OUD

Oud Maison Francis Kurkdjian 2012 Eau de Parfum

Oud (Eau de Parfum) by Maison Francis Kurkdjian

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7.8 / 10 653 Ratings

A popular perfume by Maison Francis Kurkdjian for women and men, released in 2012. The scent is woody-spicy. It is being marketed by LVMH.
Pronunciation

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Main accords

Woody

Spicy

Oriental

Resinous

Sweet

Fragrance Notes

Saffron

Laotian oud

Philippine elemi

Atlas cedar

Singapore patchouli

Perfumer

Francis Kurkdjian

Ratings

Scent

7.8653 Ratings

Longevity

7.8552 Ratings

Sillage

7.0559 Ratings

Bottle

8.5532 Ratings

Value for money

6.5226 Ratings

Submitted by Kankuro, last update on 14.04.2024.

Interesting Facts

The fragrance is part of the "OUD" collection.

Reviews

17 in-depth fragrance descriptions

04/28/2021

10
Bottle 8
Sillage 8
Longevity 9.5
Scent

Gandix
88 Reviews

Translated Show original

Gandix

Top Review 43

Boy....

Even as a child, he was a rascal,
the mother had trouble to keep him under control.
Always these scuffles,
pants ragged and full of holes....
Boy, the way you look today,
Holes in your trousers....*
were her words,
and she put him in the bath.
Briefly, he smelled fresh and faintly of soap,
it never lasted long.

As he got older,
it got really bad.
He became a real rascal,
a hooligan.
The scuffles turned into brawls.
It was not unusual for the police to be in the house.
The appearance left much to be desired...
Boy, how you look again today,
Holes in the nose...*
The clothes were scruffy,
his friends were not the best company.
There was loitering,
the girls he changed more often than his shirts,
and he didn't waste any thought on work...
Boy, why haven't you learned anything?
We do care...*

Someday,
as if by magic,
his nature changed The hair became shorter the holes in his nose just tiny scars,
the clothes clean and neat.
Today he could even wear a white tuxedo.
The wild boy has become a
a fine young man a mother-in-law's sweetheart...
Boy, how good you look today,
you can still become something

Of course, the boy was not quite as wild
as he appeared to his parents nor is the scent,
but because of this transformation, I immediately had this song in my head.
At the beginning it seems,
possibly by the patchouli saffron,
something grungy.
Sporadically, light, fresh notes are interspersed,
which seem almost gently soapy.
The saffron sweetness is fortunately very restrained and pleasant.
The whole mutates into a very pleasantly discreet,
cuddly clean-wood-Oudduftuft.
Always with a certain freshness by the cedar.
After about 2 hours come to me slight similarities
to Oud Wood in mind.
Very fine,
Very noble.
Yes, I could actually imagine it with a white tuxedo.

+ Excerpts from 'Boy' by the Doctors

10/01/2019

9
Bottle 5
Sillage 8
Longevity 8
Scent

Meggi
212 Reviews

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Meggi

Top Review 29

No Oud for Manfred von Lausitz-Ölpen

The Stenkelfeld-Live-Reportage "Auf dem Hochsitz" reports on the efforts of the hunters to care for flora and fauna (youtube.com/watch?v=le_znaWeacI) using the example of the brave huntsman Manfred von Lausitz-Ölpen. However, the good man misses one or the other detail of the Waldes mood because of all the shooting overzealousness. For Mr. Kurkdjians Oud something similar is true: Whoever shoots straight away, even if it is just "into the keyboard" (I knock on my fins...), may not do justice to the scent. He needs rest and attention.

Even the opening is extraordinarily delicate. A gentle acidity is almost fruity, almost raspberry. Something creamy about that. That's the saffron - how does it do that? If the scent were not 'oud', I would think I was dealing with a wood-based, becremed fruitling. My as-if fruit soon smells like tangerine. In Quark. Yes, quark with tangerines from the tin, served in a wooden bowl. Accompanied by a touch of...dusty vanilla?

