In an industry that chases trends like there is no tomorrow, oud has had an ostensibly long moment in the spotlight over the past 10-15 years. The dark and fragrant resin-embedded heartwood of Phialophora parasitica infected Aquilaria trees, oud has a rich, musty woody-nutty, sometimes barnyard animalic odour. Despite its centuries-long prized status in China, Southeast Asia and the Middle East where the smell of its thick perfumed oil is ubiquitous, oud only made its first appearance in western perfumery with M.Micallef’s Rose Aoud in the 1990s, then with Amouage and Roja Dove before going mainstream with such release as YSL M7 and Tom Ford Oud Wood. Oud is today a staple of the western perfumer’s organ; Acqua di Parma to YSL and most brands in-between have at least one oud composition in their line-up. Oud though is no easy material – scarcity of supply, varietal considerations, astronomical pricing and huge quality disparities, not to mention synthetic substitutes, all play a role in the quality of product one picks up in a perfumery or department store counter.
From discreet ouds that hide the funk of the real thing in the depths of a composition, think Tom Ford Costa Azzura, to straightforward, vaguely Middle Eastern styled ouds garlanded in rose – that most common partner note – à la Armani Privé Rose d’Arabie, to unorthodox ouds such as Floris Honey Oud that take an altogether more unconventional approach to its deployment in a composition – there is an oud fragrance to suit just about every taste. For all the great ouds though, many more fall short at the hands of western perfumers and/or balance sheets that necessitate the use of synthetic substitutes.
With a raisonné spanning work for more than 30 brands including his own eponymous maison, Maison Francis Kurkdjian, Francis Kurkdjian is one of the few perfumers to display an aptitude for, and properly master the funk, quirks and kinks of oud to reinterpret it for the western palette. In 2012, Kurkdjian launched an ode to oud under his own name with Oud, then in 2013 came the Oud Mood Collection, a collection that now spans eight oud compositions inspired by the luxurious fabrics once traded on the Silk Road – silk, satin, velvet and cashmere. Of the collection, none showcases Kurkdjian’s aptitude for oud in quite the same way that Oud Satin Mood Extrait de Parfum does.
A decadently woven tapestry of dense Turkish and Bulgarian roses entwined with Laotian oud’s exquisitely floral-nuanced funk, interwoven with lush, creamy vanilla and cinnamon spiced amber, Oud Satin Mood Extrait de Parfum is a sinfully concentrated delight for oud and gourmand lovers alike.
Maison Francis Kurkdjian list this in the way of notes:
violet, geranium, cinnamon, rose, oud, amber, vanilla
MFK is playing note hide and seek here though because there is much more to Oud Satin Mood Extrait than just those officially listed notes. My experience suggests:
violet, rose, geranium, Laotian oud, cinnamon, vanilla, elemi, benzoin, patchouli, ambroxan
At their best, parfum extraits smoulder with concentrated intensity on the skin to reveal the quality of their ingredients over the course of a wear; Oud Satin Mood Extrait is no different. As with the more widely accessible Eau de Parfum version that preceded it, Oud Satin Mood Extrait opens with an unfurling of violet and oud – the oud Laotian with its inherent floral nuances, the violets candied and crystalline. Atop this immediate opening, Kurkdjian unfurls another bolt of fabric, this one a deep crimson satin of sweet geranium and Bulgarian and Turkish roses, smothering the violets and becoming one with the oud. If not for its considerable sweetness at this point, Oud Satin Mood Extrait might have fallen into that straightforward, vaguely Middle Eastern style of rose/oud perfumery – it does not, however. Instead, what funk Laotian oud does have reigns in the composition’s floral sweetness as cinnamon stokes the smouldering embers of the amber base.
Heavily nuanced in the style of Kurkdjian, the base is rich in ambroxan, but like the oud it tangos with, here it is dismantled to its elemental parts before being recomposed to a Kurkdjian ideal – ambroxan’s aggressive edge softened by benzoin, darkened by deeply chocolate-nuanced patchouli, then contrasted by the brightness of elemi. As time fans the flames of the base, the rose fades the way the violet did, leaving only a gourmand sweetness and delicate powderiness. Set against this sweet ambered warmth, it is at this point that the satiny texture of the oud really becomes apparent – thick but finely textured, silken and infinitely layered – Oud Satin Mood Extrait culminates in something of an olfactory mille-feuille.
As ostentatious as it deliciously multifaceted, Oud Satin Mood Extrait de Parfum sets the standard for the fusion of French perfume sensibility and Eastern oud exoticism, albeit in what I call the toothache style with the sweetness turned up to 10. In its original Eau de Parfum concentration or this exponentially more beautiful Extrait de Parfum concentration, Oud Satin Mood is a western oud for oud and gourmand lovers alike, crafted by the master of such compositions.
Year of Release: 2015
Perfumer: Francis Kurkdjian
Alternatives: Lancôme Ôud Bouquet, Fragrance du Bois Sahraa Oud
Available: Mecca Cosmetica for the Eau de Parfum, www.franciskurkdjian.com for the Extrait for €275, 70ml.