Noble Wood

“Everything I've heard about Samarkand is true, absolutely everything! It was even more beautiful than I could have imagined." (Alexander the Great) Samarkand is a city over 2,750 years old, roughly the same as Rome and Athens. The ancient Greeks and Romans knew the city under the name "Marakanda". Samarkand was already a well-developed urban conglomerate during the campaign of Alexander the Great. After Alexander's Hellenization and due to its location right in the centre of the old Silk Trade Route, it served as a bridge between east and west. The city served as an important vehicle for commerce between the ancient empires of China, India, Persia, and Rome. The route dates back to 100 BC. and was a contact channel between people and cultures. It inspired the exchange of dialogue, art, religion, ideas and technology and, of course, fabrics, spices and perfumes. In the early Middle Ages, Samarkand was inhabited by scientists and artists from all over the world. All the prerequisites for the development of science, education and culture have been created in the city. All the magic that surrounded medieval Samarkand can be imagined through Amin Maalouf's novel "Samarkand". The story revolves around the 11th-century Persian poet Omar Khayyám and his Rubaiyat poetry collection. Today Samarkand is a beautiful and culturally rich city and has not lost its originality and unique appearance. During its existence, it has repeatedly surprised the neighbouring regions with craft, skill and creativity. Samarkand is considered an inestimable cultural treasure of the Central Asian region, and deserves its nickname "Pearl of the Orient and garden of the soul". From the moment I first experienced Noble Wood by S.T. Dupont, I have associated it with the smells of the old town of Samarkand, its historical monuments, countless narrow streets, thousands of shops, old private houses and precious woods used in temples, palaces, cafes, as well as exhibited in the workshops of countless woodworkers. It is easy to make an association with the scent of Kalemat الكلمات by Arabian Oud, but the STDupont accords are somewhat richer in the variety of woody notes proposed, like heavenly sandalwood blended with very creamy agarwood amidst other exotic woods and resins. It is a truly ambery and woody precious perfume gem. ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ Overall rating: 8.77 / 10.00 Opinion: A bottle filled with seductive amber and precious woods. If you like this type of scent don't miss this one. As far as I am concerned, I share the same type of feeling described by Alexander the Great: (this perfume) was more beautiful than I could have imagined. Don't buy it blindly. It is a bit loud in its woody and ambery facets. Give it a try first. Music: Cat Stevens - "The Boy With A Moon And Star On His Head"

Out of the 4 I have from this line, Noble Woods is by far my favorite. Royal Amber- Leather Vanilla & Perfect tobacco are the other 3 I own. For Xmas I finally bought Tom Ford Tobacco Vanille and I was pretty disappointed in it. Don't get much Tobacco nor Vanille, it is in fact a Cinnamon bomb. That is the note that dominates the entire lifespan of the fragrance for me. I have quite a few tobacco based fragrances, but non of them comes to mind while wearing Tobacco Vanille. What comes to mind are all the S.T. Dupont fragrances in this line that I own. Not identical to any of them but it is the same vibe as the 4 I own. The same Scent Group. Dense, sweet, slightly gourmand. What's more, Noble Wood and 1 or 2 other Duponts outperform Tom Fords most popular fragrance. And that for a fraction of the price. I don't care much about so called natural notes. In the end what counts is the combo: scent, longevity, sillage and radiance. All other is perception. A justification for excessive pricing. Golden Wood will be my next.

In 2019, I had the pleasure of buying Royal Amber and even tho' I love it, I wasn't too fascinated about 6wearing it. I left it in my Dresser. Fast forward to 2020! And with me is an "Amber bomb" with really potent woody oriental facets and this slightly chocolatey sweetness (strangely reminding me of Roja Dove's Amber Extrait). Noble Wood is definitely a noble (and worthy) competitor to Black Kalemat with the former having its Ambery tones more amped up! May I also add that Noble Wood would definitely fit colder months. Its fragrant beauty lies in the sillage and projection as you walk past friends and frenemies. A unisex fragrance that leaning towards masculinity. Hopefully, my next targets would be: Golden Wood, Oud & Rose, Perfect Tobacco and of course Vanilla & Leather (for my babe). S. T. Dupont Exclusive Line is worth trying for newbies/lovers of Amber, Oud, Tobacco, Rose and Vanilla notes... IG: @mr_cornells

I have lot of experience with amber/oud (wood) arabic fragrances. Noble Wood is one of smoothest perfume from this category I ever smelled.. so elegant composition. Amber is super realistic and dominant ingredient of perfume, followed by smooth dark wood. I think it's not primary imitation of oud wood. I can smell also balsamic sweetness from benzoe. After some time stronf earthy patchouli and powdery sandalwood are more prominent. For me, very nice blindbuy and perfect choice for cold weather. Perfume of half way of arabic perfume and paris elegantion. I prefer to wearing in on clothes, than skin. I don't like comparsion with Raghba, because R. is more sugary sweet and smell definitely cheaper + hedeache included.

First 10min is super strong. This needs to settle down. It's not that the opening is not nice it's just soo loud that it's hard to sniff up close. A really creamy rich lush scent that just goes for hours with lots of development. I get lots of benzoin and olibanum backed up by the sandalwood. A touch of amber sweetness but it is not overtly sweet, just right. This is like a half brother of a Amouage that has a french dad. Not as refined as a Amouage but VERY close. Performance is stellar. The sprayer is horrible, spits out a thin stream. This could last a long time as it is pretty strong.