial smells like waking up in the morning after hanging out with friends by the fire. Minus the hangover, beer, and whiskey smell of course. The only difference is this bonfire was at an eccentric millionaires house, using black wood, incense, and of course Oud wood embers smoldering on the edges giving off its raw acquired animalic smell, which sends the faint of heart running back in their homes, while leaving the select few in a deep state of relaxation and zen. This is a hardcore fragrance as well as the other four original offerings from this house, Essence of Patchouli being the heaviest hitter I've worn to date. Oud Imperial starts with a smokey black wood, laced with dry incense as well as patchouli, and a light offering of caraway and saffron. The other notes listed above seem non existent to my nose with the exception of an extremely dry sandalwood at least 4-5 hours into the dry down. The Oud is blended at this point and almost somewhat masked until the hour passes when it starts to become very clear what you've gotten yourself into. The Oud then progressively dominates the entire experience however not all at once. Very slowly over the course of about 6-8 hours. I smell the saffron after the first hour stand out more then slowly fades leaving just a sandalwood/incense type Oud which becomes more of a skin scent that lasts into the morning hours, and I'm talking about a light application here. This is some serious quality juice that lasts even on the most scent devouring skin, such as my own. A heavier application/layering could linger for 20+ hours easy. I own two bottles of this outstanding juice, the gold bottle as well as the newer black bottle which compliments my other black bottles extremely well. 10/10

It was love at first sniff ! I have tried several oud scents already : from watered-down ones to Black Aoud by Montale (which I like a lot). Some have given me headaches, others were boring. This one, however, is one of those that burn themselves into the memory. What I love about "Oud Imperial" : it is not medicinal, it is an overall soft and slightly herbal oud scent. No rose, no saffron (at least not on me), this is something new for a change. Some write that it is caraway that brings the herbal vibe. OK with me, I like caraway. Sandalwood is noticeable, very soft and lingering. No one-note show, here we have a team where all notes take their place and create a noble union. OI is pretty much unsweet. Sillage is medium but nonetheless a spicy wonderful cloud will surround you. I am very comfortable with OI. I find it cuddly yet defined and refined. Spices, herbs and the woods are beautifully blended and the longevity is excellent. Yes, it has a rather masculine undertone but not butch, you can pull this one off as a female given you have a taste for an "unloud" oud scent. The woods smell charred, similar to a smoldering campfire but pleasantly dosed. OI also feels comforting to me. An aura of serene calmness and wisdom, as one would find with one ́s grandfather. I wonder if my granddad had liked OI, he was a pipe smoker. When I smell OI his image comes to my mind. Will I get a full bottle of Oud Imperial ? Yes. Yes. Yes. This one stands out from the now confusing variety of oud scents both traditional and trendy.

Purchased a new black bottle version from Lucky Scent last week, it differs slightly from my previous black bottle from about 2016 in bottle design: my new bottle has a raised plaque and smaller font, old bottle has no raised name plate with printing directly to the bottle. I have no experience with the gold bottle and from what I can tell I wouldn’t seek one as the black bottle has pretty high quality ingredients and concentration. Though a name plate was added to new version thankfully they smell identical, truly a masterful blend of heady intense dark dank oud, patchouli incense and woods. For the price it’s unbeatable in this category. I did notice my old bottle seemed to macerate down and the last few drops were pretty funky! This is an oud/incense lovers dream come true, glad to have it back on my shelf, it’s been missed! Also you may be pleased to know I really don’t get any florals in this, they’re blended so well, this comes as a relief in the crowded field of Ouds with intense florals and vamilla..A side note: I did try a carded sample of the extrait and honestly the parfum is so strong and well blended(and very similar) I actually think it’s better than the extrait, I found the extrait to have a bit drier woods profile and missing that wet woodiness I love about OI.. for the price difference and twice the juice the parfum is the way to go IMO