Wonderful review and first impressions! Have had the 30ml for a while now, it's quite pleasant and wearable, I do get mandarin and aldehydes at the top. Just a little sidenote about Chinese oud, Hainan and Chinese oud oils tend to be highly coveted and usually belong to a rare Aquilaria Sinensis species, which is only otherwise found in Laos and Burma. They tend to be far less barnyardy and more pristine/minty/buzzy as they are distilled quite clean with less soak and fermentation. The Chinese do not tend to use oud oils for scent but rather medical use, and were pedantic in ensuring that the oils pristine in quality, purity and grade. Some of the legendary Chinese oud oils include Imperial Oud's Hainan Ultima, Fragrant Harbour Imperial, Ensar's Hainan Ltd, Hainan 2005, Hailam Kilam, Al Sharif Ceen, Rising Phoenix Bija, Jinkoh Store Emperor of China, Emperor Guanyu
Great review. Honesty integrity and humility is a winning formula far to rare a resource in this community keep doing what your doing. I really appreciate it ✌🏻
Don't spend too much time worrying about accepting samples for review. Most of your subscribers can tell the difference between what you do and what the other "reviewers" are doing. Giving your honest opinion on fragrances will be a great counterbalance to the phoney hype that dominates most of fragcomm.
Ram today was Sunday/Funday here in seoul. I caught wind of Russian Adam bringing some classics back and this was one thats looking to be brought back and im sure many will try to score these classics. I will blind buy a few and just add them to the collection. Im glad i caught this video to solidify me buying this one in particular so thank you. By the way my SOTD was Chanel Antaeus Pour Homme and we hit the beach grabbed a burger and the scent stayed with me
Hi, very interesting review! It's great you are doing these reviews of samples you get, and share your opinions about stuff that most of us will never have the chance to experience. Perfume is a very subjective thing, and even something is not for your taste, it doesn't necessarily means something about the quality. So it's always nice to hear different opinions. As for oud, never had the chance to smell real one I guess, but the ones I did, which are probably synthetic, were not to my taste, which is strange, because I love orientals in general. And that leads me to the point, which I think we share the same opinion of: Modern perfumery is less concentrated on compositions, and more about notes. (as you said) In the past houses would wait several years until something new was released, and it was usually distinctive and memorable. There is only one opium, one anais-anais, one Kouros etc. That's why when I'm in a mood for buying perfume, I tend to search for vintage stuff.... What I appreciate most in perfumery is composition, harmony, originality and memorability, and that's something I usually struggle to find in niche houses or modern designers perfumes.
I would agree with that take regarding vintages ... if you have seen my collection you know I am a vintage lover through & through and I think the decades gone of the 70s and 80s were the golden years in the perfume industry. HOWEVER, some of these little indie houses are putting out some impressive offerings but the limited availability & high price tag makes it somewhat exclusinary. If you could get your nose on some of these "Real" oud fragrances I think as a vintage lover you will be pleasently surprised... the one i recommend starting with due to availibilty is Bortnikoffs oud maximus (any year 2018 to 2020 but probably oud maximus 2020 will be the one you can easily buy) and you will instantly see the difference between real & synthetic ouds. If you like what you smell, it might open a whole new (albeit expensive) branch of perfume exploration. If you like Bortnikoffs oud and become and oud-head you can than wait by your computer on release date of an areej le dore (like this chinese oud for example) and click BUY BUY BUY the minute it is released and hope you are lucky enough to get a bottle 😄
@@RamseytheRam I hope to sample one of these in the future and tell you my impressions of it. For me the golden age of perfumery ended in the 90's... The flood of new releases in the past 15 years or so is confusing, and in my opinion compensate on lack of artistic creativity. Many of these in the past would be considered a sketch towards a final product. It doesn't mean they are not enjoyable to wear, but the direction of perfumery these days is more towards short lived commercial success than to perfumery as an art form.
@@RamseytheRam I didn't really notice the smell of the durian fruit myself. What I did find is how everything mingled with sandalwood throughout the perfume itself. The durian fruit did crystallize in my bottle though. I don't know what durian fruit smells like, but I also know how rotten fruit smells like, and of course, soiled baby diapers. It would have been nice to have gotten your take on it.
Thanks for not being an influencer. Like in the church we receive what's called exhortation. This sounds positive, and it is. But exhortation can include correction. I did order the 10 ml of the original Chinese Oud! Yes, you said the oud may have a floral facet. I heard that about Chinese oud. The florals intensify from the mid- drydown. I noticed that tecently with Paradise Soil. One area Adam may be growing... I noticed sime of his early classics drydown to mostly an animalic note, with Grandinia and Ottoman Empire. I think a trained perfumer, with all the chemistry they study; can transition a fragrance to change but stay complex in the drydown. Somewhat...
