Oud Ispahan
Christian Dior (2012)

This is the newer version, tried in Dior shop in 2025. Starts out nice, kinda rose kinda oud, but the dry down is just cinnamon roll. Longevity is very good. Pass. For a better version of a very similar fragrance with a better dry down I like Montana Graphite Oud Edition.

(Original formulation, c. 2014)
Cuir Cannage was Dior's attempt to take an overtly-leather perfume and make it highly feminine-marketable and complimentary to their leather goods line. They, unfortunately, succeeded; in the process of succeeding they alienated people like me who found the aggressive and strident powderiness far too difficult to live with (at least in the new formulation, which is the only one I have smelled). With Oud Ispahan the mandate was the same: take an oud-forward accord, which, like leather, tends to be an olfactive accord geared mostly for masculine-marketed perfumes, and make it sufficiently feminine for their target audience. They, fortunately, did not really succeed with Oud Ispahan. Or did they...?

Let's assume we're talking about a good quality natural or synthetic oud, and not one of the abominations so frequently common these days, for context to this next bit. In my sole opinion, oud is one of those accords that "is what it is". I've never thought of oud as being masculine or feminine leaning, unlike, say, florals, which are more easily placed on the feminine side of the spectrum (unfortunately). Oud is oud, it couldn't care less about gender, and no matter the presentation it's going to be its complex and funky self, it's not oud if it's anything but that, and it either works for the wearer or it doesn't. They key to taming oud in a perfume seems to be how loud you let it be. I'm not sure if Dior and Demachy feel the same way because, try though they did to make an oud-forward perfume softer, gentler, and more easily wearable for all genders especially women, they left the oud alone in the process. Again, when oud is left to its own devices it's going to be nothing less than its funky, complex and challenging, earthy, dirty, fungal, floral, animalic, woody, etc., self. I'm glad about this. The synthetic oud Demachy uses here, cypriol, is actually quite good. Combined with a very light patchouli and a big heaping dose of pink roses, they've attempted to make the oud softer and feminine-leaning by changing the company it keeps, not the oud itself.

This is one of the better rose ouds I've smelled for quite a while. It's easy to wear, easily accessible for all (I believe), without neutering the oud of the notes that make oud oud. But, just as I think Cuir Cannage is likely too challenging for men, I have a feeling Oud Ispahan will generally be too challenging for women since oud is not easy by nature and is considered masculine (unfortunately). As with Cuir Cannage, I think Oud Ispahan is too far off the unisex line. I hope I'm wrong though. I hope I am underestimating the open-mindedness of women to wear this; I think it will work far better for them than Cuir Cannage does for men. The dry down tries to rectify this by being a bit sweeter than expected, leaning heavily on the rose, sandalwood, and an animalic musk note whilst stripping the flesh from the cypriol and keeping its skeleton. It mostly succeeds in doing so, but one might ask if this turn-of-the-steering wheel is too little too late with the perfume having dried down to a skin scent. Again, I think it's all the better for it, but nonetheless feels like a miss from the original intent.

We'll have to see what Francis Kurkdjian does with this perfume now that he's at Dior. Oud Ispahan went through a reformulation a few years ago that turned it into a shrieking mess. So, if you're lucky enough to smell an original reformulation, keep this in mind. I will cross my fingers that Captain Kurk is able to rescue this one (assuming Dior let him and don't keep him on a terribly tight leash like they did their former in-house-mortician, Demachy). The original is a beautiful composition, even if it was by mistake.

This is a review of the original Oud Ispahan formulation, 2012-2014, which is quite different from the 2015 onward formulation. In my opinion, Dior has managed to put out the best commercial/synthetic Rose Oud perfume out there, and ever since this one came out, I still can't think of a more majestic, more opulent, flawlessly blended Rose Oud, Oriental perfume. Although synthetic, it doesn't give me a headache like most nowadays synthetic aroma chemicals do, the Oud accord doesn't smell off, but rather beautifully captures the smell of burning wood chips, and although it is a strong perfume, it doesn't give me a headache like most synthetic perfumes do. To me, the OG Ispahan smells very much like OG Leather Oud (2010-2013) with added Rose, a watery and transparent Rose accord, not a jammy and overly sweet one like in today's version. The Rose accord almost smells like Rose Wine and has a bit of a fermented quality that lends such a beautiful touch. The Rose pops right off the bat but it doesn't stay throughout the perfume's life, it slowly fades away and the perfume becomes quite animalic and dense, with notes of labdanum, civet, patchouli, and burning wood chips. I'd say the civet and the labdanum dominate the dry-down, coming off as a pissy-leather accord infused with wood smoke. This is amazing stuff, super sexy to wear, with a strong Oriental aroma, very potent and luxurious. Do yourself a favor and search for even a small amount of this, even a 10ml decant will last for a very long time. The 2015 onward version is more Rose dominant, the rose is more jammy and sweet, the base is less dense and animalic, and the oud accord smells more synthetic and nauseating. The post-2018 versions are not even worth bothering with. I'll cherish my 2012 bottle forever, as well as the rest of the original Privee releases that I own. Truly sad to see how this amazing line has gone to waste.

I finally managed to get my hands on Oud Ispahan from 2015.

It opens up with a tiny hints of rose and then the fun begins. Wait, did I say fun? I meant FUNK, oh yes. It's barnyard-ish, animalic and instantly reminds me of Dior's Leather Oud. Actually, I think, it's the same oud, the same agar resin (it's chemical substitute of course) in both of these fragrances. While the scent develops on my skin a tiny amount of spices come and go (mainly saffron), woods are there, but rather hidden in the background.

Longevity is 9-11 hours, sillage is over average.

The new version is slightly less funky and animalic, and focused on the rose and spices.

I prefer the older Oud Ispahan.

It's called Oud Ispahan, and that's misleading.
It's cheap smelling with a lot of synthetics which don’t smell like rose.
It doesn’t smell like oud, or good, or original in any way.
It's a hissy pink cosmetic with an afterthought of oud.

In fact it puts me in mind of ‘Oud J‘Adore’, except Oud Ispahan seems to be aimed at a more prosperous clientelle; thise who frequent air conditioned shopping centres - rather than Attar walla boutiques that only deal in the good stuff.

In business, I was advised to 'under promise and over deliver'.
This clearly does the opposite.

I wore this yesterday for the first and most likely the last time. I live with someone who has worn it a few times, and she can pull it off ok, and likes it, but it was not good on me. I didn't like it. I wanted it to be gone. This morning when I woke up, it was almost entirely gone, and I felt relief.

Fake oud is a trip. Banana Republic has one they call 17 Oud Mosaic (as in 2017, as in that's the way perfume from 2017 supposedly smelled). I find it shocking and/or amusing, and most oud / fake oud fragrances strike me that way.

At times, I've felt like Oud Ispahan was the least bad of the genre, but after wearing it, it feels like a moot point - I don't think I like any of them.