05/21/2021

TheBark
7 Reviews

TheBark
1
A stunning, fresh fragrance with a depth that reveals itself slowly.
Stunning fragrance that reveals itself slowly. This has notes similar to two other Arabian Oud recent releases: Amiri and Al Fareed, both excellent fresh/spicy scents. This opens with a less noticeable pink peppercorn note than the other two and starts out similar in feel with Tangerine (found in Amiri) and Bergamot, but with the addition of a berry and mint note. It's very fresh and retains a good deal of that throughout its long dry down. On a side note, this is listed as an EDP, but the alcohol content by volume is amongst the lowest I've seen at 65% - this goes on pretty oily so be careful where you spray. This also explains why I don't feel this projects quite as strongly as the other two scents, as those are 80%; the higher the essential oil ratio, the closer to the skin GENERALLY is the case.)
As the scent develops, the floral notes come in seamlessly. Arabian Oud as a house in general tends to have very, very well blended scents and that's the case here. You don't really smell the individual notes and it never screams out "florals" more than just a soft dimension added to round out the sharp/tart citrus notes. About an hour to an hour and a half in, the Sandalwood starts to make an entrance and this is where this really blossoms into a first rate fragrance all its own. I can't compare this to anything else. If I tried, the closest I could come might be Aqua di Parma's Oud, but that does this scent absolutely no justice as this is far, far better than that offering and the sandalwood use here isn't as heavy as the oud note in that, nor do the citrus/berry notes ever come across as sour as AdP does (at least on my skin.)
Overall, the higher concentration of essential oils seems to allow this fragrance to reveal its depths over a greater period of time which takes you on quite a journey. The presentation, save the outer box, is first rate, as usually is the case for Arabian Oud (the box and bottle themselves weigh in at over 4lbs.)
As the scent develops, the floral notes come in seamlessly. Arabian Oud as a house in general tends to have very, very well blended scents and that's the case here. You don't really smell the individual notes and it never screams out "florals" more than just a soft dimension added to round out the sharp/tart citrus notes. About an hour to an hour and a half in, the Sandalwood starts to make an entrance and this is where this really blossoms into a first rate fragrance all its own. I can't compare this to anything else. If I tried, the closest I could come might be Aqua di Parma's Oud, but that does this scent absolutely no justice as this is far, far better than that offering and the sandalwood use here isn't as heavy as the oud note in that, nor do the citrus/berry notes ever come across as sour as AdP does (at least on my skin.)
Overall, the higher concentration of essential oils seems to allow this fragrance to reveal its depths over a greater period of time which takes you on quite a journey. The presentation, save the outer box, is first rate, as usually is the case for Arabian Oud (the box and bottle themselves weigh in at over 4lbs.)