Oud Save The Queen
Atkinsons (2013)

This is probably one of the best amber ouds I've smelled. The amber is rich and complex, based on the familiar mix of resins and vanilla, but also peachy and floral. It's a bit old-fashioned with its powdery benzoin, but also modernized with sandalwood.

But the amber always shares the spotlight with darker elements. There's a pitch-black mix of saffron and birch tar, along with leathery quinoline, as well as just a pinch of oud.

It's the way the different elements of the amber and leather facets intertwine over the course of the day that keeps Oud Save The Queen so interesting. It never smells the same - sometimes I'm fascinated by the fusion of benzoin and oud, other times it's the green resinous quality of galbanum mixing with the quinoline. By the base, it's the quizzical way the leathery, piney birch tar is sweetened by vanilla and darkened by oud.

My only real complaint is a light touch of cheap "woody amber" aquatic chemicals, but they're relegated to the distant background, so they're not bothering me enough to put me off. Overall, a good showing for Atkinsons.

A jasmine in the Alien Essence Absolue mould, with a bit of fresh orange blossom to lift it, backed by subtle oud (now there's a contradiction in terms) and woods. I'm surprised at how much I like it.
In the mid-phase it is confectionary sweet with the oud more or less disappearing, and reads more like a gourmand than a floral, but the smoothness of the execution lifts it well above the run of the mill.
The best is saved for last, as the whole experience ratchets up several notches in the deep drydown. The feel is now creamy, silken, the oud returns, deepening this Queen's voice a little and a hint of cloves raises the temperature by a few degrees.