Oud Assam

Absolutely oud-rageous. Phenomenal. One of the most astonishing things I've ever tried. Mainly because of its absolutely epic progression. If you had told me a few years back that I would be willing to spend good shoe money on liquid which makes me smell, at least for a while, of fresh cowpat... I would have laughed in your face. Cash money in return for smelling like poop? Hilarious! Well, how the sceptical are fallen, because now it seems like the most logical thing in the world to me. Because it's like this with Oud Assam: No doubt about it, this is barnyard oud at first - and further soured with the citrus, which to me gives it a truly antisocial pong of the vegetal-fecal, not disgusting or rancid but unmistakably redolent of some kind of droppings. At this point you might well think "oh sh*t, I've made a terrible mistake". Then, within 15-30 minutes, the most incredible metamorphosis happens and whoooooooosh you're rocketing into a magical land of spice and wood and warmth. It is just breathtakingly good, a wild joyride on a magic carpet of the darkest richest reds and browns and carmines ever dyed and woven. Not the cool, dark medicine-y oud (which I also love) but something softer and velvetier, both gentle and strong, shudderingly organic and real. The spices layer even more added extra plush and pattern into it. It is just something else - dizzying, almost narcotic to me. Certainly not a blind buy, and you cannot possibly make up your mind about it without letting it breathe on you for at least a few hours. On me, once the hostile half-hour's passed - during which time I could not really say how far it trails or how strongly, as my nose is just going "dung heap dung heap you stink like a dung heap" - the projection in the beautiful hours afterwards is moderate-to-close, and the scent hangs on tenaciously for up to 8h on skin and well into tomorrow and beyond on textiles. A spirited Arabian stallion for sure, but one with enough real life and gentleness within to make it a true unisex for anyone who's brave enough to hang on and hang tough through that wild bucking ride of the open. It is certainly dark, but not (imho) too butch for women. If you are at all interested in what oud really is and what the accord can do, try it ... and especially if you want to dodge the usual oud-rose combo - this should be a mandatory test. Definitive, life-changing biz, this one is. This is what noses are really made for. Just wow.

"العود للمبتدئين" زيت العود الهندي – الفيتيفر – البرتقال المر – البرقموت – مركب الكومارين ( مزيج التونكا والفانيليا) عود آسام من رانيا ج / النوع : خشبي ولاية آسام الهندية تقع ولاية آسام بين الصين وبنغلاديش على الجانب الشمالي الشرقي من شبه القارة الهندية، ولا تتصل بجسد الهند إلا بواسطة ممر لا يتعدى عرضه 22 كيلومترا ، وهي غنية بالنفط والشاي ، وقد شهدت المنطقة تاريخ من الإضطهاد العرقي منذ استقلال البلاد من بريطانيا عام 1947 تشتهر الولاية كذلك بأشجار العود الهندي ، وعطرنا اليوم يحتوي على خلاصة زيت العود الهندي ، قامت دار رانيا ج الفرنسية بشراءه مباشرة من مزارعي تلك الولاية ولم تترك رانيا شيئا للظروف انما قامت بتوثيق ذلك بشهادة أيكو المعروفة لضمان الجودة. افتتاحية غنية من العود الهندي مدعومة بالبرتقال المر لاضفاء لمحة صابونية زيسيتية وكذلك تواجد البرغموت الليموني برائحة أقرب لاأوراق الشاي ، العود هنا ذو طبيعة ارضية رطبة مع لمحة سكانكي انمالك خفيفة وطبيعة العود اقرب الى أن تكون مسكية. أتاحت لنا رانيا تجربة هذا النوع من العود الباهظ الثمن ولكنه ليس ذلك العود الإحترافي من عبد الصمد القرشي او حتى أنصار عود ، فقط هو عطر عودي سهل الارتداء ، الإفتتاحية هي اجمل مراحل العطر وتمنيت لو استمرت كثيرا ، لان العطر يبدأ يتحول في القلب الى عطر فيتيفري دخاني بحت مع لمسة سويتية كيميائية من الكومارين والسيدر متواصلة حتى اخر لحظات العطر.لمحت ايضا لمسة راتنجية في هذا العطر اضافت له تلك الخصائص البلسمية. عطر رانيا لم يختلف عن موضة العود في العطور الغربية ومحاولة اضفاء ذلك الطابع الشرق أوسطي مع الإحتفاظ بالطابع الغربي للعطر ، مثل نظيره ام 7 الذي كان اول اكتشاف لاستخدام العود في العطور العربية ، اكتشافا ضاهى في عظمته اكتشاف قارة امريكا الشمالية. عطر جميل قدمته لنا رانيا وتوظيف لابأس به للعود الهندي بدلا من عبير العود الدخاني سيعجب الهواة والمبتدئين أمثالي من محبي العود بصورته المنمقة ، ولن يروق لمحترفي ومتمرسي دهن العود بكافة مصادره الجغرافية ، والتسمية كانت موفقه بربطه بغابات ولاية آسام الهندية وأشجار العود المنتشرة بكثرة هناك. شكرا رانيا على هذا الجمال ،،، فوحان متوسط وثبات جيد على الملابس والبشرة. تقييم عام 7.5/10 دمتم سالمين :)

