'Ilm
Al Kimiya (2014)

Another oud that's nearly by Xerjoff and that also smells like diarrhea in the opening. But this one goes like cherry cough syrup quite fast, so you can actually wear it in public (given that you spray it in the bathroom).

A multi-layered oud for sure, with notes of old leather, dried cow pat and sodden, mouldering wine cask vying for attention. Of these, it's the last that most appeals to me as it brings with it suggestions of drowned florals and decadent decay, and, strangely, relaxes the mind. There's depth to this for sure – but whether it is depth worth the over 300 euro price tag…?
Over the course of the wear Ilm took on a somewhat fruity leather aspect (strongly suggestive of the osmanthus-oud pairing in Xerjoff's Najaf/Zanzibar) over peppery woods. For all that, it is a restrained oud and that quality may appeal to some, but for something that smells this cured I miss the turbo jets that a more brazen house like Montale would have gone for.

Based on the majority of the products of the contemporary oud-based fragrance tsunami, I was expecting an oud-fest, performed by a bunch of synthetic, sharp and unpleasant oud fumes. How pleasant a surprise I got!

Sure, it is a veritable oud-fest indeed, composed a cluster of various ouds, but they are neither synthetic, not overly sharp and not very intrusive either. The ouds are sophisticated, rich but never pushy, and in their gently musky characteristics clearly focusing on the oud. Slightly sweetish with the typical oud-ish woodsy notes with added faecaloid undertones. This is a very civilised oud collection.

On my skin I get moderate sillage, excellent projection and a superb longevity of twelve hours.

One of the best oud scents I sampled recently, this wintery composition is 100% pure oud, very intense but never intrusive, aggressive or cloying. 3.75/5.

The indian assam oud as top notes smelled like fresh, sour manure to me. I knew what i signed up for trying a fragrance that consists solely of oud but i wasn't prepared for that intense manurial freshness. The thought of washing it off crossed my mind but there was something else to it, i was very eager and curious to get to know what it's going to develop into and also a morbid fascination with the stench itself. Curiously a pleasing dry fruitsiness started to mix in after ~30min. My boyfriend described it as fresh manure transitioning to dried cow dung. But it starts to get pleasing soon after that. The woody and floral notes enhance and i can't smell manure at all anymore. This was a lesson for me in animalic and specifically oud scents. I'm intrigued. I still smell zoo but it's tamed with something distinctly civilized/cultured now. The attraction that dualism has on me feels like scratching on something philosophical, allegorical for human nature. Like, i'd feel very "zen" wearing this throughout the day.
But that vague complexity fades to something more down to earth and what's left is the smell of a confident, charitable gentlemen smoking a wet cuban cigar in the zebra zoo (in a good way).

alas, a very negative point: very mediocre longevity and bad sillage on me.