Monsieur Oud
Colognes and oud are like the in-laws that never get along. You can’t imagine the zest and citrus that define classic colognes backed by the dark, leathery animalics commonly associated with oud. Colognes are…
How do you make a cologne out of oud oil? This is a question that burns in the mind of an oud man.
This is how Monsieur Oud began.
Colognes and oud are like the in-laws that never get along. You can’t imagine the zest and citrus that define classic colognes backed by the dark, leathery animalics commonly associated with oud. Colognes are bright, ouds dark. Oud is everything a cologne is not. And vice versa.
Monsieur Oud took shape in my mind’s eye because of my infatuation with Walla Patta. The notes of frangipani and osmanthus and orange blossom and mimosa it naturally displays.
Some will recall the days I would wear Suriranka Senkoh like there was no tomorrow, taking swipes that probably added up to a few hundred dollars a day. I’d wear it to bed, then again at breakfast, when heading out, when coming home, swimming unendingly in its heady florals and aquatic caress.
Then the desire crept into my artistic other to bring out these notes and accentuate them with the actual flowers. To create a cologne-like citrus bomb, rounded off with all the frangipani, mimosa, osmanthus tonalities of pure Walla Patta.
There are three main chords humming in the base: that aquatic cool if of incense-grade Sri Lankan oud oil, joined by one of my oldest and most precious musk infusions into Mysore 1992 exalted by vintage 1998 Kupang sandalwood from Timor. Each of these oils is a collectible aroma in its own right. But I haven’t even gotten to the base proper.
The true pulse of Monsieur Oud’s foundation beats loud and clear with wild Sri Lankan aloes. Featuring the mintiest, greenest incense-grade Walla Pattas bubbling on a coal, the base is further cranked up with the historical distillation of Chugoku Naya to thrust the Sri Lankan legato into turbocharge.
In the heart notes, you’ll smell the most expensive flowers on Earth. From red champaca to Thai frangipani, French mimosa, osmanthus, iris, and sumptuous orange blossom, paired with rare flowers sourced from Italy, Bourbon coffee blossoms from Madagascar, and the most sought-after jasmine in existence: It’s so unique you won’t even recognize it as jasmine, but rather as pure animal musk.
For the top notes, I picked the choicest bitter yuzu from Japan, Italian bergamot, Paraguayan guaicwood, Brazilian rosewood, and balsam of the fir tree, silver fir, and rare petitgrain—all spiced up with lusty top notes of pink pepper… and a touch of civet.
Monsieur Oud is an encyclopedia of flowers, of oud, of natural perfumery that I’m never really going to consider finished. It’s gone through so many revisions I’ve lost count. And I’m still working on it. Some close friends of mine own versions of it which I don’t have the recipes to anymore, due to working and reworking it day in and day out, like a work of poetry which you keep editing and revising, printing and reprinting, because the subject is so close to the heart you never really can be done talking about it.
Unlike working with synthetic ingredients, the interplay of natural aromatics coming together takes time to happen, profiles change, develop in unforeseen ways. One slip of the pipette and it’s back to the drawing board—or the waiting list for next year’s harvest… which may or may not turn out the same.
Any writer, painter, or filmmaker knows that a big part of your self goes into what you create. Monsieur Oud has been, hands down, my most ambitious composition to date. The most expensive, labor-intensive, and personally humbling creation I’ve put out in the last 15 years.
Featured Testimonials…
Opens with a blast of florals, frangipani, mimosa, Iris, there is a mossy note, strong oud and crazy strong musk. Very strong… opening with a lot of flowers. This perfume will make you fall in love with the house and you know why you are here. Again, and again…
Is another beauty all to its own… beautiful composition with great work at picking the right exquisite raw materials and combination of the perfect Oud oils…. great balance and equilibrium.
I’m totally in love with Monsieur Oud. The freshness turns into a great balance of fruit, flowers, wood, and light. It is delicious, has great room, tenderness and pride at the same time. Monsieur smells like a dignified man of great wisdom.
I received Monsieur Oud the previous week and was completely blown away! Drop dead gorgeous fragrance! If you sold this as an EdP I’d buy it by the liter!
What an amazing fougere! Fougeres are very difficult to work with, especially because they are perceived to be colognes – or cologne-like. But with Sri Lankan oud, it’s a royal fougere! I like it a lot, especially in the summer. It’s too hot for heavy perfumes! But the lavender / citrus / Sri Lankan Oud combo is amazing. Masha Allah brother, you never cease to amaze us!
Spring is official here, fittingly I pulled out my favourite floral oud (it’s between this and Ensar’s Oud Yusuf toss up either day).
Monsieur Oud is Ensar’s tribute to a fresh floral cologne oud.It opens with a dizzying floral tropical bouquet. Citrusy powdery, effervescent and almost edible. A pleasant childhood memory flash in my head of powered Hawaiian Tropic mix, and pop rocks candy. The floral bouquet is streaked with Yellows, Reds, Whites and Pinks and the florals are mixed so well that it becomes its own accord all twisted and wrapped in frangipani.
The dry down and mid becomes green and aqua marine, as the Sir Lanka oud makes its presence felt. It provides the lift and shimmer to the florals, and the anchor to the base of the cooling green citrus tones that sparkle behind the florals.
Deep in the base a touch of civet turns this fresh floral masterpiece just a tad bit Dandy with a wink and nod to the classic of yesteryears. Monsieur Oud is clarifying, joyous, and debonair; a must own in any format.
Monsieur Oud is complex, green, yellow, floral, very soft and fresh. Very uncommon scent, very unique. A jewel too!
This to me screams a warm weather fragrance, which I thought I’d never say about a perfume with an oud base.
Right off the bat I get the citrus from the yuzu, and then I am met with the florals. But there is the oud base that gives it so much body. It’s bright and cheerful while being mature and dignified.
This contrast of profiles balance each other out and create a sensation my nose has not yet experienced before, but I have been enjoying. I am still fully analyzing this but it has been a fun experience nonetheless that I am thankful to have!
It’s another ‘Wow!’ but not for me — for my beloved fiance.
I am catching leather and sharp, bright yuzu, or perhaps kefir lime. There is a citrus-green glint darting through the dark smoke, as though I were sitting beneath fruit trees beside a mesquite fire, wearing my leather jacket and looking up at the full moon, smiling down at me, glimpsed between the leaves.
I whittle a small piece of wood with my little pocket knife, and the aroma of the bark from the paloverde branch is another shade of green. I think I am catching a shade of vetiver as well, sharp and woody.
This one will be a delight to smell on the skin of the man I love so very deeply. He was born under the sign of Leo, the Lion: Monsieur Oud is the Lion, rumbling contentedly and allowing me to caress his regal mane, looking into his calm yet feral eyes.