Rania J. Oud Assam is a peppery smoky woody oud mix with very slight animalic touches but mostly a centeredness of woods around the oud, which is not a prominent oud note in the medicinal or animalic sense. It starts out spicier but dries down mellower, a sort of dry, stereotypically masculine mix that almost has an herbal side to it. The standout notes are the oud, cedar, vetiver, and black pepper, with hints of tonka and musk, as there is something sort of smooth and sweet about it under the surface. Most of the suggestion of an animalic side is gone within the first hour and I’m left with a very balanced, fulfilling mix of woods and spice, primarily. It’s interesting, for sure, while not demanding quite as much attention as Ambre Loup. Still, I imagine Oud Assam is more wearable for more people given that it lacks an attribute that some would find especially off-putting like Ambre Loup’s frankly-decadent sweet-and-spicy blend. I reapplied a dab just to reacquaint myself with the opening again and it is very much a slightly animalic sort of wood varnish / leather mix that predictably calms down, and I like that evolution: more initial provocation followed by a more wearable, agreeable blend. The pepper of the opening gives way to the tonka of the drydown, though both aspects are present throughout. Overall, I’m very pleased with Oud Assam. It has an interesting sweet pepper leather oud slightly-animalic mix that I’ve not gotten elsewhere. Hardcore oud fans will likely find it to be underwhelming as oud goes, but I find that it’s a tastefully restrained use of oud while featuring some of the other players more so. A solid option for cold weather, especially. Oud Assam is priced at $149 for 50ml at EDP concentration, like the rest of the line. The Rania J. line is only sold in the US via Luckyscent, I believe, and that’s where I obtained my small dabber sample. 8 out of 10

I first tried Oud Assam last year, after receiving a sample set from Rania J. Although it intrigued me, I put it aside for further future discovery. This had nothing to do with the scent itself, but rather with the fact that I was moving from one country to another. Life was generally messy, with assorted belongings packed into boxes and suitcases. The other day I started a thread asking for perfumes that are similar to the scent of stables. Someone kindly mentioned Oud Assam as one I should try for that real feeling of manure. Of course I ran straight to the drawer where all my samples were still waiting to see the light of day once more. I will come clean immediately: Apparently I really like manure and barnyards. The first spray is very sour, both from citrus and oud. It gradually becomes more mellow, with oud and olibanum being highlighted on my skin. Do you know those pictures where if you concentrate on certain parts you see a fair maiden, and if you change perspectives you see a crone instead? To my nose, Oud Assam is just like that. One moment I enjoy marvellous wood and olibanum, while the next instant I can only perceive manure. And that is magnificent! Oud Assam seems to have moderate sillage, which may be good considering that this is not to everyone's taste. For instance, my husband backed into the wall when I stretched out my arm for him to smell, and then he sprayed Hypnotic Poison in front of his nose to ward off evil. Let's say he considers oud to be the preferred scent of the denizens of hell. While sillage is moderate, longevity is outstanding. Oud Assam was still there when I woke up this morning. It had turned into a woody, fecal and creamy skin scent, the traces of which survived a shower. If you really like oud, please try this! I plan to save up for a full bottle, to use for my own pleasure (particularly when I am alone, I guess).

On skin Oud Assam opens very bold with a warm, fresh, very slightly moldy and blue cheesy pungent punch of oud supplemented by invigorating orange juices of both the bitter and sweet variety and some bergamot. This is probably the best, most interesting and most authentic opening of a "Western" oud scent I have come across. Holy moly! Imagine it's a spring-in-the-step Friday morning and you just planted your best friggen polished Oxfords right and proper straight into a fresh, steaming and happy turd by a camel that has a fetish for citrus fruits and their bitter peel. What a start to your day that would be! Kudos! A further two couples take to the dancefloor soon after and diversify Oud Assam without obfuscating the focus on the oud: peppery vetiver and musky cedar offer a slightly dirty-fresh, earthy and somewhat funky woodyness whilst olibanum/tonka permeate and infuse the scent thus giving it a dimension that puts this scent into proximity of Abdes Salaam Attar's creations such as Mecca Balsam (which doesn't contain oud). Oud Assam's drydown maintains a restrained level of sophisticated skank. It's a fantastic and extremely versatile scent; you can put a drop of jasmine, rose or ylang oil right into it or just use it to give some oomph to another concoction. It's great fun to reapply Oud Assam over its own drydown - that opening over the balsamic and aromatic woddness is just awesome! Above medium longevity and moderate projection and for the price this an absolute steal.

