Paul Trouillebert, Servant de Harem

I have been a big fan of the By Kilian collection overall but the first two releases in the Arabian Nights Collection, Pure Oud and Rose Oud, are among my favorites. M. Hennesy alluded to these in Michelyn Camen's Lost Interview on Back to Black and hinted that Calice Becker may not be the sole perfumer involved in future projects. However the standard that Calice Becker set with those two initial entries had me hoping for a truly special set of five fragrances when all is said and done. The three remaining fragrances  were reported to be Incense Oud, Amber Oud and Musk Oud. The choices all highlight similarly strong partners for the oud. As someone who would say incense is one of his favorite notes, I was really looking forward to see what 2011’s release, Incense Oud, would bring to the party.

The first thing it brought to the party was a different date, perfumer Sidonie Lancesseur. As I said above the first two Arabian Nights releases are among my favorites but my very favorite By Kilian fragrance is Cruel Intentions -tempt me! Cruel Intentions was the only oud based fragrance in the L’Ouevre Noire Collection and Mme. Lancesseur used the oud in that fragrance as skillfully as it has ever been used in my opinion. The thought of her composing one of the Arabian Nights Collection had me almost giddy. Then I received the list of notes  for  Incense Oud and as I looked throughout that list of thirteen notes, nowhere was oud listed. That was interesting; incense was prominently listed but no oud? Where was the oud going to come from? Just as Mme. Becker did with By Kilian Back to Black by creating a tobacco note with a group of other notes, without tobacco present; so would Mme. Lancesseur do here with a combination of her own to create oud, without oud. The effect it has is to create a softer less medicinal oud accord.

 A Modern Olympia, Paul Cezanne

The incense half of Incense Oud is firmly in place from the first moments it hits your skin. Joining it in the early going is geranium, cardamom, and a grapefruit surrogate Methyl Pamplemousse. Methyl Pamplemousse is recognizably grapefruit but smoothed out and that bridges the green of the geranium and the zesty cool spice of the cardamom perfectly. The incense is drily resinous seemingly vaporizing off my skin. Then in a fragrance that has no oud listed in its notes, oud appears. Mme. Lancesseur found a combination of sandalwood, patchouli, and cistus, most prominently, to create a facsimile of oud. Together they create an oud accord that is more unnaturally soft than one could expect and quite spectacular in its presence. In many ways based on the name I expected a powerhouse and this oud accord is far from that while still adding the sensuality of oud to Incense Oud.  A hint of rose and musk bring Incense Oud to a close. 

 

 

Mme Lancesseur has pulled off quite the neat trick in Incense Oud. By creating an illusion of oud she has shown me something new and with the panoply of oud fragrances on the market that is no easy feat. I think Incense Oud is going to be very popular because Mme. Lancesseur has created an oud accord that will be more broadly appealing than any that have come before.

Incense Oud has way above average longevity and above average sillage.

Disclosure: This review was based on a preview sample provided by Luckyscent.

–Mark Behnke, Managing Editor

We have a draw for one sample of Incense Oud. Please leave a comment on site regarding Incense Oud or any By Kilian fragrance. Draw ends February 9, 2011