Year: 2007
Notes: Sicilian bergamot, geranium, rose, honey, oud, teak, guaiac wood, sandalwood, musk
Aoud Flowers is probably one of the most distinctive oud creations by Montale. It's also the darkest and most mysterious out of all their rose-oud renditions – even more so than the highly revered Black Aoud.
Black Aoud encompasses the romantic aspect of the gothic aesthetic, with colour associations of pastel hues. It's best visualised as being trapped at the bottom of an empty well, with the glimmering light reassuring you of being eventually discovered and only the towering trees for company. There's also a somewhat ethereal quality about Black Aoud that provides an inkling of hope, offering to awaken you from the nightmares should they ever become too unbearable.
On the other hand, Aoud Flowers represents the pure gothic nature – the facets of darkness and evil that most are unable (or unwilling) to acknowledge. Where Black Aoud offers unconditional salvation, Aoud Flowers is the equivalent to being buried alive in a steel coffin. If there is one film director whose artistic style mirrors the smell of Aoud Flowers, it would most certainly be Gaspar Noé.
However, due to its astringent, jammy and murky woodiness, it isn't particularly versatile or endearing (although the later emergence of a frankincense accord is rather sublime). With impressive projection and lasting power, it's definitely the best Montale oud release in recent years but, at the same time, it doesn't compel one enough to wear it on a regular basis.
Black Aoud encompasses the romantic aspect of the gothic aesthetic, with colour associations of pastel hues. It's best visualised as being trapped at the bottom of an empty well, with the glimmering light reassuring you of being eventually discovered and only the towering trees for company. There's also a somewhat ethereal quality about Black Aoud that provides an inkling of hope, offering to awaken you from the nightmares should they ever become too unbearable.
On the other hand, Aoud Flowers represents the pure gothic nature – the facets of darkness and evil that most are unable (or unwilling) to acknowledge. Where Black Aoud offers unconditional salvation, Aoud Flowers is the equivalent to being buried alive in a steel coffin. If there is one film director whose artistic style mirrors the smell of Aoud Flowers, it would most certainly be Gaspar Noé.
However, due to its astringent, jammy and murky woodiness, it isn't particularly versatile or endearing (although the later emergence of a frankincense accord is rather sublime). With impressive projection and lasting power, it's definitely the best Montale oud release in recent years but, at the same time, it doesn't compel one enough to wear it on a regular basis.
