The Black

Thank you to The Sum for the opportunity to try The Black. Excerpt from my article on The Sum fragrances (search Articles for the full text): I have found just two oud-dominant fragrances that I truly enjoy and as it happens, they're both from American perfumers (The Black is one of these). The Black may not be a traditional Middle Eastern treatment of oud but in my opinion, it's all the better for it. Other oud-shy perfume fans like me will be delighted by The Black's wearability. The barnyard aspects of oud are fully tamed and noticeable only upon first application. From there, it becomes a natural-smelling, pleasant, gently sweet aroma of wood and smoke. There's also a hint of something metallic here that serves to diffuse the wild side of oud. Over time, the fragrance melds with the skin and takes on salty and even leathery aspects.

The Black rounds out the trio of fragrances released by The Sum in 2016 and created by perfumer Josh Meyer of Imaginary Authors fame. Its dark character is a nice alternative to the relative lightness and relative spiciness of The White and The Red, respectively. Oud is the only listed note but I detect a certain birch tar type of vibe. It's certainly not only oud-like but also woody as well. Performance is decent, as with The White and The Red, but not overwhelming. As with the other fragrances in The Sum's small catalog, at $75 for a 30ml EDP, you'd really need to like it a lot in order to buy it, even with the nice presentation and provocative marketing. I do like this but would need to sample it further to determine if it's bottle-worthy. As of now, I lean toward The White being my preference among the three. 7 out of 10

Of the three Sum fragrances that I have tried so far (8E917E which I have reviewed on Parfumo, F4F9FF/The White, and 2B2926/The Black), this one is my favorite. It is still overly minimalistic imo, but it certainly holds together as a composition better than its brothers. A clean, mineralic take on Oud, but sadly more of a sterile cleanliness than anything else. Masculine 5/10

The smoke does remind me of The Sum White, yet this is dark (black) woodsy rich , warm, spicy, not as clean and cold as White, but definitely has The Sum unique smoke - and the amazing metallic edge. There is not huge projection, "heating up" does make it more noticeable , and the aura then grows but still stayed within my bubble. The longevity is superb. Hours and hours, and overnight. I was quite pleasantly surprised at the major wear , and the richness did not wane. I would recommend to someone who likes or wants a balsamic woody oud `n spice , one that stays more intimate and personal. I have passed the 1/2 vial left onto my husband , but it is a unisex frag. Many thanks to The Sum and Fragrantica for the experience :)

I received my sample of this today. I see looking at the notes on here...OUD..is supposed to be the prominent note...????....I do not get that at all. But, I really like the scent! I get the birch-tar note someone else mentioned as well. I get a fore sure leather vibe too. Kinda like Bvlgari Black vibe...but better. I am eager to try the RED and WHITE next.