Oud Al Badr
Fragrance notes
Character
Rain runs down the leaded glass of a dimly lit library on a cold, dark evening. Over a wingback chair, a thick wool blanket is draped, smelling of dried tobacco and old, cracked leather bindings. You pour a glass of aged brandy, the heavy crystal catching the low, amber light of the nearby fireplace. As the peat smoke from the dying embers begins to sting the air, you pull the collar of your jacket up. The first breath of House of Sal's Oud Al Badr comes rushing in, instantly grounding the room. It smells of a deep, dark forest floor, wet with rain and covered in decades of fallen leaves. The Assam oud opens the composition with a sharp, woody resonance, quickly followed by the searing, coal-like bitterness of birch tar. It is a severe, unapologetic attack on the senses, completely devoid of the bright, sparkling top notes found in modern designer scents. Yet, just as the smoke threatens to overwhelm, a rich, sticky vanilla absolute emerges from the heart. It does not sweeten the blend into a dessert; rather, it acts as a gilded, powdery frame around the animalic, leathery darkness. The scent sits heavily on the skin, a dense, resinous cloud of smoky wood and earth. It is the olfactory equivalent of that heavy wool blanket, keeping the freezing night at bay while the fire slowly turns to ash.
