Amber Aoud
Roja Dove (2012)

My my, what a surprise.

A largish decant of Amber Aoud EDP was delivered to me free of charge along with a full bottle of Musk Aoud Absolu Precieux that I bought from Roja Parfums. As someone who has talked a lot of smack about scents with this overall profile, I have to say - I am very impressed.

Lime is the star of the first part of this scent, as it allows the bergamot and lemon to shine without succumbing to cliche and allows them passage into the rich, floral heart. I have seen lime perform this trick in Fetish pour Homme, here it is better thought and fleshed out. There is a straight line between the lime in the top and the saffron and birch in the base - creating a spicy, leathery accord that adds complexity to the rose and the resins and woods.

Those who have read my reviews know that I venerate minimalism. This scent is maximalism at its best. Yet each note feels like it’s doing its part in a carefully orchestrated and conducted event.

I don’t get the density and sugariness noted by some detractors. This wears sheer on my skin, even with multiple sprays. I can easily imagine wearing this even in the hottest days and nights of summer.

I’ve grown up smelling attars and this is not an attar. Amidst the hundreds of scattered corpses of failed oud experiments in western perfumery, Amber Aoud towers over the competition so completely that ultimately its stature puts it in a different airspace. And after that cartoonish magic carpet ride, its very, very final stages reveal a “gingerbread” skin scent - 14 hrs after applying. I realize I will get bored with this, sooner than I can imagine. But that’s not a slight on the juice, that’s just my problem.

To wit:

Maria Elena sobs. Maria Elena wags her finger at Crisina.

MARIA ELENA (to Cristina): Chronic dissatisfaction. That’s what you have. Chronic dissatisfaction.

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Eid and Christmas in a bottle.

The opening blast starts, as the name promises, with an ambery oud; the oud impression is the core of this creation. A certain glimmer of brightness is provided by a bergamot/lemon/line triad in the first moments only, before the oud takes over. Is is quite a natural oud, rich, intense, and smooth; in all its intensity it is never overly intrusive or cloying.

The drydown sees a darker rose impression rise, which mixes well with the oud but remains a sidekick to olfactory ruler of this team of constituents. Other florals in note are a slim ylang-ylang that lacks any creaminess or thickness on me. A fruity and sweetish fig is a significants contributor to the whole, underlined by a gentle jasmine note.

The base sees the oud retreating a bit. It is modified by a number of other components, mainly a soft dark patchouli, a discreet and smooth oakmoss, and a touch of cinnamon that maintains the sweetness here. A saffron is clearly noticeable too, with some sandal, a hint of orris as well as a musky civet lingering in the backgound and providing a touch of spice on occasions.

I get strong sillage, excellent projection, and a very good ten hours of longevity on me.

This lovely wintery oud creation is well-crafted of high quality ingredients and blended very well, although many of the background notes never have a chance to develop properly, especially the woodsy ones, and I don't get any of the birch that is listed in the pyramid of ingredients.

Admitting to a bit of oud-rose fragrance fatigue in the face of the oudrageous tsunami of oud-products that has been inundating the perfumery shelves over the last decade or so, one has to bear in mind that this is one if the early representatives of this genre of perfumes, and certainly one if the good ones. The performance is excellent. 3.5/5.

Okay....So this is really nice. Lovely amber, oud & rose combo. You can tell the quality of ingredients used. Extremely well blended.

Here's the problem!!.....Anything with a hint of rose is just a no no for me. I keep trying various renditions of rose but I just can't handle it. Anyway....If you like rose, amber and oud and have loads of spare cash you're going to love this one!!

Marketed as an amber oud scent, Roja Dove has created a more rose + oud fragrance on balance, which is totally fine with me!

This EdP exudes class and refinement: Rich rose tops all of the notes, joined by a tamed agarwood and enhanced by waxy marine abergris. The saffron adds a medicinal-herbal touch; ylang swirls the potion with creamy-banana-flowery goodness. Unusual is the sticky sweet-sourish fig note, smooth oak moss, and hefty musk. Whew! :-)

Amber Aoud does have a refined amber quality to it, not in the heavier way I had expected compared to, say, Tom Ford's Amber Absolute (i.e., thick, powdery, and sweet). Nonetheless, this is a showy fragrance that performs well with great sillage and longevity.

Very nice and worth testing Amber-Oud combination. Win progressively and embed the wearer in the course of a cloud of subtle complexity.

Smells like a million already available Arabic Attars / oils.. candy like sticky sweetness with synthetic oud, very sticky and cloying imho.

definitely targeted to a specific region where similar thick / sweet fragrances are preferred.