NEW FRAGRANCE REVIEW By Kilian Amber Oud + Sweet Emotion Draw

Calice Becker has been exploring oud through the Arabian Nights Collection for Kilian Hennessy’s By Kilian perfume line. She has taken us from Pure Oud which is exactly as advertised, to Rose Oud which sets off the oud with a dewy rose, to last year’s oud accord or “oud without any oud” in Incense Oud. For the fourth exploration of oud Mme Becker has chosen amber as the dancing partner in Amber Oud. Mme Becker is using this series to delve into what we as perfumistas perceive in oud.

Over the past two years as I have, of necessity, become more familiar with oud I have found it to have an almost chameleon-like quality as it seems to take on a different character depending on what is surrounding it. In Amber Oud Mme Becker has done a skillful job of actually coaxing out a sweet quality from within oud. A year ago if you had told me there is any sort of sweet quality to oud I would have scoffed at that notion. Then I started sampling pure oud oils from all of the regions which produce it and I have been very surprised at how different the nature is depending on both the region and the age of the tree from which it is harvested. While all of them are without doubt ouds there are some which have something different to them. In particular the Cambodian version of oud seems to contain a slightly floral sweetness that I don’t find in the oud from other sources. While it isn’t explicitly identified as the source of the oud in Amber Oud, I suspect that it is because Mme Becker has created a sweetly unique oud perfume.

 

Amber Oud opens with the slightly medicinal, almost characteristic, oud note. I think Mme Becker wants you to know this time she is using the real thing and not trying to trick us into believing oud is present. Then a very strong application of vanilla completely changes the game and Amber Oud sheds its medicinal skin to reveal something sweet. Benzoin also is used in the heart and it adds a contextual resinous sweetness. Both the vanilla and the benzoin present different aspects of sweet and the oud finds a comfortable balance between them. Mme Becker then adds a dash of bay leaf which once again coaxes the woody quality of oud to the fore and cedar enhances that. The base takes amber and in its sweet spiciness completes the transition of oud into something different than where we started.

Amber Oud has outstanding longevity and above average sillage.

Amber Oud is a worthy companion to the previous three fragrances and it more than holds its own as part of this Arabian Nights collection from By Kilian. I can’t wait to see what Mme Becker does with the final entry Musk Oud next year. I believe when she is done she will have created a definitive exploration of oud in perfumery. With Amber Oud I just surrender to its sweet emotion.

Disclosure: This review was based on samples provided by MiN New York.

Thanks to our friends at MiN New York we have two samples of Amber Oud to giveaway. To be eligible leave a comment describing where you have found an unexpected sweetness or which of the previous By Kilian Arabian Nights oud fragrances is your favorite. We will draw two winners on January 24, 2012 using random.org.

 We announce the winners only on site and on our Facebook page, so Like Cafleurebon and use our RSS option…or your dream prize will be just spilt perfume

Mark Behnke, Managing Editor

 Click on this link for official By Kilian  press release for Amber Oud

Read our exclusive interview with Calice Becker

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37 comments

  • Judith Madison says:

    I am a true vanilla addict. If it doesn’t have a waft of vanilla, I don’t buy it. I have three Kilians, Back to Black/Love and Sweet Redemption. I have had the joy of sniffing the Ouds,and I think thus far the Rose Oud would be my favorite until now, and no vanilla. They are tempting, but oh so costly. Of all the Ouds, this one sounds the most appealing to me, because of the vanilla but also because I prefer a bit of sweetness in my fragrance. Gosh help me next time I pass the By Kilian counter at Saks. At some point I know I am going to break down!!!

  • Of the two Kilian ouds, I prefer Pure Oud. I like my oud straight up, although there are exceptions. I haven’t tried Amber Oud, but would like to.

  • Of the Arabian Nights line, I’ve only tried the Incense Oud. It was love at first sniff! When I heard that Amber Oud was next up, I was really excited since I love amber. I’m hoping it reminds me of long discontinued and almost mythic Soir d’Orient!

