'Ilm

This comes across as cranberry oud. The top note literally smells like cranberry juice. The mid continues the cranberry note but to a lesser degree while the oud develops. The dry down is a very comforting oud. This is in NO WAY animalic or offensive. I was kinda hoping for a little stank, but I'm still happy with how this plays out. I regularly wear Bortnikoff's Lao Oud and Amouage's Silver Oud, and neither of them resemble this in the slightest. I'm wondering if people are only saying they are similar due to the notes. Lao Oud carrys the magnolia and chocolate notes through out. Silver Oud is charred fruit wood and SO different from this. I'm going to put 'Ilm into rotation on my days where I'll be in close proximity to others and I need something truly safe. If one wanted a comparison to another fragrance, I would say the the top of 'Ilm loosely follows the red berries of the mid of Malle's The Moon. If Oud lovers are questioning a bottle of this, I would go ahead, but understand that it is pretty tame.

just got this gifted yesterday, these oudy scents arent my favourite type of smells but i really needed one in my collection and it fills the gap very well,i already have unutamam which is also a heavy hitter and could potentially fill that spot but that one doesnt have any oud first of all and second of all it smells like jagermeister, this one is a pure oud,animalic and stinky, very dense on skin, on paper is a little bit lighter, like fresh laundry drenched in a freshly chiped wooden pool where about 30 civets and 30 beavers took a bath,but still heavy on the oud, cant really smell anything besides the oud, gurjun balsam and amber overall i am happy with this perfume, definetely not a blind buy but if you already smelled oud in fragrances, like those mainly-oud fragrances you can already imagine the smell by looking at the accords and notes

Smells like a giant grizzly bear living in an ancient wood. Animalic, leathery, woody, mossy. The ambergris and santal lend a softly sweet touch to these brooding dark wood and animal smells. I find it pleasant, uncomplicated, natural, and therefore very comforting. Confidence and experience required. Edit -- layered 'Ilm with Penhaligons Babylon. These two scents are insanely beautiful in tandem. HIGHLY recommend. 🖤

This is such a fantastic oud scent, quite animalic at the start then starts to be tempered with an almost powdery texture which I connect to the balsam. Very woody throughout, and if you get this in the aftermarket price, it’s a great value for getting a scent heavy with real Laotian Oud. Overall: Try it!

The gasoline adjacent opening fades rather quickly to a deep and smooth straight oud. It's complimented with spicy, animalic nuances and is undoubtedly masculine. Clearly not for everyone, but it's top notch for its price range and a staple in my collection.

I don’t know why the hate. It opens “fecal” for about 5-10 minutes but then it transitions into a beautiful balsamic wet and mossy oud. I was expecting a more animatic bold and sort of a monster scent. Still looking for something stronger than the night

IM. IN . LOVE. 🎼Everybody knows by Leonard Cohen 🎼is playing and you’re walking through the ultra luxury brands and walking into one of the boutiques to purchase a leather jacket worth 5500$ dollars. WEAR THIS. Bye Have a good time. :)

Abandon any thought that this is oud for beginners. 'Ilm is for the animal in you: dark, beastly, and wild. 'Ilm is a love letter to true aficionados who are enchanted by decaying earth, who relish in untamed woods, and who swoon at the feral. For the average nose, this will not be a challenge, but a test. Unleashing this in public is for those who embody poise, as those around you might not understand. Indeed, 'Ilm's very meaning is "knowledge". Those with this knowledge will find 'Ilm refined, but not unfamiliar, as other true oud fragrances very similar to this are widely known in the Middle East. I'm able to pick out nearly every note listed; I do not get any amber, and don't miss it. The sandalwood is ethereal and wispy. The mid after dry-down is the most animalic, then goes quietly into the woods. I highly recommend picking this up on a site like JomaShop during one of their steep discount sales. 'Ilm is surprisingly fleeting for an oud fragrance, so if I'd purchased at full price, it would be rather disappointing (particularly in light of Xerjoff's other fragrances which easily last all day). Catching a sale makes it worth having.

If you want a straight oud scent, this is a good choice! To me this is oud, with a very very slight berry note in there too. It’s not a room filler by any means and stays very close to the skin given that it’s mainly just wood oils. If you’ve tried Amouage Silver Oud, you’ll almost know what this smells like as the two are very similar. I quite enjoy this fragrance and wouldn’t hesitate buying this over Silver Oud because of the slight berry note in there. Also, if you’re into layering fragrances, this would be perfect for layering with

Very linear and straightforward oud scent with really not that much else around, I think pretty much any oud lover would at least appreciate it, personally is a bit too simple for me to own 10s of mL’s but could totally see this as a good “base” for layering

Absolutely fantastic! If you love oud, you have to at least try this. Xerjoff Kemi line (and Kemi Blue line) is perfumery on a different level, so...if you are new to niche, you may find some of them challenging...