First application of Rania J's Oud Assam last evening and before I get into my thoughts, the fact that my wife approved, scent (sic) shock waves through my very being. That's probably because Oud Assam is "roseless". Now, I like---even love rose, but honestly, in conjunction with Oud, it has begun to get on my nerves. I just sold a bottle of Montale Black Aoud, because it was frankly nauseating. But I digress... Oud Assam starts out of the gate with a true, legitimate Oud punch. The reviews that call it fecal, I would strongly take issue. It does have barnyard, earthy, aged blue cheese notes, but isn't that EXACTLY what Oud-lovers want? It's what I want...and Oud Assam delivers in spades. The dry down is very good and, if possible, even more powerful, but rather intensifying in the Oud, the musk accord moves to the forefront. I still get a faint whiff this morning, twelve hours later, but it has all but faded away. So, I rank longevity at a 7/10. Sillage is strong at the onset, but doesn't seem to shoot off of your skin...moderate, 6/10. For most of its life on your skin, you are going to get a musk perfume, which, imo, is slightly disappointing, as I would have preferred a more linear perfume, with more time devoted to the top notes. This still gets a thumbs up from me. Rania J is a talented perfumer and I was quick to procure bottles of Lavande 44 and Ambre Loup. Would I "blind-buy" this? I did. Your mileage may vary.

Now THIS is oud. Damn I love it. It's totally barnyard, very challenging, literally smells of horse shit and damp hay. Perfect honestly, this is how oud should be. The opening notes of orange and bergamot are fleeting on me and they take a back seat to the oud, which is fine with me. Eventually the soft tonka bean and musk in the base come out. It's honestly so well done. This is not linear, it changes quite a bit over the first hour. The oud is the star player and is really barnyard, animalic for the first 30 minutes or so. Then it begins to morph a bit. There's a strong spicy component that comes out, peppery and warm, and then a gorgeous warm wood accord, oaky and balsamic. There's some beautiful phenolic notes in there that go beautifully with the woods. This is a masterpiece, and for the price!! It will NOT be liked by everyone, this is something that people with only casual experience with oud will probably be immediately repelled by, but to me it is perfection. Performance is excellent, I wouldn't call it beast mode but it is really good. This is not a safe scent, not a safe blind buy, not safe at all-- very dangerous. ;-)

Nose Note #887 I've only tried two from the brand, this and Lavande 44, but I'd give both near 10/10. Just absolutely amazing at every point: 1) price, 2) quality, 3) performance. This is the best of the best quality. Super interesting profile, very unique amongst the ouds. It has a very similar base with Lavande 44, Oud Assam also feels lavandery and a bit soapy-clean. Beautiful oud, nothing barnyardy, slightly fruity. The scent is not sweet, it's dry, but not like wood-dry. I can't help but feel like this has a lot of lavander. It performs wonderfully, solid in terms of long-lasting. This orange accord is very very prominent on top of the oud+olibanum. You wouldn't guess that it's orange, but if you think about it it definately evokes an image of some citrus. I don't know, I guess love this immensly alongside with Lavande 44. Makes me want to try everything for men from the brand. The perfumer Rania Jouaneh has made very interesting choices, very sophisticated connoisseur-type of scents. Totally wearable. 9.5/10, I'm absolutely won over

In the first moments you can smell citruses, but the oud makes its way immediately. Strong, pungent, barnyard type oud, mixed with citruses (neither the bergamot nor the orange stands out), this gives an extremely rich oily oud scent. Few minutes, and your nose gets used to the oud and the scent becomes softer after the initial blast. This is the longest and strongest part in terms of projection. A few hours later you can still smell it, and this is my current favourite part currently. The dominant notes here are the musk, cedar and frankincense, giving a soft, flowery, woody feel. I cannot imagine this parfume on a woman, quite masculine for me. Its more an elegant, fragrance, fits to a shirt and trousers (not jeans). Due to richness and heavyness, this one is for colder times: autumn and winter. I thought that this is not a safe choice, but my friend who is not into fragrances at all liked it really much. So it can be an every day fragrance after all.

