Patchouli Oud

Tom Waits’ voice was once memorably described by a music critic as sounding as if "it was soaked in a vat of bourbon, left hanging in the smokehouse for a few months, and then taken outside and run over with a car" – and Patchouli Oud by perfumer Nicolas Bonneville has much the same quality. Earthy, tannic, and soaked in mysterious essences wrenched from trees in the depths of Indonesian and Javan jungles, Patchouli Oud is a study in brown.

Many oud-based fragrances smell pungent and oily, but Patchouli Oud plumps for a dry, almost herbal take on its subject matter, for a result that runs surprisingly close to the clipped elegance of vintage powerhouse masculines. The oud, medicinal and slightly dirty, is first out of the gate, quickly followed by a dusty 100% cocoa patchouli that seems to invert all light, drawing us deeper into its shadows. As with any scent based entirely on heavy basenotes, there’s always the danger of it turning into a lead balloon, but that’s been avoided here thanks to use of a bright, grassy vetiver and the lemony smoke of elemi resin, both of which keep the composition aerated. The smoky chypric finish of whiskey-ish labdanum and bitter oakmoss confirms Patchouli Oud as the perfect choice for the gentleman daring enough to pull off an oud scent alongside a perfectly tailored three-piece suit.