#1456 in my "Tour de Fragrance" Got this as a decant. I was a fan of several Kemi Blending Magic scents, especially for gifting to the women in my life, and I think "Empiryan" is one of the best masculine scents ever crafted by Christian Carbanell or anyone else. I admit some trepidation when I read Kemi would be acquired by Xerjoff and the line revamped. But to Xerjoff's credit they incorporated the line, whereas L'Oreal bought Thiery Mugler to take out a competitor and eliminated every worthwhile scent they made. So blessings upon Xerjoff founder and owner Sergio Momo for keeping the best Kemi scents alive, but under the Xerjoff brand. "Ilm" is one of the rescued and revived Kemi scents, one I never tried before the acquisition, and though this would not be among my favorites of the Kemi line, it's nice enough. The combination of Laotian oud with the Ambergris and Gurjan Balsam yields an utterly non-animalic (I can't help but wonder how many reviewers have actually worked a farm and been boot-deep in the barnyard as I have). It's not a particularly woody oud scent, almost has a sweetness that I think women will enjoy as much if not more than the men. It's an utterly inoffensive and very mild oud scent that you can wear in a car pool, long elevator ride, on the plane. Moderate performance, arm's length sillage for a couple of hours. But again, so mild I wouldn't count on anyone not at intimate range commenting on it. Nice, but not a "must have" for me, and it's pricey, so pick up a decant and try before you buy.

This is not a fecal oud, despite what some Bath & Body Works wearers may have claimed below. What Ilm presents is a leather-plastic 'oud accord' that comes across as mostly if not entirely synthetic. I don't believe Xerjoff's claim that they're using 'innovative distillation techniques', but if the house is indeed using genuine oud, they need to source a better sustainably cultivated supply or modify their blend ratios. Xerjoff has reformulated Ilm since the house acquired Kemi, and the result is a disappointing, linear, half-assed 'oud' with poor longevity. Ilm is currently Xerjoff's most mediocre performer, which is really unfortunate because the vision and opportunity for a nearly-pure oud fragrance was clear, the market needs this oud parfum, but execution has been fumbled thus far. A second reformulation to resolve the melting plastic and terrible longevity issues is necessary. For the price I can get a variety of pure cultivated oud oils that perform and smell better. What's the value proposition, Xerjoff?

It's all about oud with a tamed barnyard vibe that has been paired with cedar and oakmoss, nice to wear on a rainy day in late autumn and winter. Unfortunately, it doesn't have much of an evolution, it just becomes a weaker version of itself and a skin scent within an hour. There is no much depth or complexity to keep you interested beyond the opening.

This does not perform very well on me unless I overspray and even then it has a lightness about it. Sometimes it is not there. Then it is there but not there and on occasion it is unmissable only to repeat the pattern. It is good but... I much prefer Luxor it has a little better performance and is a much more interesting fragrance.

It literally smells like a barn.

Very animalic. Smells just like the bottle looks, if it makes sense to you. It's not unpleasant und the amber is a nice frame, but I expected something more woody and less shrieking.

Verily, the smell doth resemble as if one hath defecated in a New York City subway, thereafter anointing it with a golden stream, and encasing it within a vessel of perfumed essence.

לדחוף את זה לתחת של מי שייצר את זה.

Ilm by Xerjoff's K (Kemi) collection is different from Ilm by Kemi, what it's built around. Xerjoff took over Kemi in 2023. Ilm by Kemi was a confluence of three ouds, Laotian, Assam & Bangladesh. Ilm by Xerjoff kept only the Laotian oud. But as a whole it worked, the Xerjoff's Ilm is better to my nose. Xerjoff's iteration made it more rounded, softer & relatively easier to like. It's still for the true oud aficionados, being goat-hairy & a cheese like oud, stripped off any florals, forget rose. And for me this is why it made the cut. I've always wanted oud without rose or any animalic. So this is like pure oud oil, with just a tad underlying ambery sweetness but almost no sweetness. It's very light & airy though, a perfect summer oud. IG : @scentclouds YouTube : @scentclouds

I tried a sample yesterday a wow. It is not for me. Smells similar to Bortnikoff Lao Oud. This may be a cheaper alternative to Lao Oud IF you like barnyard animalics. I do like Oud, but blended like Beaufort London Iron Duke or Aaron Terence Hughes Tabac. As part of the overall scent. Not barnyard and upfront. If you like anything from Bortnikoff or you loved Frederic Malle The Night then you will like this one. Just not for me. You can't really smell the other notes really because of the Oud.

This is a fantastic oud fragrance. It is for those that have acquired a taste (smell) for oud. This starts off animalic from the get go, not really a strong barnyard just everyso lightly then it changes to a damp mossy woody smell with a hint of sweet. The balsam and sandalwood add a creamy smoothness to it. ILM does not have a strong barnyard smell as Luxor, which is awesome in its own right, but offers another wonderful face of oud that is everso splendid.

I despise reviews like the one below.