REALOUD

Supremely cheesy barnyard oud opening (reminiscent of Ensar’s Assam Organic), with a touch of sweetness coming from the jammy Taif rose that is very prominent during early heart heart, from here the sweet jammy elements swiftly recede and the oud is reincarnated in all its woody glory. As this mukhallat travels through its progression for +8 hours a woody vetiver is introduced and slowly crossfades with the oud to close. From what I’ve experienced of Western produced oud perfumes it just does not get better than Realoud. The overall balance, transitions and journey are an utter pleasure from start to finish. Deadidol’s review is spot on, if you find TF Oud Wood etc challenging, this will be a surprise. But should you be willing to open your mind or already appreciate the more pungent side of things, Realoud will be instant gratification. Probably my equal best of 2013. 9.5/10 From batch: 8/13

I have but a sample, which I've been shepherding and oh, does it age well! Sweet, deep, rich -- to me, it smells good enough to eat. Yes, there is that signature cheesy oud overlay but a rich, smoky, dessert cheese that would go well with cognac and firelight. The site says "animalics," which reviewers here are interpreting as musk, elsewhere as castoreum. Me thinks, there is also civet. Edit: review was for earlier batch than available now. Have an order in for the new, April 2016 version, and high hopes!

202) Realoud + 203) Feral oud (who is more a real oud than Realoud) Ha enfin un parfum qui sent réellement le oud. En tête il est tout puissant et trône magnifiquement. Une lente évolution amène le oud, cette unique note de tête, vers un mélange plus classique de rose et d'épices. Le parfum se recentre sur du vétiver ce qui apporte un décalage original en gardant l'esprit de la matière végétale en décomposition si agréablement nauséabonde. En fond le vétiver domine et les notes terreuses sont remplacées par celles de la noisette si caractéristique. C'est donc principalement un parfum au vétiver légèrement transformé par le oud et la rose, ce traitement me rappel fortement le parfum Vétiverus de Oliver&Co mais sans la texture aérienne (qui était un peu écoeurante d'ailleurs). Très joli. Ha finally a fragrance that really smells the oud. Powerful by leading and sits magnificently. A slow evolution brings the oud, this unique top note to a classic blend of rose and spices. The scent refocusing on vetiver with a original twist keeping the idea of decaying plant matter so pleasantly nauseating. In the background vetiver dominates and earthy notes are replaced by those so characteristic of hazelnut. It is mainly a vetiver fragrance slightly transformed by the oud and rose, this treatment strongly remind me the scent Vétiverus by Oliver & Co but without the airy texture (which was a bit cloying). Very pretty. 203) Feral oud s'ouvre identiquement mais accompagné d'un effet de cuir mal dégrossi qui fait directement songé à Oud Cuir d'Arabie (Montale). Je parle d'effet car ce n'est peut être qu'une facette de ce oud surpuissant. En coeur, le oud devient comme il se doit aussi aigre que la sueur avec des variations un peu fécales. En fond c'est un aspect lacté qui ressort, peut être du santal et du vétiver aussi. Il s'agit plus d'une odeur donc qu'un parfum puisque je ne sens presque qu'une seule note de haut en bas, mais évidemment quelle note! Les amateurs seront comblés et je le suis aussi malgré que ce n'est pas mon type. Feral oud opens identically but accompanied by a rough-hewn leather effect that directly reminds Oud Cuir d'Arabie (Montale). I speak about effect because it's may be only one aspect of this overpowered oud. In Heart, the oud is as it should be, sour as the sweat with some fecal variations. In Base note a milky side springs, may be sandalwood and vetiver too. It is more of a smell than perfume since I almost only smell one note up and down, but obviously what a note! Fans will be delighted and so I am even it is not my type.

