Oud Review

I’ve been into oud oil for years. I’ve been obsessed by it, gone broke because of it, gotten strange looks and a thousands compliments over it. There’s just no getting enough of it!

But the oud connoisseur’s world is a daunting place, a deceitful place. You can be turned off by the whole scene before you even get your foot in the door. And once you’re in, you find a lot of foul play.

There are several sources where you can read about what others have to say about the unique scent of different oud oils. The way they smell, the way they don’t smell, the way you wish they could smell - ought to smell. But what makes oud oil so unique in the world of fragrances is that it’s just so expensive. For this reason, when it comes to oud threads on fragrance forums, you won’t just find scent reviews. You’ll find a good dose of market criticism, discussion of marketing tactics, even forum members getting personal, throwing insults at each other!

I’m a journalist by profession - and a staunch skeptic. In the world of oud I’ve not only find the scent most dear to me, but also an intriguing underworld of sellers and cheaters, copycats and aspiring entrepreneurs. You find forum members getting banned on oud threads, other forums with exclusive membership only, private messages warning one vendor against the next, and the like... journalists live of off this stuff!

This blog is my two pennies’ worth trying to make sense of this underground scene, to help others get into it, help others stay into it, and also just to vent my anger, to shout at all there is to shout at – at the marketing, at the vendors, my fellow oud lovers, fake deals, oud noobs, and all the rest. Others have helped me, maybe some of what I have to say helps you traverse this tricky great smelling canyon... you might just have some spare cash left because of it!

PS: You’re welcome to write me, send me news and reviews which I’d consider publishing here.