Oud Ankaa

Oud Ankaa, from the house of Ys-Uzac. A fitting name for this perfume, chosen after the brightest star in the Phoenix Galaxy. I feel Oud Ankaa is, in many ways, much like that, among the myriads of Oud perfumes that saturate the market. To think that something like this was released back in 2014, and still, to this date, there is nothing remotely close to it in the realm of perfumery, only speaks volumes to the craftsmanship behind it. Once again, the composition goes way beyond the materials and transcends into a vision. Yes, it will satisfy the Oud purists, but if you just want Oud, then you'd be better off looking elsewhere, as here, the Oud is used to tell a story, not only to justify the name and the price tag. To me, this perfume smells like you would enter an Egyptian tomb. That's the scent association I had the instant I smelled it. It smells ancient. Closed air, dust loaded, old wood and stone. The air inside the tomb is heavy and cold, but there is warmth also coming through the main entrance from outside the crypt. If you close your eyes, you can sense the ceremonial rites that took place thousands of years ago - the incense burning, and the floral and fruit arrangements that used to embellish the chamber. As much as I try to think of other things, I can only picture ancient artifacts. That's how deeply rooted that sensation is in my brain. How Vincent Micotti managed to capture and evoke that feeling is spectacular. I don't detect any trace of facets that one would associate with fermented oud oils. There is nothing off-putting about the oud accord in here. It uses a blend of oud oils from various regions, hence I suspect the complexity of the scent profile is partly attributed to that. There are incense, soft leather, and slightly fruity and earthy facets. Moreover, I detect a beautiful use of saffron in the opening, complementing the leather-like facets and imbuing a beautifully spicy and fiery feel to the introduction. The third major player after the two, and the one that dominates the dry-down on my skin, is the Ambergris. The latter seems to be another favorite material of Vincent and one that he uses incredibly well in many of his compositions. It lends a beautiful and gentle warm muskiness to the dry-down. Overall, it is difficult to pinpoint notes, but the three accords are what I can separate. All in all, for me, Oud Ankaa is all about traveling back in time, deep beneath the earth into the Pharaoh's chambers where now only silence rules, and where at night, glowing from the desert sky, the brightest star from the Phoenix Galaxy sends its beam for the ones willing to see, or smell. IG:@memory.of.scents

Oh my gosh, the berry facets are out of this world... then dusty, aged furniture, and what I consider the scent of halls of art museums, which I normally mostly associate with iris. There could be said to be a powdery aspect here as well. Very delicate. Also picking up some paper and tobacco nuances, which I must admit with the berry notes and my immaturity had me proclaiming my first time smelling it, “sophisticated blunt wraps!” Haha. But this time I’m much more able to perceive the depth of the “antique” smell here. It really feels like the inside of an old mansion, potentially haunted, and actually reminds me of a recurring dream of mine, in which I progress through a seemingly neverending, austere, nearly entirely wooden manor, each floor about 40 feet high, lined with bookshelves and adorned with an unlit fireplace and old furniture in the center, a set of giant, ornate doors to each side. Through one, an impossibly expansive staircase leading up, through the other, down, but each leading to an identical floor... and this goes on, until I eventually travel downward far enough, and reach—the basement... and what happens there I’ll spare you the horror of... Instead of a door, at the bottom of a suddenly spiraling staircase I find an opening—a small window blocked by iron bars viewing into the top of the cellar, and crouching down and looking through I can see some of the ancient treasures hidden in the dark below—sarcophagi, a stone altar, instruments of a prehistoric ritual... in the far back, I can make out what looks like a tunnel, bore straight into the earth, leading deeper in and around the corner... I blink—and I’m transported through the iron bars, suddenly in the middle of the cellar. I glance back up at the opening I was just looking down through almost twenty feet up the stone wall. The sarcophagus next to me begins to creak. A torch by the entrance of the earthen tunnel alights. The cavern begins to shake as giant footsteps resound from down the tunnel, approaching slowly at first, and then quicker and quicker until you can tell they’re just around the corner—the sarcophagus now rattling off it’s hinges, the wood and stone scraping and screeching until it BURSTS OPEN---and we’ll just call that the end of this fever dream hahahaha. Eventually reveals some faint smokiness! Sillage moderate longevity incredible. My sincere apologies for the unorthodox departure—I truly hope I didn’t frighten anyone too much hahaha. The fruity/berry aspects of the scent don’t actually let it come off so frightful. :) Bravo, good sir!!!

This is a true masterpiece. I went to the store today and asked the Perfumer for an Oud centered fragrance. He showed me about 10 different ones (Pana Dora Oud Republic, and some others I've never heard of), all good in their own right, but I knew I wanted something else. I asked him to show me something with an even more Oud centered character. Then he took a small, dark red bottle, sprayed it on the sample paper, let it rest of a moment and gave it to me. That was what I was looking for. Oud Ankaa. This is special. It opens with a clear Oud sting, which you either like or not. I love it personally. Then however, it developes this mystical scent profile which I would best describe as a mix of Oud in the center, freshly picked wild strawberries around it and a smooth cloud of Saffron lingering. To me, this is what perfumery is about. New scents, new creations, that are out there and maybe look incompatible on paper, but come together like nothing you've ever smelled. My new signature fragrance.

i gave you up there some similars perfumes of this but ofcurs oud ankaa has a special spirit just like yours and mine, its alive and full of life, its oud and only raw oud, its real just like the smell of sick agar tree, kind of dry and warm, sweet and calm, bit animalic and not massive yes its not scary, its the smell of real oud no harsh its the smell of real niche and elegancy, so organic and pure that not lasts for long unless you wash it up, its the smell, i love it and i own it and i will keep as an iconic gem forever cuz its limited .. thank you

Semi-Sweet/floral oud, reminiscent of a boxwood derby. Moderate sillage and longevity. Fresh, daring, bold. Very nice oud. Has a gentleness to it. Something of a dusty mystery but not in an intellectual way. A rosy memory of an ancient carpentry workshop near the equator, perhaps. Calm and a bit playful. Niche in applicability, but can say that it's definitely more of a winter scent, and somewhat inappropriate for most public situations in the city. More of a private scent.