Kozmic Oud
Marc de la Morandiere

A first blast and immediately I can't stop sniffing my skin. The initial Kozmic Oud's approach is aromatic, luxurious, intoxicating, spicy, suede veined, balmy-resinous and woody. Fortunately this Marc de la Morandiere's fragrance is a plain example of perfectly orchestrated synthetic oud which is in this case subtle, tamed, "un-medicinal" and nowhere minimally "sulphureous". The woodiness is initially blond and mild, it conjures me vaguely (but in to a far woodier way) a gem of the past, namely the unparalleled (and more complex-aromatic) Moschino Pour Homme which shares with Kozmic Oud a subtle liquorous aroma (a sort of double malt spiciness), bergamot, mild/piquant spices (nutmeg, cloves??), amber, birch tar, iris, vetiver, styrax, aromatic-gingery patterns and suede. I can't deny to detect several points of conjunction with the original M7 too (it seems as well to wave in the middle between Acqua di Parma Colonia Oud, Nasomatto Pardon and Roja Dove Fetish Pour Homme but overall with a lighter kind of cardamomish-gingery twist and a pencil shavings drier final subtle vibe a la Montana Graphite). Anyway the fragrances which Kozmic Oud shares more elements in common with are Montale Aoud Musk, Les Liquides Imaginaires Fortis, Nasomatto Black Afgano and Duro, Tiziana Terenzi Laudano Nero, Bruno Acampora Nero, Orto Parisi Boccanera (all these creations shares together elements as a powerful spiciness, a resinous and stark woodiness, eventually hints of suede, a sort of forest-like muskiness (cistus, moss, fir resins etc) and a dark honeyed soul - which in several of them is almost absent and on others is quite notable). The general Kozmic Oud's aura is intellectual, boozy, cozy, tonka/tobacco veined, finally smooth and suede nuanced. There is in substance a birch tar/tonka/amber/spices accord allocating the Kozmic Oud's aroma (for a while, in its intoxicating top stage) in the Moschino Pour Homme/Shiseido Basala's clan despite in here the aroma is finally smoother, darker, more modern, "clean" (simple), malt veined and balmier (with several Dior Homme Parfum's nuances). The woodiness is never too much "woody" (I mean "pencil shaving/cedary) and the final iris-spongy vetiver-amber-suede wake is pure balmy-cosmetic "fancy" sophistication. One of the greatest and more sophisticated synthetic oudh's rendition around.
P.S: along the way the synthetic oudh's gassiness jumps out in a more detectable way and the aroma loses part of its "miracle". Finally I detect a vague resemblance with Ex Ninilo Oud Vendome (in its subtle oudish spicy/musky alluring rendition).

A simple, linear, clean, velvety oud, with bergamot, a floral accord (a bit generic, but it gives a nice touch of "air"), perhaps also sandalwood, spices (ginger), shortly a nice chorus of aromatic, lively, silky pleasant notes around oud. The oud note itself is average, meaning that to me smells like the "usual" synthetic oud rendition, rubbery and with a roasted-camphor aftertaste, with a base of suede and perhaps Iso E, quite pleasant. I also detect a bunch of herbs and perhaps amber, which makes Kozmic Oud fairly close to Ambre Sultan to this extent. On the drydown it emerges also a leather note, a "new", out-of-the-shop leather note, delicate and modern. Must say that being not a fan of oud I am not particularly obsessed by the quality itself of the note, plus I am given to understand "real" oud is much costly and rare to find, so I guess we're already used to synthetic ones – this is to say that judging the fragrance itself aside from the oud note, I must say it's quite a pleasant, versatile, elegant, cozy, discreet and wearable scent, although a bit generic and anonym (and smelling like a washed-down version of original M7, but I have that feeling with tons of oud scents).

6,5-7/10