Best Oud Wood by Tom Ford Alternatives & Similar Perfumes

‘All the soarings of my mind begin in my blood’

Rainer Maria Rilke

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A perfumed celebration of saints and superstitions, centred around a fierce fenugreek absolute note lavished with singed pyrazines, sacrificial myrrh and mournful molten honey poured over everything like amber rain.  Meadow blooms, sticky dark resins, pungent balms and ashen clouds of iris swirl like dramatic weather.

Ormonde Man, a most sophisticated fragrance, despite its unconventional ingredients. Complex and full of character, sultry and mystical, the fragrance exudes soft woody notes, but it is the infusion of Oudh oil, the world’s most prized essence since time immemorial, that sets it apart, elevating the scent to one of true distinction.

Cardamom, patchouli, cinnamon, cloves, Mexican chocolate, incense and musk. SweDoft uses the richest and finest ingredients to get the perfect blend. The juice also contains one of the best varieties of natural Indian oud.

Even with this unique collection of ingredients, SweDoft were still not satisfied with the results of traditional blending.

So they decided to do something unusual, while referencing the final part of Rasputin's story. They dropped the container with the perfume juice to the bottom of the Oresund Strait.

After 90 days, the water pressure in the dark, glacial sea produced unique results. The ingredients had flawlessly combined to fuse the formula.

Perfumer: Luca Maffei

Vanhera: a dark Vanilla, an unexpected fragrance that recalls intriguing and unclear sensations. A journey around one of the most iconic perfumery’s notes. A Vanilla perfume, not the usual Vanilla fragrance where just sweet notes are emphasized. A battle, a conflict among ingredients.

In Vanhera, a Madagascar Vanilla absolute tries to find a place in a universe of ingredients that want to suppress it. Vanhera is surrounded, almost besieged, by spicy notes of pepper, cardamom, cinnamon; it is embraced by warm notes of sandalwood and cashmeran and it is stained by karmawood, timbersilk and ambery notes. Nevertheless, the Vanilla absolute arises and makes its presence felt, conquering heart and soul of whoever smells it.

Ahhh cedar. Old school floors, air freshener in the downstairs loo with a top note of disinfectant. Yeah right.

This delicious fragrance encapsulates the living heart of the forest with lingering and enigmatic essence of the Great Bear Rainforest®.

With sustainably sourced ingredients from within its bosom that help maintain this breathtaking but threatened environment, its wonderful wildlife and its ancient peoples.

Does it pack a punch? Do bears...?

Wanna smell like an old Stradivarius or a posh French table? Didn’t think so.

Rosewood is the known go to for fine furniture and violin makers for centuries. But it has a sexy secret side: its amazing aroma. By distilling its oil we get a sweet, delicate woody scent. Lovingly mix that with the light greens of mango and neroli and, following feedback from our wonderful ådventurer members the amazing addition of dear old mary jane (that’s marijuana to you – ask yer dad). It now takes on a whole new degree of intoxicating ethereal sophistication.

Just like a beautifully played Ravel violin concerto. Well kinda.

A bait-and-switch perfume that starts sharp and clean with juniper and crisp, metallic violet leaves. Then comes the gentle abyss: a faded haze of tobacco, patchouli and leather swirled with white tea and musk. The message might be lost in translation, but all meaning will be found in the fragrance.

Santal takes its inspiration from a Sandalwood fragrance originally created in the 1800s which has then been given a distinctive contemporary edge.

Kamel was the friend who entrusted Sora Dora founder Antoine with the secrets of the oriental olfactory universe, embodied in this namesake perfume. Built around the clean woodiness of Laotian oud, this extrait contrasts the dirty spice of cumin with sweet raspberry and syrupy rose. Smoky and spicy, Kamel Oud will enhance your next 1001 days and 1001 nights.

Nawab of Oudh is part of the Four Corners of the Earth collection and represents India, the land that gives us oud, a plethora of spices, and so many beautiful flowers.

The name of the perfume can be interpreted in two ways. It’s a literal reference to the rich history and culture of India: hawab or nabob meaning ‘the ruler’, and Oudh the historical name of the modern day Uttar Pradesh region. However, given the current fashion for oud perfumes, you can interpret the name “the oud to rule them all’.

Nawab of Oudh has the complex architecture of many ingredients, surrounding the oud heart deep within. And on the way there, you will travel through layers of cardamom and other fresh spices, extravagant garlands of exotic flowers, the sea breeze of ambergris, and more.

The elixir is also exceptionally concentrated, at 42% - hence the 'intensivo' in the title.