Leather Oud 
Christian Dior (2010)

I'm still relatively new to fragrance as a passionate hobby, so a semi-educated opinion is about the best i have to offer. That said, CDLO is unique, challenging, polarizing, and not for the faint of heart. It performs exceptionally well. For me, its a must have. My advice though is to try before u buy...but try it a half dozen times.

A stunning powerful oud with spicy animatic touches. It gets compared to oud 27 a bit, but this is deeper and manlier. A must have for masculine oud fans. You can also apply it by misting it in the air for a lighter veil, which smells completely different than a direct spray.

In my experience, Dior's Leather Oud can be broken down into a question and a revelation.

The question is, "Is Leather Oud animalic?" Or, perhaps a variant: "Is Leather Oud as animalic as people say it is?" The answer is of course dependent upon the nostrils of the beholder. For someone like me who owns a few Indian oud oils that reek of horse dung before they settle into feral woodiness, Leather Oud is only an approximation of animalia, reaching it by way of furry musk in its dry down and a sour twang that sometimes wafts its way to the nose during hotter weather or more liberal sprays.

Dior's fragrance is certainly pungent, strong, masculine. It's neither romantic nor sexy. What it offers is something sexed, as all animalic scents do. They call toward our instincts and remind us, in the end, not of horses or cats or whatever other animal is referenced when trying to articulate the smell of the animal kingdom, but of ourselves–our bodies. With that said, Leather Oud is too refined and touched by human hands to be the holy grail of animalic fragrances, and its concept of imitating oud smoke rather than oud oil, also precludes it from being in the running for taking the top spot of oud fragrances. Nonetheless, that won't stop me from layering it with a dab of oud oil so that personalized magic starts to unfold.

This brings me to my revelation about Leather Oud, which not many people talk about. It's essentially a very good and unique incense fragrance. The secret has been in the branding all along ("Oud wood exudes aromas of leather when it is burned") and the proof rests on the comments I've received. No one's ever told me I've smelled good while wearing Leather Oud, and no one's ever said I stink, but they have made it an issue to note that I smell like I'm enveloped in incense. A few sprays before going out and I feel like I'm traveling along a Möebius strip representing the full spectrum of the animal and spiritual world., because as refined of a scent as this fragrance is, its own notes (ashtray, sour lemon, furry musk) work against its elegant craftsmanship to suggest the exudations of someone whose body is both a private temple and lived-in home.

I feel it is a semi-pleasant scent. Definitely leathery. Masculine. 3 hours in, I felt it was pleasant. My wife said it smelled nice. I really like it at this point. It is very potent. A couple sprays probably would do it. 5 hours in my wife says it stinks. I don't know what that means. Stinks or smells nice. 12 hours in I feel my first bit of fecality appear. Kinda smells a bit like a dirty hamster cage. Not super dirty, like rotten. Just like one that needs to be changed soonish. Reapplied the scent. I like it again here. Not stinky to me, not floral at all, not sweet. Kinda smells like horse people. Like fairly clean horse people would smell when dressed up a bit. Maybe at like a horse show. I really like this smell, though I'm not a cowboy, and probably can't pull this off too well. I'm not even sure I want to smell this way, but I find it a super interesting smell.

edit: 11/1/19
I have come full circle on this one. I bought a vintage decant, and have worn it a few times and got to know it. We now like each other. Thumbs up. It is incense and leather and oud. Animalic and raw. Masculine. Stank juice.