Oud Orange Intense

A beautiful rendering of a dark chocolate Mounds bar in perfume form. The opening notes of Oud Orange Intense are smoky and nutty, bringing to mind a pile of coconut husks smoldering in the ashes of a fire. Creamy musks and bourbon vanilla bring a cocoa-tinted softness to the mix, restraining the beachy exuberance of the coconut, and also its sweetness. What emerges is a dry, woody vanilla with a luxuriously boozy touch, like a log of driftwood rubbed lightly with coconut liquor.

The oud note here is less of a headlining note than a calming influence on the other notes. Its austere woodiness turns what could have been a full-on, coconutty tropical extravaganza into an adult woody vanilla. Oud Orange Intense is both a surprise and a triumph.