Persolaise Review: Oud Sublime from Nicolaï (Patricia De Nicolaï; 2016)

The soundbites
If Oud Sublime were a colour, it would be deep maroon.
If it were a fabric, it would be expensive upholstery velvet.
If it were a piece of music, it would be J P Rameau’s Tambourin – Pièces De Clavecin.

The review
Trust me: you want to know about this oud. For one thing, it’s by Patricia De Nicolaï, which means it has ‘try me’ written all over it by default. But more importantly, it bucks the trend and brings something novel to the far-too-crowded-to-be-funny-any-more oud genre. What is its trick? Well, simply put, it’s a green oud. With the help of a bracing, astringent artemisia note – not miles away from the wasabi accord we saw last year in Panorama – Nicolaï shakes off all but the most tenuous links between her oud and the pseudo-Arabian cliches that have blighted this style of perfumery in recent years. Indeed, she almost dispenses with the oud vibe altogether. But it never quite disappears, adding weight to the whole, grounding it and causing the accompanying rose, styrax and typically refined Nicolaï amber to appear more stately. Oud Sublime‘s elegance is thoroughly buttoned-up-French, but also rakish, like a vision of Versailles-dwelling aristocrats shedding their formalities, their refinement and their clothing to indulge in a spot of debauchery on the lawn. What’s not to love?

[Review based on a sample of “elixir de parfum” provided by Nicolaï in 2016]

Persolaise