Nawab of Oudh
Ormonde Jayne (2012)

My second love from this house. Nawab of Oudh, if you know - you know. This is a silky smooth composition that I wear year round. Depending on the time of year it is, I will get different notes on top and mid, weird I know. In warmer weather the magnolia is very present transitioning into the mid and it's so nice. Cooler weather it's much less noticable but I get almost a juniper like note in the opening. Any way you slice it, I adore everything about this fragrance.

Ormonde Jayne is a house often slept on, y'all don't know what you're missing. If you know - you know

Nawab of Oudh delivers what seems to be a house promise of Ormonde Jayne: ‘You shall have riches… floating on a cloud.' Once again perfumer Geza Schoen brings us a complex blend of so much that promotes olfactory bliss handled with the utmost delicacy and suffused with air and light.
This is a woody floral tip-toing across the cool marble floor of the palace. Around the central pairing of the softest, pinkest roses and creamy woods (I wouldn't say oud), are arrayed the freshest, dew-laden greens, iced bergamot, the refreshing breath of cardamom, wispy clean musks, all seemingly feather-light and transparent, and yet thrilling present. This isn't a Montale rose-oud gone to finishing school; it's in a different universe altogether. And although the perfume undergoes evolution on the skin with other floral tones blending in, silky powders and even an impression of chilli pepper joining the mix, it doesn't loses its essential tenderness and feels like balm against the nastiness of the times. Laceratingly priced, alas.
Resist the temptation to amp up this one by overspraying – I did once, and the gauzy aromachemicals that underpin this perfume (and form the skeleton of so many Schoen creations) nearly choked me and made me feel quite queasy. Instead, wear it at the discreet volume intended and feel the bliss.

Lies down initially like my Trumper's Sandalwood deodorant stick which is essentially a Rose Santal. No Mysore here, however, perhaps a note derived from Camwood.
Nawab develops into a complex Santal of great Beauty. Oudh would be an abstract thought to my nose.
One of those scents, much like Black Gold, that could be a standard for those unused to the hard callous of physical labour.
I like to wear this elegant scent on my blemished and scarred corpus as it' bouquet has me dancing with the Gods.

Like Black Gold there is AC stabilizer which can cause minor piercing however the complex structure soothes.
Careful with application as these have extraordinary next day longevity.

Stupidly, I ignored this one for the longest time, believing it to be yet another Westernized take on oud. Guess what? It isn't. The penny dropped just as I ran out of money, or at least the willingness to spend more than that €1.2 per ml limit Luca Turin originally advised us to stop at. This means that I don't, and never will, own a bottle of Nawab of Oudh, which is terrible because this thing brings me to my knees.

But let's make some lemonade out of dem lemons. I like to pretend that my bottle of Nawab of Oudh is hanging out at Roma Store, a small profumeria in Trastevere I frequent. Every month, I take a leisurely stroll down the Tiber to visit with the bottle of Nawab of Oudh the shop is kindly (but obliviously) hosting for me and douse myself liberally in its glorious juice. Then I walk back home, sniffing myself with a huge, dopey grin on my face, oblivious to how I look to passers-by.

Describing what Nawab of Oudh smells like is like trying to catch butterflies with a teaspoon. It has that gauzy, dizzying abstraction characteristic of so many Ormonde Jayne standouts like Black Gold and Rose Gold, and features – as far as I can tell – peppery spice, juicy mandarin, champagne-like aldehydes, roses, sandalwood, and a mass of creamy floral notes.

But I'm not sure any notes list adequately conveys the fierce joy of this scent. Better to say instead that this perfume gives you that Saturday morning feeling of good things to come – a crisply folded newspaper, a fresh pot of coffee, warm bread rolls, cold Irish butter, and a day of leisure stretching out in front of you like a cat. It smells like sunshine in a loved one's hair and a just-cancelled meeting.

There is a point at the center of this fragrance that makes me think perfumer Geza Schoen might be playing around with an old Roucel-ian template of a green-ish magnolia bathed in a silky bath of citrus, honey, roses, and heavy cream (last seen in Roucel's Guerlain's L'Instant for Women and Rochas' Tocade). The magnolia is viewed obliquely here, through a haze of spicy pepper, pimiento, cardamom, and cinnamon-dusted rose, but it's definitely got some presence.

I love that when I spray it heavily, Nawab of Oudh coats the back of my hand with an aggressively oily sheen but then immediately radiates off into the air with an aldehydic swagger. Despite the name, there is little oud to speak of here, aside from a slightly sour, leathery tint to the soapy sandalwood in the base. I love this fragrance and believe it to be one of the most elegant and accomplished spicy oriental-florals that a woman or a man could wear.

In case anyone is still wondering, oud only plays a supporting role in this gender-neutral composition. Much as civet does in certain vintage fragrances, the oud accord exists only to lend an animalic facet albeit fleetingly to an otherwise well-behaved spiced floral. It is a surprisingly comforting scent, the temperate and textural elements working harmoniously to create an invitingly warm and fuzzy vibe for that nice little snuggle with a loved one.

On the opening I'm getting a blast of magnolia which is very soft and floral. There is also a sour rubbery note when you smell the scent up close which must be the aldehyde's.

The scent then really blooms with the added fragrance of Orchid and a slight citrus and jasmine. This floral and slightly sweet bouquet is really stunning and very feminine indeed.

A perfect scent for a woman to wear and enchant everyone she meets. A beautiful high quality scent though I'm not picking up the Oud as the other notes dominate.