There was a time ten or so years ago when Mrs. C and I became interested in the Italian dessert called tiramisu. We would discover that the origin of the dessert was in dispute with its first appearance being anywhere from the 17th century up to the 1960’s. There are even disagreements on how to make it. We experimented with making it in different ways as well. They all tasted great and there was truly no specific one that was head and shoulders above the rest. The only common agreement across any of this was the ingredients; coffee-soaked ladyfingers, eggs, sugar, mascarpone cheese, and cocoa. Every variation I have tried is still recognizably these ingredients yet also carrying subtle differences.
In perfumery there may also be an analog to this tiramisu recipe; the rose and oud combination. For the last fifteen years oud centered fragrances have exploded. Hundreds of perfumes have been released featuring this note in that time. A significant percentage of them have rose as a prominent note. Like those tiramisu recipes I was so enthralled with even a perfume with prescribed ingredients can still be influenced by a creative perfumer. This was what I was thinking when I tried Nicolai Oud Sublime at Esxence 2016.
Patricia de Nicolai
Patricia de Nicolai has been also exploring oud and this is her third oud perfume following up on Rose Oud and Amber Oud. Oud Sublime is a rose and oud perfume except Mme de Nicolai seemed to really consider the supporting players to bring out the beauty inherent in that rose and oud combination. The oud she uses is a Cambodian oud. The Cambodian version is the least confrontational source of oud. It carries a sweeter slightly dried fruit profile versus the more medicinal edgier profiles of oud from other countries. By making this choice it allowed Mme de Nicolai the opportunity to find complements to bring out all of the nuances of this exquisite raw material.
From the first moments of Oud Sublime that Cambodian oud is present. The first two ingredients Mme de Nicolai uses with it are davana and ambrette seeds. The sweet herbaceous nature of the davana is an inspired choice as it feels like it is interspersing itself within the oud. The botanical musk of ambrette adds back in some of the animalic quality some other ouds have. This is much subtler being able to be precisely titrated in by Mme de Nicolai. The rose comes forward at this point. It is a spicier rose which again provides a bit of what the Cambodian oud doesn’t display as much of. Coriander and cumin up the spice quotient. Both of these are tremendous within the construct of Oud Sublime. They add their distinctive presence as modulators for the rose-oud combination. This all settles in to a catoreum base swirled with incense and styrax.
Oud Sublime has 12-14 hour longevity and moderate sillage as it is in extrait concentration.
Oud Sublime is another version of oud and rose. It is also a version which carries a seemingly more intellectual consideration on how to display that combination to its best effect. Mme de Nicolai has delivered a recipe which stands out from all the others.
Disclosure: This review was based on a sample provided by Nicolai at Esxence 2016.
–Mark Behnke
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