L'Oudh
Tauer (2017)

L'Oudh from Tauer Perfumes.

Hands down my favorite from the house and one of my favorite uses of oud in a more or less commercial offering on the market. The house is a hit or miss for me, but this little fellow hits the spot. To my nose, the perfume is not an oud-centric composition but rather uses the material to pull off an overall accord that feels larger than the sum of its parts. This perfume is dark, bitter, dry, and earthy. There's nothing pretty about it. Zero sweetness. The best way I can describe it is the smell of an old carpet found in a castle ruin right in the middle of a thick, old forest. Seriously now, it does smell like an old carpet. It has this betel leaf-like bitterness, a vivid earthiness from both the oud and the mushroom, and a slightly chewy quality from the resins. The castoreum is brilliantly used to suggest a leather accord, while the cypriol rounds off the composition and completes the "Oud Accord". I dislike cypriol in perfumes when it's poorly blended as I struggle with the ingredient, but here, it doesn't bother me one bit. The fragrance is monolithic and linear. What you get on the first spray is what you're left with for the rest of the day. Usually, I'm not a fan of that as I get bored rather quickly, however, when the smell and the vision the scent portrays are so well placed, as in this case, I love that it doesn't change. I would place this perfume in my "special" category under the "Medieval Perfumes" moniker. Scents that smell old, dark, and ancient. And that's exactly what you'll get with this one.

IG:@memory.of.scents

A rather haunting oud.

I agree with notspendingamillion - the oud itself here definitely smells like the sweet, raw rubber odor of a tire store. But just as important is a surrounding mix of forest smells. Sweet pine is upfront, with green resins and flashes of hamster cage cedar. It all feels like the natural smell of a forest floor.

I think it's the sweetness that separates this from other western oud perfumes. So many seem to focus on a flash of faux oud and then settle into saffron and charred woods, while L'Oudh goes sweet and natural instead, with the smoke and saffron conspicuously missing.

As such, this is a standout in a crowded field. Definitely a thumbs up!

Absolutely mesmerizing, I love this! An immense, rich, dark, dense, leathery perfume with outstanding tenacity and projection. Along side the oudh I can detect gorgeous rooty vetiver, patchouli and tobacco, with a gentle oily-resiny lift overarching the whole. Not harsh or sharp or scratchy in any way, smooth, beautifully blended and incredibly evocative. The scent transports me to an old tack room, its dusty wooden floor scuffed shiny by decades of boot soles, surrounded by the smell of well-worn leather that has been cleaned and oiled to perfection.

Despite trying oud/oudh in high quality perfumes, I DO NOT LIKE OUD, it smells "uber-skanky" to me. I brings a "disgust" response, nose wrinkles,frowning, I pull back before I even process it. Almost as if it were a poison-- my brain issues a warning for, like chicken gone bad, burnt eggs, curled milk. Given Tauer's other scents I am sure this is well done, but it's my last attempt to "understand" a popular note.

Smells like a tire store. Very strong. Pounds the scenses. Interesting, different. A good sampling, fun to attempt to dissect. Not gonna buy a bottle, but thumbs up regardless.

Witches' Sabbath (The Great He-Goat)by Francisco Goya 1821 1823