Initio Oud for Greatness Decant

Oud for Greatness is a very modern take on oud — clean, bright and enormous rather than dark and traditional. Saffron and nutmeg open with a lavender note that gives the whole thing an unexpected freshness, and the oud underneath is smooth and resinous rather than funky. The musk and white woods base is what gives it its distinctive polished quality.

It is a performance monster. Twelve hours plus, with a sillage that carries considerable distance in the first three hours. It is a winter and evening fragrance, and it has become one of the most recognisable niche releases of the last decade.

Initio bottles are expensive and the house has a strong house style that people either love immediately or find synthetic. Two millilitres is the right way to establish which.