Crop 2018

An Oud lovers dream come true. There are only two discernible ingredients but they are both so natural and of such high quality that this perfume turns out to be very special. The Kalimantan Oud oil is blended with the oil of Paolo Santo wood. The result is a perfume that opens with a slightly barnyardish Oud and proceeds to settle into a powdery herbal woody bliss. Masculine leaning with moderate to strong sillage and projection and good longevity. If you are an Oud lover you owe it to yourself to try a sample at least. Enjoy!

You're the earth, the stuff of stars, conjured from the void, formed over lifetimes--a seafaring nomad, forever sailing on the winds of time, wandering the great abyss. Crop 2018 by The House of Oud.

Of all the Oud perfumes in my collection this is my favorite. No rose, just rich high quality Oud and Sandalwood. Glad I sampled and very pleased I have a full bottle.

An oud scent with slight animalic undertones. A bitter, acrid, sour juice like a chrysanthemum or a white rose without any sweetness. On me it's mostly green citrus with a bit of bitter smoke on a burnt leather base. From this, I do not distinguish the palo santo but I get a single note. It remains a linear scent that reminded me of Extra Virgo's Monte Kush oudy base. I prefer the latter which complements the oud with aromatic notes of rose, hemp and rosemary. A.. stringent.

Bludgeoningly heavy-duty, iron-hard hardwood challenge for dedicated lovers of real, difficult, stinky, authentic oud notes only. It's dirty oud too, fecal and feral and all too true to nature. I tried this hoping that the promised sandalwood and palo santo would be gentle and diplomatic enough to sweeten the overall effect, and magically make for a true oud scent which was rough and organic enough to have real character, but not reek of manure for too long. Sadly, while the truly poo-ey stage doesn't last much past 45 minutes on me, the mellowing effect is ... not mellowing enough, and while it's oh so definitely very real oud all the way, it's dark and sour and nearly acrid throughout. Gasoline and burning rubber rather than cinnamon and teak. No trace at all of the other ingredients often used to sweeten an oud mix (rose, honey) - which could be a plus or a minus depending on your taste. Personally I just couldn't cope with it (and I wear, for instance, Rania J Oud Assam with joy, despite its filthy-nappy open). . Might work for the hardcore devotees of the noble fungus - there's definitely no arguing with its weight or heft. Not for those on the nursery slopes though - this one plays rough.

Ok, so for those of you hoping this would resemble the two previous years' releases of Crop 2016 and Crop 2017, strap in because it's *nothing* like those two. This one is genuinely pungent, and for serious oud fans only. One of the niche perfumes available in retail sales that contains genuine high quality Oud in it (as the price reflects). The oud in this begins up front with definitive "barnyard" accords, and is not shy about it either. Some like it, but personally I'm not a big fan of this opening. However, what's truly amazing is that if you let the fragrance mellow on your skin for about 30-45 minutes, the barnyard accord dissipates almost entirely. And no, it's not my nose getting used to the accord either, others can't smell the funk either on my skin after about 45 minutes. Then it develops into something quite beautiful; a deeply woody smoky accord that smells of "ancient" wood, with spicy yet not pungent incense burning in the background. This is a profile I've found espeicially in Borneo or "Kalimantan" ouds. I get very faint Palo Santo to my nose, playing a supporting role, but overall this just remains a beatiful smoky woody accord on my skin for 10 hours. I also get facets of leather as it heads towards the dry-down, along with increasing slight sandalwood-like creaminess of the oud as it fades eventually. To be clear, this is NOT a "Western" oud, and will likely be challenging for most. It definitely needs the right audience, but it's more appropriate for public wearing among Western audiences when it dries down a bit and gets rid of that raunchy opening. Projection is pretty big when it starts, so be very careful with the trigger on this one. At $400 for bottle (albeit a very cool looking bottle), it's not something you should even consider blind buying unless you are a serious fan of Eastern-type Ouds. But it is worth a sample or decant at least to see if it works on you. At the very least, it's a taste of true Eastern Oud with the genuine stuff inside. PS - On a whim, just layered this with TF Neroli Portofino. The result was...mind altering.