Oud Ispahan – Dior

"A scent of quiet mysticism"

"The oud and labdanum serve to make the rose appear in 360, fully fleshed out, with leaves, stems, and dirt attached to it. All this still serves to showcase a blackened but vermillion rose, deeply tinted and endlessly fragrant"

(c) dior.com

"Oud Ispahan is pure ornamental bliss"

"The sandalwood in Oud Ispahan would be a damp but crisp wood, able to be squeezed, milked to release a rose-colored liquid, much like drinkable rose syrup in milk"

Preemptive Ramblings: 

This makes sense as my first review. In the journey of fragrances and other sensuous experience, Oud Ispahan marked the point of standing in a store and smelling something so outlandishly beautiful, that I understood the aims of high perfumery in a different light. While Noir de Noir by Tom Ford set off the bomb of me wading into the endless array of scents not just as a hobby but a field close to music, and China White by Nasomatto marked the experience of art and functionality melding together, Oud Ispahan is pure ornamental bliss. For some, it is an ugly bouquet of roses gifted amidst strong smelling incense. For others, it is the same bouquet of roses majestic in their detailed superfluousness, encased in darker sentiments than restrain while pulling you closer. 

You might read this in almost all reviews as a negative, but there is certainly no shame in admitting Oud Ispahan to stand in the recent tradition of Oud/Rose combos that seemingly flooded the marked in the late 2000s up until now. Combining the heady and floral qualities of the rose – a flower that can work in clean scents as well as in darker and moodier pieces – with the woody roundhouse-kick of Oud, be it in its more natural form or in the many synthetic executions found in most scents is a safe bet in wanting to create something evoking "oriental" traditions without reiterating the same tropes. Above that, you can twist and turn Oud/Rose to give off experiences of overpowering every scent around you, coming off clean and classy or going for a kind of quiet mysticism that takes the many olfactive qualities of oud and overlaps it with the rich associations attached to rose and roses in general. I certainly don´t mind possessing various interpretations of this combinations, because, after the acknowledgment of not bringing something new to the table and creating a whole new scent experience, the remaining question taking front and center in the discussion is: Did Demachy pull it off, is the blend something to behold or just a filler of having "a" Oud/Rose combo present in a new fragrance line-up?

As it is with the original line-up of the Privee scents by Dior (which have now transformed to the 22-24 scents of the Maison Dior line), Oud Ispahan is not mere filler, it is Dior and Demachy playing the usual notes and ideas of an oriental and heavy rose scent with masterful precision and not lacking glimpses of virtuosity glaring into mischievousness.

The Actual Review: 

Oud Ispahan is a beast in some regards but finds itself much closer to a scent of quiet mysticism that, when unveiled and lived with for quite some time will carry the effect of enveloping your daily routine and becoming a point of olfactive self-sufficiency, in other words: Unpacking the scent day after day and with continuous wearings will reveal nuances and unknown territories in something that at first seems linear and very much "on the nose".

The first spray of Oud Ispahan, or just opening the cap, brings a jammy rose to the forefront that is quite wet and syrupy without having any sweet or gourmandish tendencies. This is mostly due to the fact that other than the rose, the resin labdanum is the secret star in the composition of rose, oud, and sandalwood that sets off Oud Ispahan into divided first responses of attraction and repulsion. 

The negative, the stank for some, might come off as a dense and incredibly pungent concoction of a synthetic – for unnaturally amped up – rose and an amber-woody, resinous pulp that might as well evoke an ancient medicine cabinet thrown into the fire, wood and metals included. 

However, the attractive side of this might be perceived as the ultimate marriage of a perplexing rose scent with many darker and greener tendencies that prevent the floral side from drifting into becoming too fluffy, sweet or inviting. For those fearing, Oud Ispahan being too feminine, adhering to gender in fragrance or something out of yesteryear: No, this is as unisex as rose fragrances come and dark and woody enough to not be on the feminine (or too masculine) side. As with many fragrances, Oud Ispahan is pretty much dependent on the wearer and their position on the gender spectrum. If you want to appear as a male, Oud Ispahan is your friend or if you want to stress femininity, Oud Ispahan is your friend. 

Elevator testing the opening of Oud Ispahan will certainly make the reactions clear: If someone likes it, they´ll come closer or at least show some kind of raised awareness of their olfactive surroundings immediately being taken up by something unusual and evocative. The repelled side will feel choked out and might try to do the same to you.

One thing to note when trying to fit Oud Ispahan into the three phases of scent progression is, that it, at least for me and wearing it over four years on as many occasions as I possibly can, tends to be quite transformative in different weather/climate while still being fairly linear overall. Every wearing seems to develop a little differently and the notes that come to the fore or remain in the back make it hard to pin the scent down. 

