L'Artisan Parfumeur
A unique visual signature based on accords, character, and seasonality
Cumin blooms immediately with an almost food-like earthiness, supported by sharp pink pepper and the sweet-sticky warmth of date. You're briefly in a spice market, before the fragrance's austere side emerges—cardamom and the first hints of oud create something almost savoury and slightly dry.
The composition settles into a complex incense arrangement where saffron's slightly medicinal warmth plays against frankincense's bitter-sweet resin. Leather and civet emerge fully now, lending an intimate, skin-like quality, whilst neroli provides brief moments of brightness before being absorbed into the rose and iris, which smell aged and powdery rather than fresh.
Sandalwood, cedar, and patchouli create a woody base whilst tonka bean adds subtle sweetness and the myrrh deepens everything into something almost funereal. The fragrance becomes increasingly intimate and close-worn, a skin scent with lasting spice and animalic warmth.
Al Oudh is Bertrand Duchaufour's meditation on spice-laden incense rather than a straightforward oud showcase. The fragrance arrives as something deliberately prickly—cumin and pink pepper create an almost savoury opening that refuses the honeyed sweetness many expect from oud compositions. This is not a scent for oud purists seeking that dark, animalic smoke; instead, it's a fragrance that treats oud as one voice in a larger conversation about Middle Eastern bazaars and temple rituals.
The heart reveals the true character: saffron cuts through with a slightly metallic edge whilst frankincense builds a resinous cathedral around a leather accord that smells genuinely hide-like rather than polished. Neroli arrives unexpected—a crystalline brightness that prevents the composition from becoming oppressively dark, though it's quickly swallowed by iris and rose, which add a dusty, almost aged quality rather than freshness. The civet in the base ensures everything feels slightly animalic and breathing, never quite static.
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3.9/5 (169)