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BORTNIKOFF Lao Oud (2021) Extrait de Parfum Unisex Bortnikoff’s ouds are quite easy to love but there are four which are more challenging than others. One of them is Lao Oud (others Sayat Nova, Oud Loukoum and maybe Triad for some). The master himself says “the note of Oud has never been so strong and animalic” in his perfumes. I don’t think it’s so animalic (for beginners definitely yes) but it’s very dense, dark and mysterious. Lao Oud is a blend of the exceptional Oud oil, the richness of Lao Coffee, and the Frangipani like sweetness (not listed here though) but it doesn’t remind me of freshly roasted coffee beans. It’s rather a some kind of the most darkest coffee syrap which has aged in the wooden barrels together with spices. There is a whiff of sweetness from which I smell honey and flowers with subtle animalic tones. You can smell a very dark Cacao, it’s not chocolate like but like that dark cacao powder which you didn’t wanted to be used in your drink when you was a kid. The whole blend is extremely sumptuous and unforgettable, it’s complex and addictive. Lao Oud is very close to Indian but it is much softer. Actually earlier I was thinking Oud Monarch to be like Lao Oud is. I was never thinking there is something that easy in Bortnikoff’s collection like Oud Monarch and I was thinking that Lao Oud would be too much for me. This is like a next step from Oud Monarch but there is a huge possibility that I’m just in the next level while exploring ouds, I love very animalic and edgy ones. I enjoy a lot of this masterfully blended piece of art. Top: Pink Pepper, Magnolia Middle: Beeswax Absolute, Cinnamon, Chamomile, Peru Balsam, Cacao Absolute Base: Oud from Laos, Tonka Beans, Crocodile Wood, Coffee, Oud from India, Vanilla Absolute, Birch Tar, Guaiac Wood Thank you for reading and if you want to follow me on IG: @ninamariah_perfumes
I have Sans Fleurs and Triad, both of which I love, and find completely dynamic, each wear giving a journey that's never quite the same as the last. Now I have Lao Oud, and it's totally in the same ball park. What's really strange is that it opens like BAM stinky poo in your face, then suddenly drops off to leave a chocolate, honey oud fragrance, which left me slightly disappointed, but actually, wait a minute, it comes back stronger than ever, and it keeps doing this, playing hide and seek, but somehow each time it comes back with more of a vengeance. In the dry down I find it very similar to Sans Fleurs, although smelling them side by side reveals a multitude of differences, but i think it's that they both have the same sort of oud plus little to no floral element, and a dose of vanilla. This perfume is an absolute beast, and now comes just below Triad in terms of scary, monstrous beast frag. This is easier to wear than Triad (due to Triad's epic latrine filled with hyraceum) if you can get past the opening minutes, which I love, but which do take me aback every time. Update: no, the drydown doesn't remind me of Sans Fleurs, the mid does. The actual drydown suddenly reveals a dry, realistic coffee smell, like fresh ground coffee beans, absolutely marvelous and unexpected!