Bois d'Oud Eau de Parfum fragrance notes
Head
- bergamot
Heart
- peach, plum, jasmine, rose, iris, orange blossom
Base
- cedar, blackwood, patchouli, vanilla, ambergris, labdanum, musk
Where to buy
Latest Reviews of Bois d'Oud Eau de Parfum

In any case, Bois d'Oud opens up with bergamot and that interesting plum and peach accord, being a bit leathery overall and mildly sweet. This isn't tannery leather, but rather more like suede leather boosted with some cashmeran to make it fuzzy and creamy. A bit of orris moves in with the plum and a dark Turkish rose, the latter which is barely perceptable under the rest, but adds hints of floral green to keep Bois d'Oud from becoming too rich. Orange blossom and hedione also provide some lift, but Bois d'Oud never leaves the darkness behind, especially into the dry down as the "oud" note of various woody aromachemicals comes to bear. This note most closely resembles something like a rubbery patchouli akigalawood sort of thing, smoothed with musky labdanum, vanilla, and javanol for continued creamy woodiness. I'd almost say a saffron note is also here but it isn't listed if so, although Iso E Super "cedar" shows up along with more-conventional white musks and ambroxan to continue pillowing out the base accord, which finally sends off with a puff of birch smoke and vetiveryl acetate. Whatever Perris tries to sell you on the naturalness of the fragrance, don't believe it, but the stuff still smells good nonetheless. Best use is fall through early spring, for black tie events or any time you want to feel classy and serious as a heart attack. Expect about 10 hours from this with moderate sillage too. Projection never booms from the start, but everything hums along nicely so long as you don't over-do it with the sprays, which will turn this into a syrupy cloying fruit and smoky resin monster ready to devour your sanity.
Bois d'Oud was composed by Gian Luca Perris himself, as was all of the initial range, but would eventually be followed up with the much more-animalic Oud Imperial (2012) the following year when Luca Maffei was invited to work on the next series of Perris fragrances. I think Gian Luca Perris makes the much better creative director than perfumer, because while his efforts are noble here, the results aren't something that leap out at you to pull the trigger at $200 a bottle. As a $100 designer, this is a much easier pill to swallow, but as a $200 niche brand trying to peddle an oud take into the same crowded high-end space as many Xerjoff ouds and the like, Bois d'Oud just feels a bit flat. Even if the same could probably be said to a lesser extent for the entire Perris Monte Carlo brand, it's a little easier to suspend disbelief with knockouts like Oud Imperial, Rose de Taif (2013), and others from later series. Overall though, Bois d'Oud is different yet vaguely familiar, comfortable in it's smooth woody smoky richness, yet also mysterious to beg additional exploratory sniffs, and I can't help but feel just a bit mysterious myself when I wear it. Perhaps that last bit is just a bit of the old nose brain getting in the way of an objection evaluation, but what is perfume if not emotional huh? If you find a really good deal or are already invested in collecting the brand, Perris Monte Carlo Bois d'Oud may be just the Western oud you're looking to mix things up, but otherwise move onto Oud Imperiale, which mops the floor with this hands down. Thumbs up.

Spray-on starts out very boozy, like amaretto or other sweet liquer. Heart reveals itself to be rich and layered with several notes; initially, I get some mint and some other spices. Oud is present, but it seems to be slightly overtaken by a moderate sweet-spicy brightness, keeping the quality as slightly "wet." (Vanilla is the source of the foundational sweetness that pairs up nicely with the edible and floral heart notes.)
According to the fragrance note triangle, there are several "edible" notes within the heart. I do detect a slight presence of ripe peach and plum, with a "damp" sensation of rose, iris, and orange blossom deep within.
Woodiness and the animalic elements (ambergris, musk) add a slight pungency, warmed with rock rose.
I really like this scent. I would consider this more of a scent with oud accompaniment vs. oud as center stage (though agarwood (oud) isn't listed above, it is present in Bois d'Oud). It has a well-blended, warm, dark quality that can be enjoyed by both genders, though it seems to distantly echo certain beast mode perfumes like Dior's Poison for ladies. For men, it has a very classic, clean vibe that tips a hat to smooth old-school scents. And personally, this old-school trait is more wearable and enjoyable for me than Perris Monte Carlo's Oud Imperial, which waxes outdated versus this one.
Great scent overall.
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Update
Done a bit of a u-turn on this one. Still like the opening 30 minutes or so but then it turns a bit cheap smelling.

It is a nice oriental, woody scent with some synthetic oud notes. Nothing groundbreaking and a bit too sweet in the drydown. But for

6,5/10

If im in the mood for something masculine yet a little on the sweet side, I will no doubt reach for this.
High quality and beast mode smell.

Has a shut in feel, so claustrophobics beware.
The oud is of a recognizable sort (something similar is in Dueto's City Love) and I imagine this is one synthetic we'll come across more and more.
It's modest, un-fresh and a satisfying wear, if not exactly breaking new ground. An oud one can don and not be distracted by. Plumps out and opens up surprisingly in the deep drydown.
Perris is based in Monaco, the juice made in Italy, and the thrift store bling of the bottles is aimed straight at the Middle Eastern market.

PS. In the dry down the vanilla emerges and tames a bit the agarwood spicy "gassiness". The agarwood resin smells slightly synthetic and some people can demur it but i add that this element does not understate the extreme sophistication of the olfactory performance and can't veil in any way the beauty of its glamour modernity.

