BORTNIKOFF
Oud Al Sultan
2023
PERFUMER
Dmitry Bortnikov
bergamot
red mandarin
green mandarin
jasmine
rose
saffron
vanilla
guaiac wood
cedarwood
Thai Oud
I tried Oud Al Sultan right after Scheherazade; the two share some notes (mandarin, woods, vanilla), but they are worlds apart. Whereas Scheherazade was surprisingly gourmand and easy going, Oud Al Sultan seems geared more towards the ‘artisinal oud’ crowd, despite being vanillic.
Opening with a vanilla heavy woodiness. The woods being quite natural and smoky from the start.
You definitely get a bright relief from the citrusses, but this is not an easy going, mass appealing opening. Yet, I wouldn’t call it skanky by any means, it’s very much a fiery, slightly burnt woodiness. The oud here is sweet and has that dense core with hints of berries and even bitter chocolate to my nose (perhaps aided by the relatively high dose of vanilla).
Citrus plays a big role throughout, creating quite the contrast between its bright acidity and the vanillic woody base. There’s a distinct lemon scent (more so than the listed mandarins) to my nose in the mid of this wear.
The more the wear progress, the more it smells like something is being burnt in the background. Dry and sharp as well, with quite a piercing projection. I feel like the florals that do come through after the opening are completely dry and dusty. I’ve seem people refer to this as a rose-oud, but that’s not the first thing that came to mind for me. I encountered more the oud/woods > citrus & vanilla > florals.
And I really like the citrus in Oud Al Sultan, but the base is not one of my favorites.