Niche : Oud
Armaf

Niche : Oud by Armaf (2014) is a valliant effort, if that effort was to join the ranks of vanilla-heavy amber fragrances like Ambre Sultan by Serge Lutens (1993), Givenchy Pi (1998), or The One for Men by Dolce & Gabbana (2006). Unfortunately, the aim here was to be an "oud" fragrance, and for a fragrance house with a gulf coast pedigree, I find this unacceptable.

This opens with sugary amber and vanilla, and a slight boozy cherry note, almost like amaretto. Here, the stuff doesn't smell much like any Lutens of course; but as all that winnows down, you get to the meat of the woody tonka amber that forms the core of Lutens, the Givenchy, and the D&G. Pretty boring from here on out, but warm, long-lasting, and "romantic" in the cursory way.

From an objective point of view, this is another high-quality low-cost release that punches way above its paygrade in price, including packaging. I am just not a fan of these sort of gummy ambers, unless they have a big dollop of musk in them like MFK sometimes does. I appreciate the learning experience but was forced to immediately move this one on when I got it. Neutral

Armaf gets little respect, but this, one of their original offerings, is very good indeed.

The name is misleading. I get something like a petrol-y "oud" on paper, but, on skin, no oud at all. This is a doughy, herbal, smoky, benzoin-dominant amber soliflore. It wears relatively sweet.

I do detect much of what's in the note pyramid, though this is really all about the traditional amber accord. The subtle iris and cedar heart gives some nuance to what is primarily an incense-y benzoin, doughy vanilla, and labdanum.

In character, this reminds me a bit of a crossbreed between Ambre Sultan and Bentley for Men Intense. The herbal-woody tones skew it a touch masculine, though, like all amber soliflores, it's fundamentally unisex in feeling.

For $30, it's a veritable steal.

This one is something of a misnomer all round: its modest cost rules out the ‘niche’ of its name and there is no Oud note in it. These self-inflicted contradictions have brought out savagely differing opinions from commentators. Personally, I struggle with it. I get the spicy, amber and, in particular, the pepper notes, but the iris seems utterly overwhelmed. This leaves you with a kind of TF Tobacco Oud( with which it has often been compared), but this is not what I signed up for. I eye it up on my shelf and feel I have to get round to wearing it since it is staring me in the face accusingly, but I have no real enthusiasm for it. True, it is well put together, with decent longevity, but I am permanently at a loss as to when to wear it. I usually settle for cold winter days when I have nothing important to do or interesting people to meet.
Hardly a full-blooded endorsement. Definitely not a blind buy.

Oily, woody vanilla scent that reminds me of Perry Ellis Oud : Black Vanilla Absolute without the rum and tobacco, the best parts.

Seems best for cold weather as it is heavy/dense. I get above average projection and all day longevity.