On average, the headnotes and a beastly projection shrink minutely after one to two hours. The only note that fades into the back is the jammy and succulent rose, only to morph into a darker and combusted variety, the wetness becoming dry and powdery in the process. In other words, the rose blends much deeper into the labdanum and oud mixture with a creamy sandalwood underpinning the softer nuances of the rose. 

In different weather and conditions, the rose might prevail longer and keep some jammy qualities, and in other instances, it almost disappears in favor of floral sandalwood and greenish-black labdanum altogether. Here the question of the best weather/season for Oud Ispahan should be posed, and the answer is as multidimensional as the dry down overall. 

While Oud Ispahan might become pungent and cloying in summer heat and temperatures over 20-degrees Celsius, for me the scent does shine with a little heat or sun, preferably on a sunny fall or winter day or in the not so cold springtime. This isn´t due to Oud Ispahan not working in cooler or cold weather or disappearing in the lower temperatures, but much more for the way the rose note shines in the heat and come to the fore in it. Worn in cooler weather, or below 10-degrees Celsius, Oud Ispahan becomes warm and comforting with the resinous qualities giving of a rose-tinted amber touch and the medicinal yearning of oud stepping back to become a subtle base.

By the end of the dry down, which can last up to eight hours on my skin and seems to hold on up to six on paper or clothes, the notes give little way for the sandalwood to come to the front in an indivisible mixture with the oud. Before the sandalwood and its smooth and creamy roundness, the labdanum and oud provide the spikes and a certain roughness that, while soothing overall, is just that: an unwillingness to ring out smoothly and without much ado, to become a pure skin scent and draw closer to the body of the wearer. 

Occasional heat will let the whole power of Oud Ispahan loose for well over the ten-hour mark and the base note remain on the skin well over 24 hours (and showers). If the scent rubs of on your clothes say a sweater or scarf, it will stay there even longer, even until you become uncertain if your clothes just smell like subtle hints of sandalwood and labdanum/oud all the time. To go back to the oud in this fragrance: While there is little dispute in acknowledging oud to be synthetic most of the time, it never drifts off into being a synthetic mess and bears witness to the medicinal muddle of woods and resins in their most natural occurrences. 

Overall the oud will turn you off if you don´t like oud in general as it is in front and center of most of the composition. Yet, the blend is appealing in a perfect marriage with its olfactive relative labdanum and the offsetting rose. This isn´t the in your face oud most people will decry in Montale fragrances, not the clump of scent that raises associations of foulness, rot and black ooze, but it definitely has its fangs and carries a certain dirty nuance with it (which again, might repel you from the first minute).

To work with a mental image: The oud and labdanum serve to make the rose appear in 360, fully fleshed out, with leaves, stems and dirt attached to it. But all this still serves to showcase a blackened but vermillion rose, deeply tinted and endlessly fragrant. Much of this hierarchy carries to the relationship of every note with the sandalwood. While it is legitimate to say, that there is little to no sandalwood present in reference to lighter or greener varieties, the sandalwood here is darkened and again rose colored throughout. 

The scent may lose some of its apparent rose notes depending on the dry-down, but the rose never leaves the statement of Oud Ispahan. It gives a floral touch to all the other ingredients and while becoming slightly dryer with time, it gives body to the sandalwood, taking all dryness out of it and making it soft and almost malleable. If it existed, the sandalwood in Oud Ispahan would be a damp but crisp wood, able to be squeezed, milked to release a rose-colored liquid, much like drinkable rose syrup in milk.

Lastly, the best way to grasp Oud Ispahan is to make a comparison between being inviting and carrying a quiet mysticism. As wearing fragrance can be transformative and a way to stress or even morph your personality and the way people perceive and conclusively interact with you, Oud Ispahan lives as a scent of quiet mysticism. Whereas the inviting person is someone who shouts at you from afar, is endlessly talkative and upfront and will hug you after a five-minute conversation for becoming friends, quiet mysticism does these things while leaving you guessing and without uttering a single word. Those who carry this trait with them, or who try Oud Ispahan to infer on these sentiments, are those that are instantly recognizable when they enter a room but don´t make a fuss in doing so. Those that pull you in with little to no sentences in a conversation and those that carry warmth and weight with every little gesture or sentiment. While some converse with everything they got and make things explicit, Oud Ispahan hits just as hard with less and more digression and a heaping amount of things to be unpacked and contemplated. 

Details, Details, Details: 

Top Notes: Labdanum
Heart Notes: Patchouli (for me only hints)
Base Notes: Sandalwood, Oud, Rose

Occasions: Signature scent worthy, but best for special occasions. Works well in a formal setting when used in moderate amounts (one spray in enough almost all the time)

Sillage/Projection: Beastly for the first 2 hours / on an arm's length for 8+

Longevity: 12-24 hours

Numeric score: 10/10