Thirty-three Ex Idolo

Source: exidolo.com

Thirty-three begins oily and bitter before the roses come in to lighten the darkness along with some tart citrus and peppery notes. I like how the scent unfolds over time, one moment the rose is sweet and powdery like in Yves Saint Laurent's Paris, then it is deeper and lusher accompanied by the smell of mossy damp earth that comes from the patchouli and oud combination . 

Despite being unisex and dark, Thirty-three is a softer oud to enjoy as opposed to Maison Francis Kurkdjian's Oud or his Oud Mood trio or my bottle of Montale's Aoud Queen Roses which are denser and can be more "oud-y" than one is in the mood to handle some days. Compared to some ouds out there I find the oud note in Thirty-three to a truer example of what I imagine real oud to smell like, the dark pungent resin produced in response to inoculated ascomycetous mould. Elegant and mysterious, Thirty-three is my favourite (also affordable) rose/oud/patchouli perfume with very good projection plus longevity and I wish it were not a limited edition.