Bought on a spot. Entered the shop without any intention to buy whatsoever just to see what are the news so to say. Tried a couple of things but then this one... In the whole history of my purchases, this is maybe the fastest buy ever, between the moment I smelled it first time and gave my credit card to pay... I have a couple of oud based Amouage Attars, and a bunch of so called 'wester ouds' (e.g. from Pure Oud of Kilian to Leather Oud of Dior). This is the closest to the oud oil the non-oil version of an oud perfume. First blast is sustainable only if you have an experience with oud oils. However the 2 and later hour -- just fantastic insence oudy fragrance. I do not really smell a lot of vetiver, while I have an impression that the vetiver in a perfume just kills everything else. Here it is not the case at all, it is next to non-existent. All in all, for the price, just 5/5 perfume!

This smells just like a skanky version of oud wood by tom ford. There are some differences but like all other fragrances that remind you of each other, of course there are. I think saying that this is just a more skanky version that lasts wayyy longer is fair. Other than that this is just like it. Now when I was emailing this perfumer she did mention that she uses 100% real oud not synthetic in this and also in Ambre loup which is one of my favorite fragrances from this house. That's what gives this the skanky oud smell and longevity. Overall, if you own fords oud wood I would say your not missing out here, but if you don't then don't cut yourself short by not sampling this as I have talked to many who prefer this over oud wood. I myself like both the same but feel you get better ingredients and performance here. Great masculine fragrance.

This is a wonderful creation by Rania J, It is that good I ordered 2 bottles , I think I finally found the OUD perfume that suits my taste. I think most base their experience on the first 5 or 10 min of the initial spray, This is one of those Oud Perfume for those who understand and enjoy Oud, The magic of this perfume starts 1/2 hour after the first spray, Best performance on a well moisturized skin , No dry skin. This is a very creamy and enjoyable Oud , Not that barnyard strong Oud or medicinal Oud. It lasts an estimated 24 hours on skin and an estimated 5 days on clothing, 4 Sprays and you are good to go. Scent 10/10 Silage 10/10 Long lasting 10/10 Thanks,

After a challenging opening with a burst of Oud, the barnyard blue cheese type , Oud Assam slowly settles down and merges into a very well balanced woody oud on a soft and warm incense base. Dark oud and creamy incense in a delightful harmony. The drydow finally becomes more woody-creamy with a clear cedar presence but still with a hint of oud. Oud assam was love at first sight. I have been looking for what I imagine to be a genuine oud-centered scent for some time, and with Oud Assam I have found a first wonderful example of what I have been searching for. For each new encounter I get more and more impressed by the works of Rania Jouaneh.

With the recent oud craze it seems there is a wide continuum for fragrances ranging from the "barely oud present" and the "oud dominant", most Western fragrances lying near the former. It's great to finally see what a proper "oud dominated" fragrance smells like that doesn't also smell like barnyard feces (I am looking at you Oud 27 and Leather Oud). I really like this one. I can pick up an earthiness/incense in the background but this seems primarily like pure oud. It smells much more natural than the oud found in the Montale line and I enjoy it quite a bit, especially with it being free of STANK. 7.5/10

A very wearable fragrance with a distinct oud note. It starts with some fresh-citric notes with slightly bitter accent; oud is from the beginning very good perceptible. Oud has a slightly animalic touch, but - apart from that - is very clean and thus pleasant to wear. Sometimes the grasses smell like tea indeed, but this tea note is peripheral imo. Although the scent hasn’t the thrill of being a radical and polarizing, it’s a really lovely perfume. Among the fans of light and fresh oudy fragrances, it has a potential to fall in love with.

As an oud lover with experience with some real pure wild/plantation oud oils of Ensar oud and feel oud, I instantly fell in love with this one. Great quality and absolutely love its opening! I use it for mood lifting it transports me to sacred land where I am with myself safely and sincerely. Like I'm heaven or some holy place. That the power of complexity of the oud scent.

A great representation of oud in all its naked glory! The vetiver and incense add natural wholeness and soften, without fully taming the oud's powerful presence. If you are a fan of REAL oud based fragrances where the oud note isn't buried and virtually non existent, then this is for you.

A cosy, oud-dominant fragrance with a trace of chocolaty orange in the opening and woodsy frankincense in the base. It's a real, cowshed-smelling oud, which personally I enjoy, but many will not. An uncomplicated, yet unusual and natural-smelling perfume. Perfect for a Winter's evening.

Very strong cheesy oud opening that works really well with the orange - I love this stage and it does hang around for maybe 1-2 hours. After that it goes to a slightly mundane incense that lacks body, but livens up again when the vetiver joins the party. Overall, very nice!

Yay! I finally found a real oud scent that is a little barn yardy, but not overly so.. this to me is about perfect! It's rich, deep, warm, and sophisticated. it's also long lasting, with moderate projection. And for the price, what more could we ask for?