So what about the oud? Exactly that requires a certain amount of rest, a certain amount of letting oneself in. At first I simply smell wood, even relatively creamy and by no means typically woody as with other scents at the "oud edge". Only in the course of the day do I notice various hunches and hints, from stronger wood to the cowshed. The approaches are all there. And that's what delights in the fragrance. A light patchouli earthiness completes the experience and after initial irritation about the strange fruit hallucinations I am quite taken with it.

Conclusion: hinted oud wood, vanilla, dust, a little acidity - 'oud' is not a spectacle that wants to conquer by storm. Only who behaves completely quietly, as on the (naturally manfred-lose!) high seat, gets to know him.

I thank MisterE for the rehearsal.

03/21/2020

10
Bottle 7
Sillage 8
Longevity 10
Scent

Pinkdawn
67 Reviews

Translated Show original

Pinkdawn

Top Review 33

The sun elicits a fine sweetness from the old wood

Actually, it seems frivolous to deal with such superficial things as good scents in times like these, overshadowed by a life-threatening pandemic. But I would like to spend at least a few minutes thinking about something other than the C-word, quarantine, curfews, empty streets and closed shops and restaurants. So I allow myself to think a few thoughts about a perfume I bought when Covid-19 was still a virus somewhere far away in faraway China.

Buying a relatively expensive perfume without having tested it first requires some courage and a certain amount of determination. Since I am unfortunately not blessed with immeasurable wealth, I usually consider purchases of luxury items very carefully. But this time I had to decide quickly. An online perfumery granted a discount, which was of course only valid until midnight. For a fragrance like Oud from the Maison Francis Kurkdjian Paris, a 22% discount makes over € 50,-. The perfume had been on my wish list for a long time. I simply trusted my gut feeling and ordered it
When it comes to oud, I'm a latecomer. I had no experience when the parcel arrived. Already the exclusive and amazingly heavy packaging under the cellophane shows that this is something very special. Lovely details such as a fabric flap with the MFK insignia, with which the flacon can be pulled out of its protective narrow embolage, complete the impression of value and luxury. The packaging, with its golden ornament on a black background, has an oriental feel to it, which is also suitable for an oud. Doesn't it? Oud is also the Arabic word for the currently so hyped smoked wood of the eaglewood tree. However, this tree grows almost exclusively in South East Asia. In the Orient, however, the fragrance was already used more than 2000 years ago.

The fragrance is allegedly more expensive than gold. Prices of € 250 000,- for 1 kg of best quality oud are not uncommon. Understandable, considering that the eaglewood tree is threatened with extinction and it takes no less than 80 years for it to form the coveted resin. All the more I am surprised that at the moment there is a huge amount of oud perfume being produced everywhere, which seems to be quite affordable - except for a few high priced ones.
There are countless legends and myths surrounding the Oud Wood. One of them says that it has pheromonic effects just like Iso E Super. Meaning it makes people more attractive than they are. This aphrodisiacal quality may also be questioned, of course. Oud is available in different quality levels and none of them smells like the other. Some have a spicy scent, others an animal or balsamic one. It can appear bitter, smoky, dry or sweet.

I am curious to see how Master Kurkdjian's famous oud will develop on my skin. Although oud is not the only fragrance in this EdP. It also contains saffron, cedar, patchouli and elemi resin
The flacon is like many other ouds made of heavy, dark glass, which suggests mysticism and preciousness.

And the smell? It's so complex right from the start, it's hard to describe. It is woody, spicy, smoky, earthy, woody, heavy and definitely fascinating. It reminds me of old wood that has dried in the sun for a long time. It is a headstrong, unusual scent, sensual, but also elegant, beguiling, a flatterer, which nevertheless does not immediately open up to you. That is also good. Because that way the fragrance remains exciting and never gets boring
It is said to form a bond with the skin of the wearer. This may explain why it seems different, new every time I wear it. Sometimes it is soft, gentle and warm, and sometimes surprisingly animalistic. Another time it shows its creamy-balsamic qualities, another time its resinous note dominates. It is precisely this complexity that makes the fragrance so appealing. What convinces me about this oud is the puristic, minimalistic. Few, but perfectly harmonizing scents, pleasantly far away from any sweet flower and fruit scents or gourmand vanilla tales. A quiet, restrained sweetness is present, but very natural and subtle.