  • I haven’t sampled any of the Arabian Nights scents, but they sound exciting, as most By Killian fragrances are. I found some unexpected sweetness just this weekend when I bit into a small roasted peppadew filled with cream cheese. I expected the peppadew to taste like, well, a pepper. Nice surprise!

  • My favourite from the Arabian Nights séries is definitely Rose Oud. I cannot wait to try Amber Oud…Thank you for this draw.

  • I still haven’t tryed any Kilian scent,but I’m very excited about all of the perfumes from Arabian nights range.I would love to try them all.

  • never had a chance to try any of the ouds-as by description I think I would have loved the incense oud
    would be glad to be able to try Amber Oud, thank you

  • This sounds great, Mark, the way you describe it sounds like this might be the Arabian nights- Killian for me. The 2 I’ve tried Pure Oud and Rose Oud, were beautiful renditions for sure, but I am afraid that I will need a bit of “unexpected sweetness” with my oud:-)
    Thanks a lot for the draw and the review

  • I haven’t had the chance yet to sample any of the Arabian Nights collection and would love to try this one! Thanks for the draw!

  • hotlanta linda says:

    I have no ouds from Kilian, but samples of their first 6 scents – and I can`t pick a fave!! 🙂 A dear friend sent me a tall amber bottle of homemade vanilla extract for Christmas, which I must wait 2 months on for it to brew. I`m going to want to WEAR it!!!! 🙂 Would love Amber Oud and all her sister scents, I`m sure – thank you for the contest!!

  • This oud sounds perfect for me! I’m a sucker for sweet scents, and I love oud. I haven’t had a chance to try the other Arabian Nights scents, but I do own their Sweet Redemption which is beautiful. Thanks for the draw!

  • I am a newb to oud AND By Killian, so would love the chance to sample this! I love amber so this pairing sounds amazing. Thanks for the draw!

  • I am still trying to find an oud that works on me. I do love vanilla and amber so I’m hoping this will be the one.

  • i love oudh — there real thing.
    i have many tiny bottles full of those thick, fragrant oils (many pure oudh, some mukhallats) — my favorite being the pungent, barnyardy hindi oils (at the moment.)

    the thing that started it all, though, long ago, even before montale’s aoud line (the first to commercially show-case it for the western nose, if i remember right) — was dawn spencer hurwitz’s prana oil, which used oudh oil before anyone had even heard of it. and i am talking 90s here.

    anyway.

    i’ve never tried even one kilian oud, and wouldn’t mind doing so 🙂

  • I have come to appreciate oud but I usually prefer it as a supporting player, with an exception being vintage YSL M7. While I enjoy smelling pure and incense oud, I feel like they wear me rather than the other way around. I think the amber will be more wearable for me. I look forward to sampling this.

  • I am an Oud virgin! While I am certain in my frgrant life I have come across it somewhere I can not concretely say that I am familliar with it. Having said that, I adore Kilian. Out of all that I have smelled (12) I had just one that was a scrubber and that is a first!
    Vanilla and amber are husband repellant for me. But that usually just makes it more enticing to to try something. My husband is going away for a week next month and I am going to wear every piece of contraband that I can get my hot hands on:)
    Where have I found unexpected sweetness? Since this question did not specify that it had to be a perfume…I must say I have found sweetness in people where I never expected too. I have found that people lately have far less than ever but dig deep anyway too pay it forward. A former New Yorker with a reputation of a whocares deal with it attitude myself, I also pay it forward and its the ultimate sweetness. A door held, a gift given, a supportive prayer. I have seen it all more in teh past year than in my entire 34 years on this earth.
    Unexpected sweetness is the best kind. Take a bite into a piece of chocolate and you get what you expect. Ask a friend for support and get more than you ever imagined…thats sweetness.
    Thanks for the draw MiN and Cafleurebon. Excellent read 🙂

  • The fragrance I have tried with Oud is Dirty English, but I don’t think that is a good representation of oud.
    Thanks for the article and for the draw.

