Oud Wood

House: Tom Ford

Release: 2007

Fragrance Notes

Top Notes: Rosewood, Cardamom, Chinese pepper

Heart Notes: Oud, Sandalwood, Vetiver

Base Notes: Tonka bean, Vanilla, Amber

Review

Tom Ford’s Oud Wood was launched in 2007 as part of their Private Blend series, intended to have a smaller audience and a mark-up suitable to low volume compared to their other, already expensive, lines for the masses. This is a dry fresh wood perfume of the period that helped pushed the use of synthetic oud as a key branding ingredient in commercial perfumery. To do that, everything else is toned down and the oud is kept clean, floral, fruity, with some rubbery, smoky, tobacco along for the ride.

From our wear of a 2020 decant, this opened up with a curious soapy, rubbery, leathery note. There is a tickle at the back of the nose that seems to be the Chinese pepper note listed. We do not get much cardamom initially, but the rosewood linalool is there along with something fruity , floral, rosy, perhaps the aspect of the cardamom that is the focus given that it does not seem to be the eucalyptol. Ultimately, this fruity floral note is revealed as the top note of the oud progression. We include this on our list of Top 10 Cardamom Perfumes because of the way the spicy opening drops into a fruity floral heart.

Other reviewers have commented that this has poor longevity (3-4 hours on us), limited projection and sillage, a lack of authentic animalic aspects of oud, and discordance between some of the top and base notes. We actually think this performs alright as a sanitized oud, but is ultimately lacking enough compelling top or base notes justify the expense. We don’t get the Comet, but could leave the sandalwood/musk accord.