There is also something abstract about it, which is sure to put many people off, because it is not easy to classify.
Some people therefore fantasize about nuances of horror vacui that are not there, such as raspberries, leather, rose, vanilla, fresh laundry, musk, cinnamon, Nivea or Penaten cream, even caramel, in order to be able to tame it. To have an association to hold on to, to bring order to chaos, so to speak. I'm glad that I don't notice any of this and that I can enjoy the fragrance in the abstract without having to compare it with anything. Just as I belong to those who do not automatically see any beautiful landscapes when listening to classical music. That would distract me far too much. But I'm not afraid of chaos and abstraction either.

Today the fragrance has something archaic to me, still alive, powerful but not frightening - and yet somehow sublime, regal. The Orient can be felt, but it is not a tourist kitsch Orient, but a noble, original one. Wild, but cultivated. Paradox? Yes, perhaps. But certainly interesting in this harmonic dichotomy. Another paradox? Not at all. Opposites can sometimes complement each other perfectly.

Of course, the fragrance can be enjoyed abstractly, i.e. analytically, with the intellect. However, it contains an inspiring sensuality that should not be closed to. It's a fragrance that you want to get into like the image of a landscape. And which landscape does this oud convey to me? Of course I am also influenced by the association of oud with the Orient. Therefore my oud landscape first of all breathes vastness. Shimmering light, sand dunes, superficially silent, barren and majestic, behind it you feel adventure waiting.

Oud evokes a wanderlust in me, a longing for the foreign, which perhaps does not even exist. It is silky soft like a gentle wind over the desert, at the same time tender, whispering, playful, strange, but strangely familiar. And very present. Heavy meets lightness, distance meets closeness. The sun elicits a fine, spicy sweetness from the dead, bleached wood, which one wants to perceive again and again because it has something intoxicating.
The fragrance is sophisticated - like modern art - and therefore certainly not suitable for everyone, because you not only have to be able to endure this vastness, the contradiction, abstraction and puristic beauty, but of course you have to be able to enjoy it.

03/08/2020

8
Bottle 6
Sillage 7
Longevity 8
Scent

Carpintero
46 Reviews

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Carpintero

Top Review 26

Ophisticated Oud

Sophisticated.

Who knows the translation for this word?
In other words, do you know what it's like when I have a word in your native language for which there is an adequate translation(s), but you still feel that none of them fits correctly?

That's how I feel about "sophisticated" - especially in connection with this fragrance.

Sophisticated.

What follows is a series of linguistically appropriate adjectives, all of which could be translated into English with the word "sophisticated":

Cultivated, highly developed, worldly-wise, sophisticated.

But also:

Sophisticated, sophisticated, thoughtful, advanced.

Also possible would be:

Sophisticated, delicate, refined, complicated.

However, the best translation for me, a publicly appointed and sworn translator and interpreter, is:

Sophisticated - for high demands.
And this is exactly what this cultivated, highly developed, sophisticated, sophisticated, sophisticated, advanced, sophisticated, sophisticated, sophisticated, filigree, refined, sometimes even complicated fragrance is: for high to very high demands.

MFK's Oud is a high-quality composition of all these adjectives, created to meet, if not exceed, the highest demands of a cultured, worldly-wise experienced, educated and, often, complicated wearer.

