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09/08/2015
ColinM
516 Reviews
ColinM
Top Review
3
Decent oud
I’m not saying this because I am quite a fan of Montana’s poorly-distributed yet quite underrated cheapos, but Graphite Oud is indeed a really nice and affordable oud scent well worthy some support. Fans of the plethora of polished, colourless Western synthetic oud fragrances would probably enjoy this, it smells nic(h)e at a ridicolously inexpensive price. And there’s even room for a hint of creativity: Graphite Oud is in fact “not your usual oud scent”. It is mostly based on crisp sharp woods (there’s the connection with the “pencil shavings” galore of Montana Graphite) and there is a polished, mannered, dusty and slightly alcoholic synthetic oud note; but there also a quite peculiar and really – really! – pleasant touch of tart, pleasantly pungent and non-sweet fruitiness, mostly similar to strawberry, slightly powdery too, that basically turns Graphite Oud into a fairly unusual sort of “summer oud”, or “young oud” if that makes sense. And it works quite well: it’s smooth, bright, clean, pleasantly sweet, still keeping the dark, medicinal-oily texture of oud. It may sound messy, while it actually works really nice. It shows the shady, exotic refinement of oud, but with a lively, versatile, youthful vibe, which makes it really easy to pull of with any weather and for any situation. Quite a nice balance of sweet, fresh and dark-woody notes. It’s also really discreet on skin, almost a skin scent, and that is nice for this type of composition. The quality isn’t really top notch, but for the price, it’s more than ok. Like many cheapos, it can perfectly sit next to way more expensive siblings. It won’t appeal fans of real (or well, at least “a bit more realistic”) oud fragrances, but if you like Montale’s stuff or light designer ouds and want a fresh, sweet, laid-back and more than affordable take on that type of oud fragrances, Graphite Oud would be quite a smart choice.
6,5-7/10
6,5-7/10
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