Roja Amber Aoud Parfum Review: Busy But Beautiful

No doubt about it, oud has been the biggest trend in fragrance for some time. Correction. It’s moved from a trend to staple in perfumery, with whole brands devoted to this most precious and tricky of ingredients (for example, Fragrance du Bois). More than most, British perfumer Roja Dove has proven adept at showcasing its multifaceted beauty with releases that include Roja Aoud Parfum, Roja Musk Aoud Parfum, Roja Sweetie Aoud Parfum and Roja Amber Aoud Parfum.

The latter has been particularly popular. And for good reason. It shows Dove’s time in the Middle East (three years, according to the brand website) to familiarise himself with the intricacies of oud was time well spent.

This 2012 release has a similar structure to the other Roja Aouds I’ve tried – citrus opening + floral heart + dense drydown.

IMMERSIVE: Oud master Roja Dove.

There’s a brief barely noticeable citrusy-fresh opening, courtesy of notes of lemon, bergamot and lime. Voluptuous rose de mai then makes an appearance, honey-ish powderiness to the fore. Its fruitiness is accentuated by notes of fig and ylang-ylang.

As always with Roja fragrances, there’s a lot going on in the drydown, with 11 officially listed notes. The oud in question is rich, smooth and slightly animalic, but without the skank. It’s fleshed out with the sweetness of spicy cinnamon and leathery saffron.

Roja Amber Aoud Parfum is everything you want a premium oud to be: authentic, warm, cosy and extravagant. With the prominence given to the queen of florals, perhaps it would have been more accurate to call it “Rose Aoud”. But there are already umpteen variations on that theme and Dove has created an exclusive Roja Taif Aoud for Fortnum & Mason. I quibble…

Although a tad too sweet for me, the hype around Roja Amber Aoud Parfum is justified. At R12 300 (over $850 / £600 / €700) for 100ml, it doesn’t come cheap. But then it is competing in what I call the league of “super-ouds” (for example, Frédéric Malle The Night and Fragrance du Bois Sahraa).

Roja Amber Aoud Parfum is available at Skins Cosmetics.