  • Thanks for review, now I really want to try it. I am an amber freakazoid, have to try them all. I have found unexpected sweetness in many sad moments in life.

  • Michelle Hunt says:

    I have not yet tried the By Killian Oud fragrances. There was an unexpected sweetness in the mac and cheese I made today…bleah! The unexpected sweetness described in this review sounds a lot more appealing!

  • I’ve been impressed by a few By Kilian scents but haven’t tried any of their oud perfumes.

    Unexpected sweetness – when my darling rides his bicycle ahead to tap flower-laden spring branches and make it rain fragrant, pink petals on me as I ride behind.

  • Amber is a favorite note for me so I am excited by this new perfume. I have not tried any Killian ouds as of yet, but I’m a fan of some of his original scents, particularly the tuberose one.

  • I love oud! I have a few decants that have real oud. I works so well on my skin and has an uplifting effect. By Kilian’s ouds, for me, are the best accord ouds that still give an uplifting effect. My fav is Rose oud. So good!

  • I like Rose Oud so far, but that is the only one I have had the pleasure of sniffing! Thanks so much for the draw.

  • I haven’t tried any of the Arabian Nights fragrances but I love amber and would love to try Amber Oud.

  • My favourite from the By Kilian oud-assortment so far is Pure Oud, with it’s inky-animalic-woody feel, but I’m very interested in this new one. Rose Oud is also beautifully made, but most of the time rose-prominent fragrances aren’t really “me”. Thanks for the draw!

  • The Master herbalist I apprenticed in college had a jar with woody chunks in it just marked “aloe wood”. When I smelled it for the first time it was unlike anything I had ever smelled in my life. I did not at the time know it was what I NOW call oud! It had an almost balm like aroma that vacillated between incensey, medicinal and warmly sweet.

    I have, thus far in my journey smelled only Rose Oud from Kilian’s line, and absolutely love it despite the often overused combo of rose and oud. I am currently waiting for samples of Incense oud and Pure Oud in the next few days.

    Unexpected sweetness came to me one day when rushing to the Post Office to mail packages on a Saturday. I nearly forgot the PO closed at 11 am rather than noon. I threw on slippers and drove into my rather small rural town (it does not even have one traffic light) totally unshaven, my hair sticking up and still in my Grateful Dead pajama pants and 4X sleep shirt. I had dabbed on some Cartier Baiser du Dragon parfum earlier (while decanting) and while waiting in line; this big burly bearded “rough and tough” hillbilly type said to the Post Mistress “You smell great, honey!”. She informed him that she was not wearing perfume and pointed at me, standing behind him, saying: “It’s probably him, he always smells good”. This guy turned and looked at me and said “What is that, man?” I told him it’s my cologne called “Kiss of the Dragon” (nearly afraid to say it was a woman’s perfume). He smiled and said “Whatever it is…you smell awesome dude!” and patted me on the back!

    When someone, out of the blue, sees beyond how you look and how you are dressed and compliments you, even when you look your worst…THAT is sweetness!! 😉

  • My favourite is definitely Pure Oud, however I have noticed that I actually wear Incense Oud waaay more (not actually much “oud” in it, as it turns out, but such a gorgeous frankincense note). ~ I am so tired of Oud/Rose combos. But I do think that the rose accord in Rose Oud is actually uniquely delicious. I would even rate it as my “unexpected sweetness”. :o)
    Please enter me into the draw. Am so looking forward to Amber Oud.

  • My favorite oud is Incense Oud. When I was in Bergdorf’s a few months ago,,,a Kilian SA spritzed this one on a strip,,,and I was mezmerized!!! Absolutely beautiful—and my favorite of the Arabian Nights oud collection! I am looking forward to Amber oud,,,and have heard glowing reports!

  • Judith Madison says:

    I was sent a sample by the Saks manager of By Kilian. I am in love, LOVE! I have resisted even sniffing Ouds as they are so crazy costly. I will no doubt buy the Amber Oud. I put a bit on my wrists hours ago, and it is still lingering. Simply perfection for me.