Completely original piece of work this, I can honestly say I can't recall a perfume like this. However, the aroma doesn't feel entirely unfamiliar and still sparks some sort of deep memory which isn't of the vivid kind more the fuzzy, hard to place sort. The 'style' if you like, is of something like Tom Ford Black Orchid, (poor example perhaps) swathes of big, woody, gourmand with a beating floral heart, evokes a deep, brown, velvety, fabric with a fuchsia pink, silky lining to me, it's textured basically. I genuinely had no clue what to expect but I was taken aback with the opening and huge amounts of dark, woods and chocolate. The chocolate is not that synth cocoa accord or even the poofy theobroma cacao it's almost as if the oud has a chocolately facet. I've smelled various varieties of oud and hundreds of oud perfumes and attars and some of them do have a chocolate nuance, perhaps there already or brought out by other materials which have chocolately undertones. I'd say Styrax Tonkenisis Defintely, patchouli, strangely and vanilla more obviously. Anyway this feels that authentic not too bitter or dark but like a chunky milk chocolate. Let's not dwell on that too much because the heart of this fragrance is a massive floral accord which has an aspect of jasmine to it (probably the Fragipani or actual jasmine?) and a more open, less heady floral (which I'm assuming is magnolia?) it's lovely though and works perfectly with the rest of the composition. As I said there's a quality & familiarity about this perfume and for that reason it charms and endears but I can imagine the long lasting nature and inherent heaviness becomes cloying. In fact I don't 'Imagine'... it absolutely DOES become cloying and I'm not just saying this for it's largely floral theme's but this would be a statement piece on a woman I imagine. The kind of woman who likes big sense florientals. Yes it's high quality, innovative, Oud Monarch rates highly in my book and I haven't even began to describe the florals the oud the chocolate in any satisfactory way...this one absolutely needs to be sampled.
Unisex Strong and beautiful dark cacao, not animalic and not smoky at all. Despite of two different roses in the middle notes this is not “rosy scent”. After a couple of hours a little bit sweetness comes from Vanilla but not too much to be sweet scent. It’s lovely like this but I would like stronger oud here. So if you are scared of oud, this can be a good choice for you. If you want more obvious oudy cacao, your choice is Lao Oud. Full review coming later! I was so happy to found the nice online shop inside EU where they are selling really high quality brands which are using as much natural ingredients as possible. It’s not so easy to find these so if someone has trying to find, this is legit online shop in Spain and you can choose many free samples when you buy something. @ecuacion_natural_perfumes I have wanted this Bortnikoff’s Oud Monarch for long time now and finally I got it with many samples from the house. 🤩 I describe the following scents with few words. The in-depth reviews coming later of next ones: Lao Oud, Zemfira and Triad (just ordered those yesterday), plus this Oud Monarch of course. Review of Sayat Nova I have already written but I will edit that as well to be more specific. Lao Oud: Really addictive, pleasant, soft and sexy oud with exactly perfect amount of dark chocolate. More complex than others here. I’m in love!! Mysterious Oud: Ambery, spicy and herbal, a little bit medicinal oud. Complex blend. Oud Loukoum: Nice and remarkable smoky balsamic oud Oud Sinharaja: Tropical, floral and fruity, Magnolia, Frangipani and Jasmine, beautiful blend with mild oud in the background. Santa Sangre: Mostly soft vanilla and sandalwood with aquatic and slightly balsamic twist from Lotus and Dragon Blood. Very comfortable and cozy. Triad: Beautiful Rose Oud, both are in balance, no sweetness, rather fresh Zemfira: Beautiful light Rose Oud for summertime, fresh divine roses are stars with mild oud in the background. Lighter and more airy that the previous one. Thank you for reading and I would appreciate a lot if you want to follow me on IG: @ninamariah_perfumes
OUD MONARCH 3rd Collection 2019 “Friendly Ouds” Dmitry Bortnikov The general idea of this collection was to create understandable and wearable fragrances that would appeal not only to fans of smoke and tars, but also to mass customers. It’s a little bit sad that those “mass customers” may don’t find this the most beautiful chocolate scent since they may be afraid of Oud. Anyway Oud in this fragrance is elegant and soft because it is accompanied by floral absolutes and spices. The note of chocolate is very realistic, enjoyable and delicious and the whole base with all it’s notes (which may sound challenging for some) is unbelievably smooth, silky and versatile. 🍫 I highly recommend all chocolate lovers to try this one, don’t even read the notes! There are two kinds of oud oil in the composition: The first with a strong chocolate start and the second with a softer and sweeter character with hints of flowers, fruits and vanilla. In the heart the roses are almost invisible behind the rich velvety Amber Oudy chocolate wall. Frangipani, which is very popular in Bornikoff’s creations, is amazingly blended here and creates slightly tropical sweetness to otherwise familiar chocolate. Top: Magnolia, Frangipani Middle: Rose de Mai, Himalayan Rose, Cinnamon, Tobacco Base: Oud Merauke, Oud co Chang, Cacao, Civet, Castoreum, Labdanum, Vanilla 🍫 If you are interested in more challenging chocolate - Lao Oud is your choice. I have made a review of that one as well. Thank you for reading and if you want to follow me on IG: @ninamariah_perfumes
I wrote earlier of Bortnikoff's scents in overall. Here you will find better review of Oud Monarch. The general idea of this collection was to create understandable and wearable fragrances that would appeal not only to fans of smoke and tars, but also to mass customers. It’s a little bit sad that those “mass customers” may don’t find this the most beautiful chocolate scent since they may be afraid of Oud. Anyway Oud in this fragrance is elegant and soft because it is accompanied by floral absolutes and spices. The note of chocolate is very realistic, enjoyable and delicious and the whole base with all it’s notes (which may sound challenging for some) is unbelievably smooth, silky and versatile. I highly recommend all chocolate lovers to try this one, don’t even read the notes! There are two kinds of oud oil in the composition: The first with a strong chocolate start and the second with a softer and sweeter character with hints of flowers, fruits and vanilla. In the heart the roses are almost invisible behind the rich velvety Amber Oudy chocolate wall. Frangipani, which is very popular in Bornikoff’s creations, is amazingly blended here and creates slightly tropical sweetness to otherwise familiar chocolate. Top: Magnolia, Frangipani Middle: Rose de Mai, Himalayan Rose, Cinnamon, Tobacco Base: Oud Merauke, Oud co Chang, Cacao, Civet, Castoreum, Labdanum, Vanilla If you are interested in more challenging chocolate - Lao Oud is your choice. I have made a review of that one as well. Thank you for reading and I would appreciate a lot if you would like to follow my content in IG: @ninamariah_perfumes