THE FIRST SPRAY- BDK OUD PARADISIO · Brotherhood Of Scent

THE FIRST SPRAY- BDK OUD PARADISIO

Onto part II of this series. I’d been waiting a while to actually be able to wear this, considering the scorching weather we’re dealing with in Las Vegas, but I saw that sample lying about, and said “fuck it, I got nothing to lose”, and that led to part II of this review.

And right off the bat, I was thoroughly impressed.

One similar thing i’ve seen about the DNA from Jordi Fernandez, is that the openings always have a little bit of everything in the scents, including the base notes. I noted this with Silver Ceremony, Oud Maracuja, and Cuir Infrarouge. It can be borderline overwhelming because you get a lot of everything in the openings.

The opening has an accord i’ve never smelled before, which is an accord of pineapple ice cream, something you wouldn’t expect. But it’s so well done, that you can completely see how it would smell so. It’s vanilla-like, creamy, slightly gourmand, and has a light, almost tropical punchiness to it with a sharp pineapple note.

Mixed in with that, you get spices, incense, and fresher elements. Saffron and incense provide that foreshadowing and bridge to the deeper, more resinous base, while also blending with the more fresh, lighter elements.

Honestly that’s how I think Jordi is able to get that, “every note is present in the openings” DNA, because even the opening notes provide a bridge to the deeper notes.

Eventually, time passes by, and the opening notes descend into a rosy, floral heart, of three different notes: Bulgarian and Turkish rose, and Turkish rose absolute.

The Bulgarian rose provides a light, fruitier and airy floral, which connects to the opening notes quite well, while the blend with the Turkish rose gives a jammier, richer depth to transition to the base much smoother.

The addition of Turkish rose absolute was smart in my opinion, as it helps to balance the lighter and fresher elements like the pineapple and bergamot out with the heavier, woodier bases. It’s honestly how you’re able to blend two contrasting notes so well, by giving them a proper bridge.

Finally, when the scent dries down, you get an earthy, smooth, resinous base of cocoa absolute and Thai oud. Using oud essence sourced from Thailand was a good choice in my opinion as well.

I’ve tried a lot of different oud types, and Thai has a slightly jammy, almost fruity quality to it that you don’t get anywhere else, which I think fits in beautifully with the DNA of this fragrance. It provides a well curated and fitting theme/scent palette throughout the fragrance, which is a highly underrated and often unnoticed aspect, and a mark of a true master perfumer.

So, what’s my final verdict?

This one absolutely blew me away.

This is a highly unique, and completely original creation, yet one that fits perfectly in the DNA of that classic, fruit and floral/oud and resin contrast that I’ve fallen in love with.

I wasn’t the largest fan of fragrances like Oud Maracuja and Oud Stallion, mainly because of the sharp punchiness in the openings, but Paradisio actually fixes those problems.

It takes the sharp synthetic qualities of those other fragrances and smooths it out with vanilla, and a brilliant dual rose heart. As I said before, including the two rose DNA’s, and blending the lighter Bulgarian with the richer Turkish, which gives it this almost gradient like quality to it, and provides a glue to hold the contrasting elements together.

This is a smoother, more luxurious and wealthy cousin to Oud Maracuja, so if you like aspects of it but dislike the sharpness, this one is absolutely worth a try.

Performance is absolutely nuclear. 11+ hours on my skin, excellent projection within the first three hours, and something that is strong and noticeable. Do NOT overspray, even in cold weather.

So, to sum it up, I was impressed by this, quite a bit. I love the notes, the blend, the contrast, and I can smell the quality on this. It smells luxurious, it smells expensive, and if they use genuine ingredients like oud and rose, I can justify the premium price point for it. An amazing performance as well.

THIS feels like a proper 10th anniversary scent.

Overall, I give it a 10/10 rating. This is one of the first scents i’ve ever given a 10/10. Well done, BDK.

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