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Notes05/24/2018
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Carlitos01
208 Reviews
Carlitos01
A whiter shade of grey
Bats are black, fly only during the darkest hours and squeal in such a way that your blood freezes.
Blackbirds are black, fly only during the day and sing like a nanny cradling a baby.
If you take a can of Montale's Dark Aoud aiming at bringing home a bat, wou may get a blackbird instead for you to deal with.
I like Oud and I like dark fragrances. I confess I blind bought Dark Aoud. Why? Well...
- It has got "Dark" in the name.
- It has got (A)oud in the name.
- It has got Oud, Black Pepper, Leather, Sandalwood and Vetiver qnd other notes.
I was not expecting to buy an "bully ugly vampire bat" like Swiss Arabian Dehn El Ood Malaki. But I was quite far from imagining that this fragrance darkness was closer to Disney's ugly duckling.
Now that I gave rein to my disappointment, let me tell you that Dark Oud is a very nice Oriental Oud fragrance.
- It's not Count Dracula's reincarnation in terms of darkness,
- it's not the dark side of the moon,
- It's not even Malefica cooking dark potions in her cauldron ...
It's just a typical Montale western Oud well designed fragrance, trying to please a lot of oriental scent lovers and really not caring about using a misleading name to fool a bunch of Trolls that prefer to smell dark caves rather than flowering forests. I am included in that bunch of Trolls. You may tell me that it isn't so but in my opinion Dark Aoud is ment for Hobbits and Dwarves, not for Orcs and Trools.
I do think that this fragrance is more "sandalwoody and leathery" than "oudy". That's just an opinion and I like the heavy sandal and leather as well. The scent is quite linear - that's not a defect - with a bit of an evolution towards the sweet during the dry down, maybe due to olibanum or incense even if those notes are not listed.
In summary it's a very agreable wearable oriental woody fragrance with some very good quality ingredients, an above average performance and with the traditional Montale's golden can presentation.
Remark - I have the recent golden bottle and not the older one with black circles over gold. Probably the juice has been reformulated and watered down together with the current only gold color can release.
My math for Dark Aoud goes like this:
Scent Opening: 8.0 (my judgement; the oud note is a bit medicinal)
Scent Dry Down: 9.0 (my judgement)
Longevity: 9.0 (10 hours+ with two sprays)
Sillage: 8.0 (more than 8 feet at its peak with 2 sprays)
Uniqueness: 7.0 (not unique to me)
Compliments: 7.0 (not a serious compliment grabber; Typical of oud fragrances)
Wearability: 7.5 (Use it day or night during winter and fall, and in cold spring nights)
Versatility: 8.0 (You may use it in almost any event, although some perfumes are more adequate for specific situations. Beach, workout and kindergarden visits are ruled out. I consider it to be unisex)
Quality: 8.0 (my judgement; After spraying, there is an Initial unpleasant alchool burst)
Presentation: 7.0 (efective and simple. The can container lacks a bit of class for a niche player)
Price: 7.0 (100 ml non tester for 60 Euros + shipping)
Overall rating: 7.77/10.00 ------------ up to 5 = avoid it;
------------------------------------------------- between 5 and 6 = under average;
------------------------------------------------- between 6 and 7 = average;
------------------------------------------------- between 7 and 8 =above average;
------------------------------------------------- between 8 and 9 = recomended;
------------------------------------------------- bigger than 9 = don't miss it;
I recommend this fragrance if you seek a nice wearable oriental woody, oudy and leathery scent. if you are looking for a DARK and BOLD oriental perfume, just keep searching...
Blackbirds are black, fly only during the day and sing like a nanny cradling a baby.
If you take a can of Montale's Dark Aoud aiming at bringing home a bat, wou may get a blackbird instead for you to deal with.
I like Oud and I like dark fragrances. I confess I blind bought Dark Aoud. Why? Well...
- It has got "Dark" in the name.
- It has got (A)oud in the name.
- It has got Oud, Black Pepper, Leather, Sandalwood and Vetiver qnd other notes.
I was not expecting to buy an "bully ugly vampire bat" like Swiss Arabian Dehn El Ood Malaki. But I was quite far from imagining that this fragrance darkness was closer to Disney's ugly duckling.
Now that I gave rein to my disappointment, let me tell you that Dark Oud is a very nice Oriental Oud fragrance.
- It's not Count Dracula's reincarnation in terms of darkness,
- it's not the dark side of the moon,
- It's not even Malefica cooking dark potions in her cauldron ...
It's just a typical Montale western Oud well designed fragrance, trying to please a lot of oriental scent lovers and really not caring about using a misleading name to fool a bunch of Trolls that prefer to smell dark caves rather than flowering forests. I am included in that bunch of Trolls. You may tell me that it isn't so but in my opinion Dark Aoud is ment for Hobbits and Dwarves, not for Orcs and Trools.
I do think that this fragrance is more "sandalwoody and leathery" than "oudy". That's just an opinion and I like the heavy sandal and leather as well. The scent is quite linear - that's not a defect - with a bit of an evolution towards the sweet during the dry down, maybe due to olibanum or incense even if those notes are not listed.
In summary it's a very agreable wearable oriental woody fragrance with some very good quality ingredients, an above average performance and with the traditional Montale's golden can presentation.
Remark - I have the recent golden bottle and not the older one with black circles over gold. Probably the juice has been reformulated and watered down together with the current only gold color can release.
My math for Dark Aoud goes like this:
Scent Opening: 8.0 (my judgement; the oud note is a bit medicinal)
Scent Dry Down: 9.0 (my judgement)
Longevity: 9.0 (10 hours+ with two sprays)
Sillage: 8.0 (more than 8 feet at its peak with 2 sprays)
Uniqueness: 7.0 (not unique to me)
Compliments: 7.0 (not a serious compliment grabber; Typical of oud fragrances)
Wearability: 7.5 (Use it day or night during winter and fall, and in cold spring nights)
Versatility: 8.0 (You may use it in almost any event, although some perfumes are more adequate for specific situations. Beach, workout and kindergarden visits are ruled out. I consider it to be unisex)
Quality: 8.0 (my judgement; After spraying, there is an Initial unpleasant alchool burst)
Presentation: 7.0 (efective and simple. The can container lacks a bit of class for a niche player)
Price: 7.0 (100 ml non tester for 60 Euros + shipping)
Overall rating: 7.77/10.00 ------------ up to 5 = avoid it;
------------------------------------------------- between 5 and 6 = under average;
------------------------------------------------- between 6 and 7 = average;
------------------------------------------------- between 7 and 8 =above average;
------------------------------------------------- between 8 and 9 = recomended;
------------------------------------------------- bigger than 9 = don't miss it;
I recommend this fragrance if you seek a nice wearable oriental woody, oudy and leathery scent. if you are looking for a DARK and BOLD oriental perfume, just keep searching...
