Mistery Oud
Daniel Josier (2013)

The name is a touch misleading. There's a smoky, round, medicinal facet running through Mystery Oud that is vague enough to be construed as oudy, but it can just as easily be read as leather (which is also an official listed note).

But, really, Mystery Oud is a Tom Ford Noir Eau de Parfum riff, with a too-close-to-ignore resemblance. Indeed, it could have been released as a "Noir Oud Cuir."

In comparison to Noir, Josier has stripped away the "Guerlain-y" vanilla base, the rose, and the prominent patchouli. To compensate, the violet and iris take greater prominence, and there's some cumin and pimento to add a layer of heat to contrast the cool violet-iris backbone.

The addition of heat to the Noir DNA makes for a nice touch, but I do miss a bit of the Guerlain-style richness when it gets to the drydown. The drydown here is more of a streamlined iris-cushioned leather.

Still, if you're in the small subset of people who find Tom Ford Noir fundamentally appealing but just a touch too old-fashioned and fusty, this could be worth a look.