You got your demons. You got desires. Well, I got a few of my own.

Scent Spotlight: By Kilian Incense Oud

As I have mentioned before, I am new to the world of oud. The only one I’ve tried so far is L'Artisan Al Oudh. I welcome any and all oud challengers, because, frankly, new is also awesome for me when it comes to scents. So when I was offered the chance to review By Kilian’s scent, Incense Oud created by Sidonie Lancesseur I jumped at the opportunity. This 2011 contribution is the third contribution to Arabian Nights Collection, after Pure Oud and Rose Oud. I have not tried either of those, so you’ll have to take this review from the Oud-newb context from which it comes.
The notes are as follows:

Oud is an extremely rare and precious oil found in Agarwood, the resinous heartwood of the Aquilaria tree from southeast Asia. The oil itself is dark in coloration and has a complex scent, being warm and woody, yet strongly animalistic at the same time. In many Middle Eastern countries, Oud is believed to be worth more than its weight in gold. To echo this belief, the Kilian bottle has a gold plaque engraved with the name of the perfume and the box is decorated with a gold plaque on the top. 

Notes: Guatemala cardamom, pink pepper, Turkish rose, Egyptian geranium, methyl pamplemousse, Virginia cedarwood, Indonesian patchouli, Indian papyrus, Somalia incense (oil and absolute), sandalwood, Macedonian oakmoss, Spanish cistus labdanum, musks.

The rose is very apparent in this for me. In fact, it reminded me, in my mind’s eye, of Tauer Incense Rosé. So I threw them on together for a side by side. Incense Oud is more soft and sandalwood in comparison to the Tauer. Where Incense Rosé and Insense Oud diverge is around the twenty minute mark, at which point you’d hardly believed they began at a similar place when the ending is different enough to be the differing ends of Frost’s divergent road not taken.

 It’s a very gentle scent that lacks any of the medicinal qualities I get from Al Oudh. I get very little labdanum. I do get the musk, but only gently. The sandalwood/moss/cedarwood makes for a nice balanced scent. It is a soft touch scent, like cool smooth fabric against the skin. The rose seems to have disappeared by the fifteen minute mark, but that’s okay. I enjoy what I find in its wake.

Incense Oud would work well on a man or a woman. It has low to moderate sillage and good lasting power (4-6 hours on me).  I also think it is the rare incense scent that would work very nice in hot weather, so it makes for a great summer oud scent. A respectable 3.5 of 5 nods.

You can buy Incense Oud direct from the perfumer, at Luckyscent, or even Amazon, so if you want it, you can find it. Be forewarned, though: it's pricey.

"One of these nights,
one of these crazy old nights,
we're gonna find out, pretty mama,
What turns on your lights.
The full moon is calling.
The fever is high,
and the wicked wind whispers and moans...
I've been searching for the daughter of the devil himself.
I've been searching for an angel in white.
I've been waiting for a woman
who's a little of both,
and I can feel her
but she's nowhere in sight."
- "One of These Nights," The Eagles

Want more? Try...
~ a review from Perfume-Smellin' Things
~ a review from The Smell of Bliss
~ a review from Perfume Shrine
~ a review from Ca Fleure Bon
~ a review from The Scented Salamander
~ a review from scentsate

In the interest of full disclosure, By Kilian Incense Oud was provided to me by the perfumer for review.