Oud, patchouli, saffron, cedar, resins - a mixture that does not try to dominate each other, but miraculously complements and enhances each other. No note ever gets the upper hand, but each fragrance complements and accentuates the other.
The Laotian oud is the eponym, it is wonderfully reserved and present at just the right moment. The Singapore patchouli gives the fragrance with its deep, earthy bouquet an aphrodisiac and beguiling note, but the lightness of the very present saffron makes it very playful and casual.
The Atlas cedar gives the fragrance its woody-luxurious note. The heaviness of the oud and lightness of the cedar create a wooden yin and yang, two components that do not fight or try to dominate each other, but give each other power and strength.
The Philippine elemi-resin gives the fragrance a subtle freshness with lemony, woody and green notes.

The fragrance is comfortable, luxurious, cuddly, sexy, playful and aphrodisiac.
It is partly earthy and heavy, partly wooden and partly green and fresh. A mixture that I personally would never have thought possible. And yet I am sitting here now and experience exactly this on my forearm.

The fragrance is an aura to spray on. And this aura says about its wearer exactly all the adjectives that the word "sophisticated" describes.

Shelf life: At least 8 hours.
Sillage: Initially strong, after two to three hours about an arm's length, from 6 hours upwards only close to the skin.

My conclusion: Sophisticated, what else?

11/27/2019

9
Bottle 6
Sillage 8
Longevity 9.5
Scent

DerDefcon
124 Reviews

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DerDefcon

Top Review 20

Away with the oud scent pyramid totalitarianism

Big, fat and big is the oud in the fragrance pyramid. If you look at such a fragrance, it is often, not always, but also quite often, the moment when you scroll on, close the TAB or enter another perfume name into the search bar, if you are looking for an everyday fragrance. Maybe you are also looking for a new signature, one that you can have decorated on your skin every day.
In addition to leather, cumin and many other olfactory "specialities", the famous but meanwhile well established eagle wood belongs to those fragrance elements with which not every nose gets along so well. This is often due to the fact that oud can sometimes smell musty-animalic, sour, bitter or medicinal. It can also tickle the nose sweet, creamy and cuddly. There is no uniform appearance here at all. Francis Kurkdjian demonstrates that this is the case with this fragrance. As unspectacular as the name is, so unspectacular is ultimately his composition, which should in no way be meant negatively. I'll try to explain.

The oud in Kurkdjian's creation is not animalistic. It's not medical either. It is neither bitter nor sweet, neither biting nor particularly cuddly. It's just woody - right, right. It is quite "primitive", dark wood, which is absolutely dry, absolutely unspectacular and almost too normal. This wood ain't out for no ruckus. It does not "enrich" the entire workplace, no seminar rooms in the university and does not bite anyone's nose. This oud exercises restraint and has no problem integrating other fragrance components into its present. So there is the Elemiharz to mention, which appears discreetly raspberry. Dry, a little bit bitter saffron also knows how to make itself felt, so that the whole thing never drifts into fruity sweetness. The dry-woody oud still pulls the strings in the background, but still discreet. In their symbiosis, balsamic cedar wood and slightly earthy patchouli give the impression of having a freshly sharpened pencil in front of you. You all know how one of these smells.

Oud as the main theme? Here? No, I'm sure I don't. This oud relies on equal rank in the fragrance pyramid. This is not one that makes olfactory-totalitarian demands.

If I try to combine Kurkdjian's Oud interpretation with impressions from my own world, I would spontaneously think of an old library - the smell of the sharpened pencil, the perhaps somewhat dark surroundings, dry and massive wooden shelves, the smell of paper.
Yeah, that's what this perfume reminds me of. It is an old library which still has its own charm and one day the young Hipster-Studi stumbles into it, who previously enjoyed his e-cigarette with raspberry taste. Consumption here fortunately dates back a few moments, so that this library does not degenerate into a shisha bar and continues to retain its very own character, which is contrasted by the modern, very authentic raspberry note, which, however, weakens from minute to minute. Here the opposites attract each other formally, merge with each other, so that one does not register the oppositeness at all. You do this only when you carefully work out this fragrance, as we perfumos and perfumas love to do. Then, after several attempts and frequent testing, one recognizes - at least I do - the masterly interweaving of those opposites, so completely without corners, without edges, without exaggerated excitement.

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