Surrati's Tom Oudh and Oudy Woody

For nearly a year now, I have been wanting to not only try these 2 Surrati releases, but to purchase Oudy Woody blind. I tried online more than once and each time something went haywire with checkout. Allow me to say I am extremely grateful for small favors such as this. My basenote friend ( DULLAH ) and I recently did a sample swap and he was kind enough to include Tom Oudh along with Oudy Woody.

Imagine my surprise that, after wearing Oudy Woody ( and disliking it ), I wore and thoroughly enjoyed the Tom Oudh which was included in my packet at the last minute. Anyway, let's get back to the Oudy Woody that I had wanted so bad. The oud note in this is on the crude side and regardless of what other note implementations are present, it evolves ( rather quickly ) into a body odor aroma. To me, it smelled like armpit that needs some hygiene attention. To make certain it wasn't my imagination, I naturally took my aromatic self into the other room where Mrs. Aromi was relaxing. Like always, I have her smell the scent and she recoiled away from me. Immediately she stated it smelled like body odor.

Suffice it to say that ended any notions of ever purchasing Oudy Woody, but I will say that I wore healthy sprays after this transpired. I wanted to give it a chance and besides, DULLAH sent me at least 4ml.  All the wearings ended the same however, and this fragrance simply is not for me.

The Tom Oudh proved to be very wearable and surprisingly smooth. It's an oil and the one thing that disappointed was the longevity. I anticipated longer life than I got. The sillage was on the closer side as expected and a very different oudh rendition than Oudy Woody. It made me think that it was deliberately calibrated to be an oudh for Westerners. Whether or not that's the case, I know I liked it and it has made my list for possible oudh purchases. I want only one for my drobe and I'm undecided between Tom Oudh and my least favorite house of all time. Yes......I'm referring to L'Artisan.

Who would have known that what I considered to be a misfortune when trying to order Oudy Woody was a blessing for me? It also got me involved in a swap that resulted in my opportunity to try Tom Oudh. Life's a funny thing sometimes and I suppose so are some of the fragrances I subject myself ( and wife ) to.

A neutral-negative rating for Oudy Woody.
A thumbs up for Tom Oudh.