Atkinsons
A unique visual signature based on accords, character, and seasonality
The cardamom hits with immediate brightness, a sharp green-spiced snap that's almost peppery, quickly joined by cinnamon's warm powder and ginger's subtle burn. Within moments you're enveloped in a wave of kitchen spice—authentic, slightly dry, completely indifferent to seduction.
The oud emerges with deliberate restraint, woody and slightly metallic, creating a fascinating tension with the coffee blossom's green, almost herbal bitterness. The geranium adds a subtle floral geometry that keeps the composition from becoming one-dimensional, whilst the spices settle into a warm, almost smoky embrace around this woody-aromatic core.
Vanilla absolute and coffee coalesce into a softly resinous, incense-tinged base where the oud reasserts itself as purely woody and mineral. What remains is gently sweet but predominantly smoky and austere—more smouldering ember than gourmand comfort.
The Other Side of Oud is Maurice Roucel's deliberately provocative counterargument to the reverent, rose-laden oud fragrances that have dominated niche perfumery for the past decade. Rather than presenting oud as a precious, almost sacred ingredient, Roucel treats it as a textural component within a spice-forward composition—earthy, slightly bitter, almost sulphurous. The opening assault of cardamom, cinnamon, and ginger immediately establishes this as a fragrance interested in culinary warmth rather than olfactory preciousness. As these spices settle, the oud emerges not as a creamy animalic force but as a woody scaffold supporting unexpected florality: coffee blossom cuts through with a green, almost herbal bitterness that prevents the composition from becoming a simple gourmand. This is where Roucel's sophistication reveals itself—the coffee blossom and geranium create a slightly astringent midpoint that resists sweetness, even as vanilla absolute waits below.
The base—where coffee and vanilla absolute meet oud and the lingering spice—is where The Other Side of Oud reveals its true character: smoky, slightly resinous, with an almost incense-like quality that suggests burnt wood and distant roasted beans. This is a fragrance for those who prefer their scents complicated, slightly austere, and genuinely challenging. It's worn by people at ease with contradiction: elegant enough for evening, too idiosyncratic for safety. It demands a wearer with conviction.
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3.9/5 (326)