Tom Ford Tobacco Oud Decant

Tobacco Oud is what happens when you take the tobacco idea and remove most of the sweetness. Coriander and cinnamon open it, cypriol adds a smoky, almost tarry quality, and the tobacco-and-oud heart is dry and resinous. There is vanilla and cocoa in the base but it never becomes a dessert the way Tobacco Vanille does.

It performs strongly at nine to ten hours with a smoky sillage that carries. It is a deep winter fragrance and an evening one, and it appeals particularly to people who find Tobacco Vanille too sweet but want the same territory.

The two are constantly compared and the difference is substantial. Owning 2 ml of each is more useful than owning a bottle of one.