Be happy… you have reached this one guy. Also, I’ve started referring to most reviewers as Advertisers. Many seem to have very little personal connections to their fragrances. It’s just a product to push. Like pharmaceuticals.
Yes thats right... i am trying to break the youtube algo 😂 I want to be the opposite of the guys clearly paid trolls basically .. i just want to give my honest opinion. Now if someone doesnt like my honest opinion well thats on them but i dont ever want to be the guy who likes everything😊
Gr8 review,completley agree thats why i dont watch other fragcom reviewers anymore. Its like every thing is best thing they ever smelled and you can see through them. I really want to have the chance to try artisinal perfume like bortinkoff and areej la doreh but its very hard to your hands on em and they are very limted so its like if you love something you better buy em now. I only had the chance to try musk khabib but unfortunetly its way too soft on me after 1 hour although it smells very good. I kinda been obsessed to have real musk perfume on my collection but its very hard to get something like that and the areej la doreh offering is impossible to get for reasonable prices
Yes i agree with everything you said Sami. Musk Khabib by Bortnikoff & Siberian musk by areej le dore are the two most amazing natural musk fragrances I have ever smelled... there is almost something Holy in real deer musk... the smell just cant be replicated in a lab imo although they have high quality musk that is 98% similar its that last 2% of the formula that real musk adds that the flavoring houses just cant get copied that make all the difference 😊
@@RamseytheRam completely agree with this, its like magic. I just cant get enough of how beautiful this aroma is. Its even mentioned in some religions that its heavenly. And yeah no matter how close they get to the real thing, there is nothing like the original stuff
Hey Rams,well back home made it through the day without fainting lol ,close call haha .off tomorrow na not happening a colleague out sick so I stepped into the breach that’s the way of a healthcare worker,anyways I digress.Loved you take on this one you really put what you smelt into perfect context and note breakdown, your comparison of Adam’s style and blends to Bortnikoff is exactly as I think I mentioned in a recent comment to ya ,however I feel Adam if he was so inclined could blend as good if not better than his partner in crime but chooses not to ,why well his love for the raw natural scent of the ingredients he adores ,I feel he would consider better blending and cleaning them up does not accurately give the wearer the true essence and powerful scent profile his beloved creations deserve ,he wants the wearer to get what these ingredients smell like from their early pre polished original state. Of course that’s just my humble opinion could be way off base but I feel he puts more of these rare ingredients into his creations and does not mask them like Bortnikoff can do with florals and tobaccos etc.Dont get me wrong I’ve 8 or so Bortnikoffs and I really rate them, wearing musk Khabib right now and enjoying every moment I inhale it ,sorry my friend just another rambling of a tired old man I guess , I really do appreciate you knowledge and expert onsite on all your fragrance videos peace out Rams smell ya later 🙏✌️
@@RamseytheRam oh I have only my thoughts and how I perceive Adam when describing this creations and his love of certain ingredients raw and unrefined I just get the feeling he really could never try to change or improve if you will,on nature’s awesome evolutionary bounty bestowed on us ,and I feel he may be feeling he may have to run with the hounds to stay pertinent in the latest trend of Oud and musk offerings ie Bortnikoff etc. I then wonder all things considered, how can Bortnikoff produce so much more product and new batches if he is 1 a partner in Feel Oud and 2 using the same rare and limited ingredients as Adam ?? I don’t think that is possible so to conclude as much as I enjoy and admire Bortnikoff fragrances, I have to give it to Adam as I get truth and raw beauty so much more in his limited creations .so I’m hoping Adam stays true to his creed and beliefs plus eases off on collaborations and just dose what he does so well on his own ✌️
@@RamseytheRam hmm indeed Rams I get the feeling that if someone can dole out free bottles akin to our friend say Roja ,as just a random example of course ,well as we like to say “simply food for thought “and we shall leave it there I reckon.smell ya later R ,I see you latest vid and will enjoy and digest it tomorrow for sure ✌️
I got a good price on 30 ml of CO II. First impression disappointing? This oud is so different. I don't recognize it as oud at all. Adam said it's bitter, true. You said it was smoky, yes. It smells like incense, woody or rotten woody. I don't get orange? As you said and I'm glad, you wouldn't have guessed orange. I did one spray on a dry down of another frag. So will will give it another chance. I thought it may be fake. As it's so far from what I imagined. This is my first bad blind buy from Areej. I did get labdanum more than the oud I know.
I don't consider this bad at all.. in fact it has grown on me as one of my favorite ALD... the dry down is amazing and it just takes the oud in CO time to warm up
Its funny since these are so limited I thought no one would have any of these long gone areej le doré frags only to find out it seems like everyone but me has these 😅 Would love a 10ml of this & the art work on the decant looks stunning 👌
