Oud & Spice

Scent Profile

Top notes: Bergamot, Saffron, Cardamom, Pink Pepper

Heart notes: Oud, Rose, Leather, Incense

Base notes: Amber, Sandalwood, Patchouli, Musk

Why We Carry This

What makes Oud and Spice valuable is that Acqua di Parma has not simply applied oud to their existing palette. The bergamot-rose opening anchors the oud in Italian tradition, and the result is a spiced oud composition that carries the Parma lightness of hand even at its darkest point. Well-positioned between Western and Eastern sensibilities.

Character

Accords: Oud, Amber, Warm Spicy, Leather, Smoky, Woody

Perfumer: Nathalie Lorson

Launched: 2015

Oud and Spice opens with bergamot and raspberry over rose, the Italian house beginning where it is most comfortable before pink pepper, cloves, and cinnamon arrive to redirect the composition toward something darker. Oud and agarwood in the heart are treated with the restraint that distinguishes this from Middle Eastern oud constructions: the Italian DNA is still present, the spice register warm rather than resinous-heavy. Patchouli and cistus labdanum in the base give the drydown a balsamic depth that holds the composition well into the evening.