Reviews of Muschio di Quercia / Oak Moss by AbdesSalaam Attar Profumo

I had a couple of samples of "Oak Moss" over the years and my experience has always been the same: Right after application I thought: "Wow, that's it, that's the real deal!" The perfume is so strong and so monochromatic, like a dark green emerald. But after half an hour or so the scent starts to annoy me for the exact same reasons: it's too strong and too monochromatic (dare I say boring). I guess I'm not man enough because it makes me feel weaker and weaker the longer I wear it. "Oak Moss" is something for alpha males like CEOs who want to enhance their bossaura.

Oakmoss (Muschio di Querchia) is one of my favorite fragrances from La Via del Profumo, and in attar format, allows me hours of pleasure, rolling around and luxuriating in its ripped-from-nature goodness. Far more a vetiver scent than an oakmoss, Oakmoss at first smells like wet leaves, upturned soil, bark, wild mint, the air after a rainstorm, and potatoes buried deep in the ashes of a campfire. It plugs me directly into a powerful current of memory: playing War with my brothers and neighborhood friends in the sprawling ditches and orchards once attached to our Famine Era home.

Slowly, the sodden smell of tree sap, mulch, and root dries out, ceding some ground (but not all) to an incensey, blond oakwood note, which is probably cedar but reminds me very much of the aromatic woodiness of Chêne (Serge Lutens) minus the booze. It smells more like split logs drying in a shed and woodsmoke than the oozing wetness of living trees.

The oakmoss has a bitter velvety softness that calls to mind the furred green carpets creeping over the roots and trunks of old oaks in some less trodden part of the forest. And while Oakmoss is far from sweet or creamy, the nuttiness of Dubrana's famous Mysore sandalwood gives it a rounded warmth that speaks to comfort. People have called Oakmoss formal; the kind of scent to wear with a business suit. I can see that, especially in its clipped, almost monolithic elegance. However, the attar is earthier, more sepulchral, and darker-green than the EDT, and reminds me a bit of the way Djedi (Guerlain) and Onda (Vero Profumo) make me feel. Worth saving up for.

This is very expensive but very classy. Not unisex. A solid restrained classy masculine fragrance.
Linear. Just keeps on giving. Oakmoss and Vetiver. Slightly medicinal which stops me giving this a 10/10. What a shame. That's the irony. I have just left a terrible review for Aqua di Parma Intensa (read that as almost all of them) and now I am complaining about missing absolute perfection.
Those of you who read my realistic rather than osmophile reviews know I do not give good reviews easily.
A superb signature cologne.

Fragrance: 9/10
Projection: 7.5/10 --Just where you want it. Two sprays easily enough.
Longevity: 8/10 A good 3-4 hours then another 2 as a skin scent.

Small correction to the previous review. This is the Calatrava of fragrances. Amongst Patek Philips this is the 3970P. Its that good.

Oak Moss is the Patek Philippe Calatrava of the Via del Profumo range: very high quality as with the others, but the most formal, minimalist, clean and understated. It's a bespoke navy suit with a midnight blue tie and a white shirt. There is a stark beauty about this simplicity.

First, a woody start - tree sap, rather than dry wood chips - with some green citrus. A hint of undergrowth in autumn. Fresh sliced orange, only the sharp side, none of the sweetness, except by association.

It retains this profile throughout, with good longevity and projection, turning woodier after an hour, losing the hesperides, gaining nuttier vetiver aspects, whilst remaining stark and serious.

I think this has become my go-to scent if I need to wear a tie, preferably in temperate climate.

In the same family of woody-vetiver, Persona is warmer and friendlier, like a perpetual calendar, still dressy whilst attracting a bit more of attention to itself. Both are worth owning.

A deceptive name for a beautiful silent symphony built around vetiver. The opening is already centered on this great wood note, a superb, realistic, dense and honest rendition of all nuances of vetiver, from humid hay to its green, zesty, hearty sides. I'd say it's the quintessence of wood, without boundaries, restrictions, artificial shapes and without synthetic tricks, just pure vetiver woody greatness – as usual with Dubrana, one of the most honest and sincere perfumers in nowadays' perfumery when it comes to enhancing the voice of nature. I also detect a sharp cedar/oak note, and perhaps sandalwood too, which gives a sweet-syrupy woody note on the very base that perfectly blends with the sweet/wet side of vetiver. Despite being so natural and "free" to express all facets of wood, it's a really elegant and noble cologne, with a superbly aromatic but discrete presence on skin. In its early stages, the drydown is still boldly woody, aromatic and rich, evocative and utterly refined in its compelling simplicity and naturality. The oak moss note is there, although quite light, to support and enhance the earthy-mossy and "rural" side of vetiver more than acting as a "separate" note itself. The very final drydown is a pleasant, silky, aromatic, super cozy and elegant earthy-woody accord with a hint of talcum and a subtle ambery warmth. Worth a try, a purchase and a gift!

