Montale Black Oud vs Czech & Speake Dark Rose

I have had samples of both Black Oud and Dark Rose for some time now and have worn these two regularly over the last eighteen months. To my mind, I thought they were quite similar, so thought I would wear them side by side, one on each wrist. Readers of my blog might know that I am generally quite a fan of both oud and rose perfumes, and the combination of the two can be stunning and is a tried-and-tested duo. I went through a bit of a rose fetish a while back and more recently on an oud bender.  Black Oud is one Montale that always seems to encourage debate - just visit the Basenotes reviews for example, and you will see what I mean. Dark Rose is less well known perhaps, but perhaps the Czech and Speake line as a whole is becoming better known, as recently (i.e the last eighteen months) they have stepped up their marketing, at least in the UK. 

Black Oud opens with a strong medicinal blast, a common theme in the Montale Oud series. Any western nose familiar with more Western-based oud perfumes will recognise this accord. It's quite an oily perfume on skin, suggestive of its concentration and strength. The powerful opening is quite astringent and pungent and I can see some people being put off by this. The rose emerges quite quickly and it isn't a fresh, green, dewy rose; rather it is quite sweet and earthy. At the same time there is a sourness as well, which might be citrus, but I'm not sure. The heart is rose and oud; no surprises there. There is some patchouli here too (some say a lot) but I never find it that obvious, although it might lend that earthiness I was referring to. The rose is of high quality I think, but I do find that Black Oud wears very differently on my skin depending on the season. In winter the rose can come across quite sour and thin, but in heat it blooms and becomes gorgeously sweet and rich. I would say that Black Rose is quite linear. Once you get past the medicinal oud opening, the rest is pretty much rose and a bit of woods, but amped up, so that what you get is a bold, intense and long-lasting perfume. In fact, sometimes Black Oud's intensity and linearity bores me, as it goes on and on, without really altering. However, in warm weather it definitely reveals a more interesting facet. I wore Black Oud a few months ago at the height of the South African summer, when I was out there on holiday. The woody subtleties of the fragrance were revealed, and as I said, the rose more well-rounded. In the gloom and cold of a northern winter, Black Oud can be rather severe and constant, at least on my skin.

Dark Rose also opens with a medicinal oud edge, but is much more restrained than Black Oud. There is also a slight soapiness to the opening which surprised me. The rose is very prominent, perhaps more so than Black Oud's, but it is perhaps less sweet and a bit greener. Other than that, the first half wears fairly similar to Black Oud. As the fragrance progresses, I feel that it is thinner and less rich than Black Oud, almost watered down by comparison. I think Dark Rose is still well done, and one might find it more to their liking if Montale's ouds come across as too strong and forceful.

Having worn these side by side, I find that they are not quite as similar as I first thought wearing them separately. My personal preference is for Black Oud, which I find richer, more complex, has a better and more realistic rose note and somehow its sweeter character suits the rose more, in my opinion. That's not to say that Dark Rose is a poor fragrance; it isn't, and if you are someone who likes, or is interested in, rose and oud perfumes, I would certainly recommend trying them both. I would say that both tend to be more masculine in character, but particular with Black Oud, I think the sweet rose brings it back more into unisex territory and I can't see why a woman could not at least try it.

Image credit: florissential.co.uk

Abdul Samad al Qurashi

I have recently become quite interested in Middle Eastern perfume, or at least, the concept of it. I say this because up to now, my only exposure to this style/idea has been through sampling the Amouage line and trying some of the Montale ouds. However, I have not tried anything from perfume houses that are, to me at least, slightly more exotic and less accessible. Price is probably one factor, particularly with real oud, which can be prohibitively expensive, and another consideration is that unknown factor; the fear that who you're buying from over the internet is some fraudster. Perhaps I am too conservative. In any event, I ordered some samples of oils/blends through The Perfumed Court that are made by Abdul Samad Al Qurashi. At least I think they are. I get a bit confused by perfumes made, marketed and sold in the Middle East because the names can be quite confusing to a westerner, and very often an outlet may stock a number of perfumes by different manufacturers. I ordered the Al Qurashi Blend, Musk a Ajeeb oil and an Oud Musk attar. 

The blend is a wonderful classic combination of oud, saffron and rose, with some woody notes. If this sounds familiar, you're right. If you've ever tried a Montale oud, such as Black Oud, for example, this will be a very familiar association. In fact, in many ways the blend is almost a dead ringer for Black Oud, but where it excels is in the superior blending, at least in my opinion. It opens with that medicinal, band aid oud and saffron accord, perhaps a bit less pungent than Black Oud, but quite assertive nevertheless. The saffron is beautifully  aromatic, spicy and dry, and there's just enough dewy, slightly sweet rose in the background to balance the oud and saffron. Whereas Black Oud assaults one's senses, Qurashi blend feels like a better-balanced, more refined take on oud, rose and saffron. What I find interesting is that after the initial medicinal opening, the oud shifts to a more woody, slightly musty/mushroomy accord, quite similar to that encountered in By Kilian's Pure Oud. I apologise if I am using western oud perfumes as a reference point, but I have not been fortunate enough to try the real stuff and therefore I have no idea whether the Qurashi blend contains any real oud, or if it is entirely synthetic. But I don't think it matters; it smells wonderful anyway. The rose thickens to a jammy, sweet syrup, which counterbalances the drier and woody oud perfectly. In the dry down the notes all soften considerably, until what is left is a dry wood and oud accord, which is quite lovely.  I find Qurashi blend to have more clarity than Black Oud. I detect each one of its notes more distinctly, whereas Black Oud muddies the waters a bit, in my opinion. I do like Black Oud, but I just find the Qurashi blend to be a more sophisticated and clearer take on this classic combination.

I am not going to review the two musks I sampled; this will be the subject of another post, as I think they warrant separate discussion. However, what I will say at the outset is that I found these musks to be totally confusing, and they have possibly permanently altered my perceptions of musk. If that sounds confusing, it is! All I do know is that as someone who enjoys musk, particularly animalic musk, and admittedly has only really tried a number of more mainstream/Western-style musks, I could not get my head around these. 

To end, I would certainly encourage you to try some of the Abdul Samad al Qurashi blends or oils. I'm sure some would be hit or miss, but they are certainly different and very interesting.