A 1.5 ml sample of Oud Absolu. Enough for several proper wearings, which is what it takes to know whether you want the bottle.
Oud Absolu is the heaviest thing we make, and the one that lasts longest.
It opens on bergamot, with iris and wood behind it. The oud is not the first thing you meet, and that is deliberate. Oud announced at the top is a blunt instrument. Held back, it arrives as the rest thins out, which is when you have room to notice it.
Citrus zest and ylang ylang carry the middle and keep the wood from going flat before the base arrives.
Then the oud, properly. Warm, sweet and woody, with the resin underneath.
Why oud costs what it does
An agarwood tree produces nothing aromatic under normal conditions. When one is infected by a particular mould it responds by laying down a dark resin through the affected heartwood. That resin is oud. It happens in a small fraction of trees and it takes years. Wild sources are largely depleted and protected, so most oud in circulation is cultivated, which is legitimate and is what keeps the material available at all.
That is what you are paying for, and it is why this sits in the Exclusive range rather than the Classic one. The cost is time, not marketing.
Wearing it
Apply less than you think you need. One press, then wait before adding more. This is not a fragrance that needs help.
It suits cold air and close rooms. In heat it becomes a lot, on you and on everyone near you.
If you want to know it before committing, buy the 1.5 ml sample and wear it for a full day. Judging oud on the first ten minutes tells you almost nothing, because the first ten minutes are deliberately not the oud.
Wear it for a full day and pay attention at hour six. That is the part you will live with.
Composed and bottled by hand in Denmark.