8,5/10

Muschio di Quercia is another great favorite of mine among the AbdesSalaam Attar Profumo's natural oily creations. A virile traditional fresh-aromatic mossy chypre. Muschio di Quercia is an exceptional vetiver/sandalwood accord (over an obscure dark-mossy base--real animal moss beyond the IFRA inhibitions) and probably one of my two-three favorite vetivers of the worldwide olfactory panorama. All is natural, incensey, realistic, marvellously boise (but extremely wearable and finally subtle). The note of vetiver is (especially along the first stage) really earthy, wild and mossy/incensey in a dark boise way conjuring me immediately the first Etro Vetiver's formulation (also Etro Sandalo comes in mind at once). I feel in the air the aroma of deep dark forest, it seems to catch dry leaves, oakmoss, musk, tree trunks, barks, dry woodsy berries, woods, earth, hints of resins and misty dust overall combined in to a marvellously realistic olfactory concert of forests fruits. The perfume itself is well crafted for sure, extremely measured and balanced yet elegant and comforting. The aroma is never too much heavy or oppressing, the vetiver is woody for sure although I would not define Muschio di Quercia as a properly "fresh"-woody vetiver. Not so much to add to describe this marvellous composition. Buy it guys.

My reading of Muschio Di Quercia (Oak Moss) is that it is mainly a vetiver centered composition. After the initialy mossy-dark green opening, the fragrance evolves into a simple, old fashioned yet extremely satisfying fresh-woody vetiver base that would make the happiness of any vetiver freak out there.

Well crafted with high quality natural ingredients. Totally endorsed.

I can't add to Quarry's review, as it is spot on. I love chypres, so I love this, but to be honest, I don't know this is to me an oak moss fragrance. I have the essential oil and it is more the dark, dry ashy moss of vintage chypres.
This one is much warmer, woodier and grassier. And wonderful. As Quarry said it is a walk outside in sun-warmed earth, fields and woods. I love naturalistic fragrances, and this one, with it's warm earth vibe, feels very easy-going and relaxing in the same way an actual walk might.
Other reviews mentioned green, but it has little green ambiance to me. It's more an early spring or autumn walk, more about the other notes of the outdoors. A warm grassy vetiver is the biggest player in this to me, but what brings this alive is the feeling of sunshine warming all the notes, making them mid-tone, even that darkest and densest of wood inhabitants, oak moss. It is a companionable fragrance made more attractive by the fact of it's mostly natural ingredients. It's a linear fragrance, but as is usually said, when you love the note it is, you welcome the fact it doesn't change. Bottle worthy!

I love the dark damp forest floor smell of oakmoss. I deplore the vast majority of wimpy perfurme manufacturers that have allowed the IFRA to run roughshod over them by restricting ingredients like oakmoss that supposedly cause allergic reations in a distinct minority of people. This has ruined some great classic fragrances. Well, if you want to experience real oakmoss in a concetration that probably would send the IFRA bureacrats into a sneezing frenzy, then get this fragrance. I admire this house and its perfumer for the magical creations they offer and for their willingess to offer animal scents and others (like oakmoss) that can't be found elsewhere. As for this particular fragrance, it's simply great! There's a bit of vetiver lurking in here and maybe some sandalwood, but the oakmoss dominates, and my how glorious that is! This scent works well in all settings. Unlike some of the fragrances from this perfumer, this scent has excellent longevity. For fun, I sprayed one spritz of this fragrance on my arm, a spritz of this house's civet tincture and followed it up with a spritz of the reformulated (castrated) Mitsouko and the result was Mitsouko coming back to life with the civet and oakmoss that have been surgically removed over the years. But buy this scent for its own value.

Vetyver, sandalwood, oakmoss
I have revised my earlier review.
This is a good scent, with integrity and a faithful rendering of the essential notes. My reservation at this point is that it is rather simple, verging on monolithic.
Essentially this is a very woody scent. The wood is dry and pleasing. The moss adds a bit of dimension to the wood. The dry-down gains in attractiveness with a more rounded wood note, but this is achieved after several hours.
But -- and I'm speaking as a wood lover -- that's about all that I find. My earlier review found more complexity, so perhaps my sample has lost some vital dimension.

