Comfortable, warm and elegant. No frills.

Floris are an interesting fragrance house.
They’ve been around as long as modern civilisation itself, but have always flown under the radar.
No big advertisements, no real vocal following.
Yet they do come up quite often in conversations about fragrance.

It’s not hard to see why, when you look at Floris’ catalogue and see some stalwart names.
Santal, No. 89 (the preference of Fleming’s Bond), Vert Fougere, an official scent for venerated menswear retailer Turnbull & Asser, and today’s subject:

Honey Oud.

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What keeps bringing me back to Honey Oud as a winter daily is simple.
It’s understated, yet warm and inviting.
There’s no yell of projection, but the longevity is solid.
It does exactly what it says on the label, giving off accords of honey and woods.

A whiff of it is warming to the soul, in the same manner as the smell of burning tobacco (if you’re into that).

It’s reasonably priced to boot.
Utilising natural ingredients, it’s no cheap designer, so you won’t be scoring a bottle for peanuts.
However, being regularly available to a discerning shopper between $200-250 for a 100mL bottle (retail is $349), I’d say that’s rather decent.

A couple of sprays will do you for the day, so that bottle will last a considerably long time.

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Floris cite the following list of olfactory notes:

Top: Honey, Bergamot
Heart: Agarwood, Rose, Patchouli
Base: Agarwood, Amber, Vanilla, Labdanum, Musk

Personally, I find the scent less complex and slightly different in order of appearances.
I detect fleeting hints of the rose and patchouli alongside bergamot in the top.
To me, honey is more in the heart than the top.
I don’t pick up any vanilla, or musk.
The labdanum and amber are blended so subtly that they only play as a backbone to the agarwood.
As a result, I only really smell those – particularly the amber – the morning after.

The appearance of these other ingredients is almost entirely minutiae.
Without actively critiquing the composition, Honey Oud very much comes across as just that.
A linear scent of honey and oud.

And that’s precisely what I like about it.

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What Would I Wear This With?

Honey Oud is a classy scent, so it dresses up nicely. I wear it with all manners of tailoring, hence it being a good everyday scent for me, given that I work in the tailoring industry.
Put on Honey Oud with your favourite sportcoat or suit.
If you’re a smoker, Honey Oud pairs well with the remnants of a choice cigar.

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If you’re looking to dress it down, keep textures at the forefront of your outfit. A chunky shawl cardigan, sturdy jeans and a heavyweight ringspun tee will do nicely.
I also like to wear it with the denim western shirt I designed a short while ago.

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Ratings

Longevity: .6/1

Around five to six hours after application, Honey Oud becomes mostly a skin scent.

Projection: .4/1

I find Honey Oud to be quite subtle. It’s a good thing – making this particular blend into a projection monster would be unpleasant.

Blend Quality: 1/1

I can’t fault the blend. It’s well balanced, and I don’t detect any overt use of synthetics.

Presentation: 1/1

I love Floris’ regal presentation. The labelling is befitting of the house’s royal warrants.

Personal Smell Score: 1/1

As I’ve noted throughout, Honey Oud is a warm, inviting and pleasant scent. An excellent daily wear for cool climate.

Total score: 4/5

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