Oud Picante
Areej le Doré (2017)

My two cents on Oud Picante. A lesser version of Oud Zen.
I had it, sold it. I kept a decant to remind myself of it, but rarely did, and realized I just don't like it and don't want to wear it. To me, it smells like a drier, less smoky, more spicy, sharp, version of OZ. If you can smell Oud Zen, tone down the resins, to allow the oud to shine more and feel drier, less toffy-resinous-like, replace the cloud of smoke in Zen with a more piercing smokiness, and add a good amount of spices to the opening, you know how Picante smells. The opening blast of spices almost reminds me of some Prin creations like Arsalan. To me, Zen, Picante, and Russian Oud share the same backbone, but the last two are just better and Picante just feels like a half-finished project. Among my least favorite ALD perfumes ever. On its own, it's not awful, it just feels redundant in the line.

Oud Piccante calls a very specific image to mind, or at least, it does to mine. Imagine a small, country cottage in the West of Ireland, one of those whitewashed hovels left over from the Famine days clinging to the edge of a rundown fishing village. The cottage is inhabited by an Irish bachelor, a miserable Flann O' Brien character whose Mammy never prepared him for a life of looking after himself. Inside the cottage, his hairy fisherman's sweater – never washed – hangs over the lone chair, absorbing and also exuding decades of soot, the sweaty miasma of old lamb grease, and the yellow grime of nicotine.

One sniff of Oud Piccante and I am instantaneously looped back to my paternal grandfather's claustrophobically small, grimy terrace house, which smelled like this. These smells make me anxious because they are the signal bearers of neglect. This is the smell of a house inhabited by an older male, once the female has shuffled off the mortal coil, leaving him alone to fend for himself. And old Irish men don't tend to do well alone. Oud Piccante makes me feel sad, and this is hardly an auspicious start.

Where Russian Oud is sweet, and Oud Zen is nutty-smoky (neutral), Oud Piccante is savory. The astringent meatiness of the castoreum, tobacco, oud, and metallic clove/cinnamon accord makes me think of a fat steak encrusted with peppercorns hitting the sizzling lamb fat in a pan, the pungency of its Maillard reaction mingling with centuries of soot and yellow tobacco stains emanating from the greasy walls. There is a sourness here, too, which makes me think the bachelor mixed up asafetida or something pickled with the rest of the spices by accident. This is a kitchen spice rack oud, saline and metallic, peppered and lamb-fatted. The alpha to Russian Oud's beta.

Later on, this central “peppered steak” accord gets wrapped up in a buttery, sweet labdanum; I like this part of the scent much better than the opening, but I also recognize that it could be perceived as a weakness by other people take their oudiness straight up, cut free of any oriental bits and bobs, like amber or vanilla. But for me, it's a relief, like moving on swiftly from a macho-spiced, half raw plate of entrails to dessert, which, mercifully, seems to have been bought in.

To summarize, Oud Piccante is a sour-savory take on oud that, for me, strays too far into “old man” leather territory and seems to trigger a bad set of memories. The castoreum contributes tobacco, but it also contributes a tannic, astringent “over-brewed tea” accord that when combined with the saltwater taffy of labdanum smells very much like Ambre Loup by Rania J, which I grew to dislike quite intensely. Yes, I know, I am the sole aberration in the almost mass adoration for Ambre Loup. It's clearly me, and not the perfume.

I just can't believe how gorgeous my Oud Picante has aged. I'm a little dumbfounded , but with a simple pleasant smile . It's nice when things turn out like this.

The opening is a draw for me as it replicates the fragrance and flavour of Preserved Middle Eastern Olive
Tapenade, all Salty, slightly Bitter, Alkalyn-ian, Nasturtium-like sans Fish. This assault remains in the background, throughout. Marries with Labdanum to have a Fantastic Leathery feel.
The Spices are so very blended as to have only the Nutmeg peek above, spreading its arms all round to create a Masala, Middle Eastern, Perfumed.
My mind is then drawn to the softly Ambered Leathery base. It is infused with wooded oiliness, creating an effect of sitting in a market sipping Luwak.
The Areej Oil stamp is upon this. Beautiful Masculine wearable.

I have a large collection of Niche and Designer and it's very rare that I look forward to going home and trying out my latest purchase. Areej le Dore fragrances I can't wait to go home and try.
As many people know Oud based fragrances can be very divisive to people who haven't been exposed to this material and OP is not an exception. OP opens up dense, slightly challenging with an almost 3D rendition with the Oud shining like a star. 45 minutes later amber, labdanum and tobacco join in and last through out the evening and become a skin scent in the morning. The materials used are amazing as is projection and longevity. When I purchased off the website I could only get 10ml and now I noticed more of it is released so I have purchased two 50ml bottles, fragrances made this with quality ingredients are not very common and I don't want to have regrets. If someone likes oud I don't think you can go wrong buying this.