Muschio di Quercia is "Profumo's" ode to oakmoss. And oh how utterly marvelous to have a fragrance with an abundance of genuine natural Oakmoss and actual true Mysore Sandalwood ! It's a perfect blend of these two notes, but with also a pretty large dose of vetiver. These three notes being the most apparent throughout. At first mostly the oakmoss and vetiver in almost equal measure. Followed by a "dry-down" of delicious, somewhat "nutty" sandalwood.The main reason why I enjoy "Profumo's" fragrances is because they are an excellent example of all-natural botanical perfumery. The excellence of his natural ingredients are immediately apparent. So I really relish the idea of fragrances made with no synthetic substitutes, for a change. And this one is without a doubt my favourite from this line (so far !). However, with this one being my favourite, I am just the tiniest bit disappointed to discover that it actually happens to be the only one of Abdes Salaam's fragrances to contain a non all-natural ingredient. (The only one !) For the vetiver note used here is actually a Vetiveryl Acetate. Vetyver acetate is obtained from the manipulation and chemical transformation of the natural vetiver. (So it's still derived from vetiver oil, and therefore not exactly completely synthetic as such. Though, of course, "man-made" in a lab !)But not that this actually makes any difference to the blend, for this fragrance still smells just as perfectly natural as all his others. It's quite a simple and "straightforward" scent, yet I think that's part of it's charm! And one which I think should not disappoint anyone who enjoys these three notes specifically. I got exactly what I expected from it, and more !

WITH PERFUMES LIKE THIS, WHO NEEDS FLOWERS? Yes, this "Oak Moss" is a perfume formulation, not just the singular ingredient known as oak moss; and it is one of my most comfortable scents. With a wardrobe sampling list near 1,000, such favoritism signifies exceptionality. Further, for its rareness of breed, I deem it not just exceptional, but singular in style.Demure, green, and sweet as true, wild nature, I relate the effects of this juice to what I know: the mature grasses of the prairie, aged tree trunks -- verdant land punctuated with nut-brown timbers, the aromatics of native earth caramelized by the sun, then distilled and blended by the perfumer and captured in glass.The moment of encounter sends me swooning. Do you know this feeling? Upon first sniff, one's happiness seems to rise and twist and rise and twist and rise like a streaming ribbon, and a smile is unavoidable. Although AbdesSalaam does not necessarily conform to the notion of top, middle and base notes, I'll observe that the top and base are my favorite time periods in wearing Oak Moss. Vetiver, sandalwood, and oak moss transition to a point of dryness and heat after about an hour of wear, as though the midday sun has burnt off the morning's dew. Later in the day, the evening's dew seems to descend and revive green, leafy odors.I can usually identify one product from each fragrance house as my favorite, and I thought Hindu Kush had won that honor here. But then my husband gently abducted Hindu Kush from me. So now, in a review already littered with words like rare, exceptional, and singular, I must add that the House of Profumo has earned another form of exclusivity: It is the only perfume house my husband and I share fragrances from.I do not believe you have to be a fan of chypres to appreciate this oak moss-rich liquid. If you enjoy the smells of untamed lands, you would be entertained by the uncommon personality present in Oak Moss. There is nothing sharp or harsh herein, and I can think of no argument against your ordering a sample. For newcomers, I can only say you may get spoiled by the quality of Profumo's ingredients. To you frag veterans who have grown jaded and think you've smelled it all I say: There are new delights to be had in Profumo's "Scents of the Soul."

If you like oak moss you will love this one. It's not lacking in the moss. Vetiver and Sandalwood make it a nice trio because of their similarities. This is just as you would expect, very dry, spicy wood, slightly smokey. Longevity is moderate, and projection is very minimal. Very nice scent if you like wood, but Oak moss does not make a good perfume by itself.

A perfume for the country and the wilderness. Cost and regulations built on exaggerated fear of allergic reactions have curbed true oakmoss content in most commercial perfumes. Well, this one is there to compensate; it must be 3/4 oakmoss or something like that. Powerful and impressive; at the same time, classic enough to be wearable anywhere - I wear it to the office. My wife who is usually for very discreet perfumes likes this one, although very strong (one or 2 spritzes will do). Very long-lasting. It can be overlayed with other scents (for instance "Tabac" from the same house) to make them longer-lasting and fuller-bodied. I use it very often (without any allergy).