Oud Ispahan
Christian Dior (2012)

This is a review of the original Oud Ispahan formulation, 2012-2014, which is quite different from the 2015 onward formulation. In my opinion, Dior has managed to put out the best commercial/synthetic Rose Oud perfume out there, and ever since this one came out, I still can't think of a more majestic, more opulent, flawlessly blended Rose Oud, Oriental perfume. Although synthetic, it doesn't give me a headache like most nowadays synthetic aroma chemicals do, the Oud accord doesn't smell off, but rather beautifully captures the smell of burning wood chips, and although it is a strong perfume, it doesn't give me a headache like most synthetic perfumes do. To me, the OG Ispahan smells very much like OG Leather Oud (2010-2013) with added Rose, a watery and transparent Rose accord, not a jammy and overly sweet one like in today's version. The Rose accord almost smells like Rose Wine and has a bit of a fermented quality that lends such a beautiful touch. The Rose pops right off the bat but it doesn't stay throughout the perfume's life, it slowly fades away and the perfume becomes quite animalic and dense, with notes of labdanum, civet, patchouli, and burning wood chips. I'd say the civet and the labdanum dominate the dry-down, coming off as a pissy-leather accord infused with wood smoke. This is amazing stuff, super sexy to wear, with a strong Oriental aroma, very potent and luxurious. Do yourself a favor and search for even a small amount of this, even a 10ml decant will last for a very long time. The 2015 onward version is more Rose dominant, the rose is more jammy and sweet, the base is less dense and animalic, and the oud accord smells more synthetic and nauseating. The post-2018 versions are not even worth bothering with. I'll cherish my 2012 bottle forever, as well as the rest of the original Privee releases that I own. Truly sad to see how this amazing line has gone to waste.

I finally managed to get my hands on Oud Ispahan from 2015.

It opens up with a tiny hints of rose and then the fun begins. Wait, did I say fun? I meant FUNK, oh yes. It's barnyard-ish, animalic and instantly reminds me of Dior's Leather Oud. Actually, I think, it's the same oud, the same agar resin (it's chemical substitute of course) in both of these fragrances. While the scent develops on my skin a tiny amount of spices come and go (mainly saffron), woods are there, but rather hidden in the background.

Longevity is 9-11 hours, sillage is over average.

The new version is slightly less funky and animalic, and focused on the rose and spices.

I prefer the older Oud Ispahan.

It's called Oud Ispahan, and that's misleading.
It's cheap smelling with a lot of synthetics which don’t smell like rose.
It doesn’t smell like oud, or good, or original in any way.
It's a hissy pink cosmetic with an afterthought of oud.

In fact it puts me in mind of ‘Oud J‘Adore’, except Oud Ispahan seems to be aimed at a more prosperous clientelle; thise who frequent air conditioned shopping centres - rather than Attar walla boutiques that only deal in the good stuff.

In business, I was advised to 'under promise and over deliver'.
This clearly does the opposite.

I wore this yesterday for the first and most likely the last time. I live with someone who has worn it a few times, and she can pull it off ok, and likes it, but it was not good on me. I didn't like it. I wanted it to be gone. This morning when I woke up, it was almost entirely gone, and I felt relief.

Fake oud is a trip. Banana Republic has one they call 17 Oud Mosaic (as in 2017, as in that's the way perfume from 2017 supposedly smelled). I find it shocking and/or amusing, and most oud / fake oud fragrances strike me that way.

At times, I've felt like Oud Ispahan was the least bad of the genre, but after wearing it, it feels like a moot point - I don't think I like any of them.

Dirty oud rose

It is a rose oud combo, but they try to get a more realistic oud by dirtying it up a bit. The rose is nice, the oud is a dark brown leather variety. Various aromachemicals swill around. They attempted to balance the fragrance by overdosing those ACs as they rose and oud are both so potent. As a result the fragrance is a bit peaks and valleys. It actually smells different than the other million rose/oud combos, and smells better done to me. But it seems they made it a bit more approachable, for better and worse. Expensive. I'm going neutral here, but it could grow to a upvote someday.

It seemed very promising at first, then 3 hours later I get a very pungent hamster cage smell (on my skin at least), what the heck?

The opening is beautiful though.