Oud has long been one of the world’s most prized luxury perfume ingredients. Over the course of its long history, it’s featured in the courtship of legendary royal power couples and been praised by poets. And, perfumers have even been prepared to die for this unique resinous oil extracted from the agar tree indigenous to South East Asia and the Indian subcontinent. Needless to say, real oud is very expensive; ballpark values of about five thousand dollars per pound.
The house is very proud of its luxury oud fragrances created by nose Chris Maurice. So, we’re delighted to announce the arrival of The Oud Trilogy, a very limited edition collection of 30ml bottles of all three ouds—Symmetry, Loudo and Gold Spot—in a charming presentation box.
Yes, it’s timely as the holiday season approaches and we begin to think of gifts. It’s undoubtedly the ultimate luxury gift for oud aficionados. But, we surely wouldn’t blame you if you love luxury oud fragrances and think that the person who should be getting that gift is you. Either way, don’t take too long to decide because there are only 100 boxes of The Oud Trilogy available. When they’re gone, they’re gone!
Unsurprisingly, some people are already describing The Oud Trilogy as a collector’s item. So get yours here while stocks last.
The Oud Trilogy… naturally
Yes, there are synthetic creations that attempt to mimic oud’s unique character. But you know that we would never consider those worthy of you, dear customers.
In creating these luxury oud fragrances for the house, perfurmer Chris Maurice has used 100% natural Laotian oud and Indian Suyufi agarwood tinctured by Chris himself. Equally personally, all of the Laotian oud used in these distinctive fragrances was harvested from his sustainable Carbonnel oud groves. Yes, there is a very hands-on, craft-based reason that Chris is considered "a master of oud" by many of today’s most discerning perfume experts and fragrance reviewers.
Three tales in a box
As an artist-run brand, the House of Sarah Baker is all about storytelling; creating fantastic tales through the medium of scent. What later evolved into this “family” of three interrelated fragrances created by Chris, started with Symmetry.
Blending his unique oud tincture with orange blossom and cypriol, Chris created Symmetry as part of a broader fragrance project initiated by the house to create new fragrances with freshness at their core; a nod to the work of famed 18th-century perfumer Johann Maria Farina who created the first eau de cologne and forever changed the possibilities of perfume.
Now, “freshness” doesn’t exactly come to mind when thinking of the woody, animalic tones of natural oud. So, only a madman or virtuoso would attempt to create a “fresh" oud. But, as respected critics have confirmed, Chris Maurice is the latter, and Symmetry stands out among ouds for this combination of freshness and intensity.
Fast forward a few years, and Chris created two more ouds for the house, both with decidedly gourmand-esque undertows. Loudo is at first playful and sweet with the flavours of childhood appetites—such as white chocolate, vanilla and black cherry. Nonetheless, it dries down to something seriously grown-up.
By contrast, his most recent oud for the house, Gold Spot, is voraciously adult from the outset. Inspired by the heyday of Hollywood, it speaks to an era when the pictures were just as big as the stars. Indulgent luxury and hedonism mingle in a cloud of butterscotch, dark chocolate and sweet myrrh among numerous other rich notes.
To celebrate these unique creations, The Oud Trilogy brings all three fragrances together in a presentation box—think of them as a trilogy of novels or films. To mark the special occasion, the box also includes a newly created film script that weaves together each of the unique tales behind the individual fragrances.
Spot your oud
To lean more about these individual ouds and the stories behind them, check out this video Sarah made with fragrance writer and expert Sebsatian Jara aka The Perfume Guy to mark the launch of The Oud Trilogy.