Tom Ford · 2007 · Unisex
Oud Wood
Amber Woody
Composed by Richard Herpin in 2007, Oud Wood introduced mainstream Western luxury perfumery to the mystical, smoky depths of agarwood without overwhelming medicinal facets. The fragrance opens with an exotic, spiced fusion of exotic rosewood, cardamom, and Chinese pepper. The smoky, complex heart features rare oud wood blended with creamy sandalwood and earthy vetiver. The smooth base softens the profile with warm amber, tonka bean, and vanilla, making it one of the most wearable, refined, and universally praised wood-centric fragrances ever made.
Longevity
7-9 hours
Sillage
Moderate and sophisticated
Notes documented
9
Season fit
Autumn / Winter
The pyramid
Read top to bottom as a timeline, not an ingredient list. Top notes typically flash off in 15-45 minutes, the heart carries hours two to four, and the base defines everything after.
Top — first 45 minutes
Heart — hours 1 to 4
Base — the dry-down
How it wears
Documented longevity for Oud Wood sits at 7-9 hours, which places it in the Parfum band (20-40% aromatic compound). Sillage is described as moderate and sophisticated, so plan application accordingly: 1-2 dabs or sprays on pulse points.
The base is built on Tonka Bean, Vanilla, Amber. These are low-volatility materials, which is why the last third of the wear smells markedly different from the opening — and why a five-minute test at a counter tells you almost nothing about whether you will like it at hour six.
In cold, dry air expect the projection to read weaker and the wear to stretch longer; in hot, humid air expect the opposite. Use the season calculator to sanity-check a specific month and city.
When to wear it
Occasion tags here are editorial judgements derived from the composition's family, note structure and sillage — not brand marketing. A fragrance described as moderate and sophisticated sillage should be applied more sparingly in shared air such as offices, lifts and aircraft cabins.
Context
Released in 2007, Oud Wood sits in the Amber Woody family. This library documents 7 other fragrances in the same family, which makes it a useful reference point if you are mapping the category rather than shopping for one bottle.
Note that any composition older than a decade has almost certainly been reformulated: IFRA amendments have progressively restricted materials such as oakmoss (atranol), coumarin and birch tar, and supply constraints on sandalwood and natural oud have pushed houses toward reconstructions. A bottle bought today is not chemically identical to one bought at launch.
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Ranked by shared base and heart materials plus family proximity — fragrances sharing three or more base notes tend to feel related after the second hour.
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