Oud Imperial Extrait de Parfum
Perris Monte Carlo (2016)

TLDR:Excellent (4.7/5). Enthusiastic up-thumb!

Wonderfully smooth, expertly blended oud joined with saffron, patchouli and labdanum. The oud is just a bit animalic. Just enough so that this western take on a Middle Eastern fragrance comes off as just a hint dangerous. This fragrance reminds me of when Sir Kenneth Branagh does one of his bad guy turns: menace in small measure amidst a surfeit of suavity.

I will not delve into the elements of this fragrance because Zealot Crusader and ZC's far more skilled nose has already reported all you could ever need to know about those matters.

Suffice it to say that even at $6/ml+, this juice smells like it could have cost even more than it does.

This scent is, to my reckoning, one of the best oud-based fragrances available for under $1,000/bottle in today's marketplace & is far better blended and composed than many scents sold at such ludicrous prices.

Longevity is just short of eternal. Siliage is considerable--particularly for an extrait.

At one time, this scent was, for me, worn only for elegant formal events. Then I stopped going to such things (at first, because I don't like them; and now,because lockdowns have put a stop to them for the moment--proving that very few things in this life are totally devoid of benefit). These days I wear this scent on colder days when I want to feel elegant, even if I am dressed down.

This is really great stuff. Smell it if you get a chance. Full bottle worthy and a value even at the big prices for which it sells. Most highly recommended.

Oud Imperial Extrait de Parfum by Perris Monte Carlo (2016) is a more-intense and luxuriant iteration of the original Oud Imperial (2012), which was an eau de parfum. There are a few key differences between them, but assuming you haven't smelled the standard EdP, the overall theme of the line is to rest midway between an animalic oud attar, the cleaner woodier lines of modern Western synthetic ouds, and the aromatics of older Western perfume styles (typically the 1980's). Perris Monte Carlo is a niche house from Monaco, themed around every fragrance having some relation to the substance of gold, the color of which adorns every bottle. The collection straddles Western and Middle Eastern themes, but sways towards the former with implementation like a "Amouage Lite", reflected in their slightly-nicer prices. The original Oud Imperial focused on good old-fashioned 1980's powerhouse masculinity with notes of patchouli and labdanum surrounded by a dialed-in but still barnyard oud accord, finished in sandalwood and saffron. The extrait seeks to one-up the experience in warmth, blending, muskiness, and depth, but is much the same creature aesthetically. If you own the eau de parfum you may see this as redundant, but people unhappy with the sharp nature of that fragrance and wanting something a bit more rounded and polished may appreciate what's offered here in extrait form. I personally prefer the more in-your-face nature of the EdP, but this is admittedly a better fragrance from a quality standpoint.

The opening is again a jamine and caraway introduction, but cypriol has been added for a slight souring effect that leads down into the patchouli, saffron, and olibanum heart. The oud accord is there too, a bit more potent but also blended in better with the other aromatics to make it smoother whilst also stronger, power and restraint going hand in hand, "golden" as the house wants it to be. Oud Imperial Extrait de Parfum then adds a bit of styrax and gurjun balsam to the mix, the resultant benzoin accords smoothing and thickening the saffron/patchouli/oud core further. By now, the whole thing is just so redolent and absurdly filigreed that it is hard to believe it is the same house let alone perfumer of Luca Maffei at work here, althought Oud Imperial Extrait de Parfum falls short of being Guerlain or Roja Dove levels of buttery rich. Some birch tar joins the vetiver in the base to make the smoky wood finish more deep, while sandalwood returns with cedar in tow, a compound labdanum amber material called "ambrarome" (labdanum gum extract ethyl ester) filling in the rest. Wear time is eternal, but this extrait is less potent in projection than the EdP because it is naturally more oil and therefore has less alcohol to evaporate off skin. Suggested use is formal wear or in winter, and in situations where you want an oud but don't want it to announce your entry into a room like some other things in this style. Oud Imperial Extrait de Parfum is just pure class in it's segment of the market, which is sadly one that is usually full of shoddy pretenders that think a bit of stinky amber and guiaic wood can wear a trenchcoat into a party full of ouds.

The big difference besides richness, smoothness, and loss of some bite is also cost per milliliter, as Oud Imperial Extrait de Parfum will set you back about $300 for 50ml versus $200 for double that of the eau de parfum. Granted, these both wear much differently and you really only need to dot yourself at most with the extrait, so one bottle may be a lifetime supply. Superfans of the scent may see incentive to buy a deeper, more-plush rendition of what is in my opinion one of the best Western ouds on the planet (save maybe the elusive Paris-only Dior Leather Oud from 2010), and unlike the original EdP, One Man Show Oud Edition (2014) will not suffice as a budget stand-in for it. The difference from this and the EdP isn't night and day in terms of personality and overall vibe, but there is so much more weaving in and throughout the extrait that one can't help but wonder if the EdP was a prototype and this the finished product the perfumer kept working on after that one shipped. Still, you have to like your old 80's powerhouse animalic patchouli chypre-like labdanum bases to get groovy with Oud Imperial, but at least with the extrait, you don't have to feel like a clone of Tom Selleck visiting a casbah. Oud purists still won't like this much better than the EdP if at all, but I don't think this house markets to them really, as Sultan Pasha they are not. Not an exceptional value, but an exceptional fragrance nonetheless. Try before you buy, especially if you already own the original eau de parfum. Thumbs up!

Most definitively one of the best Oud fragrance on the market. The Oud is intense accompanied by incense and cedar. This is the real deal, not an Oud accord like many others in the market. Performance is outstanding lasting all night with hints of it the next day. Used for formal occasions during winter time.