Black Oud Les Senteurs Gourmandes by Laurence Dumont

White Woods, Agarwood, Patchouli, Sandalwood.

Funny how certain renditions of a particular "note" get burned into our aroma-memory and are forever aligned with a particular house or perfumer. Case in point is the patchouli implemented in Black Oud. It is reminiscent of Molinard's rendition. Not exactly the same, but definitely associated to one another.

Black Oud, on my skin at least, is not about oud. While linear, it focuses on woods and patchouli that are lightly accentuated by spice and a hint of smoke. This could have aptly been named Patchouli Noir Sport and I wouldn't have batted an eye.

This 2013 release initially goes on the skin slightly alcoholic, then quickly tempered by a woody patchouli. The accord is airy and mildly sweet, pleasant and has the earth tone you'd expect from a Les Senteur rendition of Patchouli.

Black Oud wears linear on me after numerous full wearings. After a few minutes, the version of Agarwood is downplayed and reminds me more of a barbershop-agar accord than anything else. It's not a "negative", but not something I expected. At any rate, the totality smells good and matches, if not exceeds, its own price point.

The base accord exhibits subtle spice and hints at smoke intermittently. The woods, patch and earth tones remain from beginning to end. Sillage for Black Oud is average or possibly slightly above and longevity, on my skin, is approximately 4-5 hours before morphing into a personal space scent. You'll be able to detect this 10 plus hours later. Thumbs up from Aromi for Black Oud by Les Senteurs and as always, a sample wear is highly recommended.