Note: Because of the nature of the materials used in this scent and the difficulty involved in sourcing with consistency, variations are a possibility in Realoud, and the batch that I’m discussing is from August 2013. This is very special, but it's a difficult scent to pull off, and certainly not one for the those who lean toward more mainstream compositions. It opens up intensely fecal and bitter with a truly scary blue cheese type note, but settles fast into a more hay / straw type of thing that’s really fascinating and enjoyable. The rose balances it out and tames some of the more challenging aspects of the ouds, but this would still be a difficult wear in many social scenarios. But once the brutal opening has passed and the materials have started to blend a little more on the skin, the scent shifts toward a more earthy, barnyard direction with a fantastic grassy vetiver that holds the whole thing together and keeps the scent alive for an admirable stretch. This is on-par with some of the far more expensive (real) ouds on the market today, but for those who think that Creed’s Royal Oud, MFK’s Oud, and Tom Ford’s Oud Wood are actually oud scents, this one should serve as instructional to what real oud actually smells like. While it’s textured and quite fascinating, it’s an animalic and difficult scent—after all, it’s real and not some domesticated synthetic replica. Me? I love it! The closest analog to this scent might be something from Ensar Oud, but there's little in Western perfumery that matches its intensity. *** As it's not in the database yet, here's a review of Realoud Feral! Notes: Bengali agarwood, roses and jasmine, amber accord, musk. You’d think that, given the characteristics of the excellent but difficult Realoud, this would be a real challenge, bordering on the unwearable — but it’s not at all. While it’s clearly built upon the same set of principles that allows Realoud to simply trounce more marketable “oud” scents, the materials here are a little divergent, resulting in more of a different wear rather than one that simply ramps up the filth. It opens incredibly strong, cheesy, and somewhat rotten smelling (again), but actually feels a little subdued in contrast with Realoud. It goes grassy, but has a slightly different scent profile that seems more woody whereas Realoud has that definite grass dry down. Like its twin, the opening is again quite difficult and off-putting, but it's just a minor hurdle to get you to a deep, evocative oud that very animalic and barnyard, but comforting as well. While I think it would be hard to choose between them, Feral’s the way to go if you’d prefer more of the wood chip impression, whereas Realoud places vetiver at the center of the scent. Great stuff, but again, totally different to what’s pedaled as “oud” today and so probably one for the purists rather than the mainstream.

I bought a sample of Realoud a few months ago along with some of Phoenicia's other offerings. I gingerly look it out of its zip lock bag and put a tiny bit on my arm. Oh my. This smells nothing like the oud note that has become so familiar in perfumes these last few years. Maybe I am an oud wimp after all. Maybe I'm not woman enough for the real thing. I go to the sink before I faint and scrub it off. Every so often I take it out and sniff the vial,intrigued,but a bit afraid. So, yesterday before I went to the back yard to work on a stone patio my husband and I are building, I wanted to wear a fragrance appropriate to rock work and sweating in the sun. Also I was alone and didn't need to worry about other people's sensibilities, so I put some Realoud on my arms and shoulders. The smell of overripe blue cheese in a hot barn drifted up around me. Well, I do love blue cheese I thought. Thankfully within a half hour the cheese was gone but the nice moldy smell remained, along with a smokiness. As I worked in the heat the scent morphed into a smoky petrol. I felt like I should be wearing a hardhat. In the end I think this is amazing, fascinating and beautiful in its way. More of an experience than a perfume, and well worth seeking out!

First, this juice is highly concentrated. One or two drops is probably plenty; the sillage is pretty big and the staying power is tremendous. If you like oud, you want to get it. If you've never smelled oud, you should know that "barnyard smell" is not at all an exaggeration. Right out of the bottle it smells a lot like my mother's barn when the horse stalls have gone a couple of days without being cleaned. On me the opening scent of fresh horse poop and old blue cheese lasted a good half hour until it settled into something more like the stuff I scrape off the bottom of my shoe after walking through a field that's been fertilized with composted horse manure. It's not a bad smell; in fact, I kind of like it, but if you wear it around horse people their first assumption is not going to be that it's perfume they're smelling. You definitely don't want to wear it to the office. On the other hand, I can sense how on someone else this could be really sexy after the dry down. There's a richness to it, some sweetness--if you or your sweety get turned on by the smell of hard work, dirt, and fresh sweat--or by Robert Downey Jr dirtied up in the first half of the first _Ironman_ you will probably like this in an intimate setting.

A good reference to real Indian/Hindi oud. Starts off a little bit of barnyard and cheese with good supporting casts of rose and vetiver (but neither dominates). After a good few hours the dry hay/straw aroma lingers forever, this hay/straw-like quality resembles the characteristic that the real Hindi oud oils I've tested. To me it isn't nearly as barnyardish as a lot of people claimed it to be, it actually smells absolutely gorgeous from top to bottom. I have the 07/15 batch, 2 thumbs up!!