Mysterious OudOriental Woody Extrait de Parfum

Mysterious Oud by Bortnikoff is a woody, oriental, and spicy niche perfume extract, unisex, created by Dmitry Bortnikov. With twenty-two ingredients, it is the house's longest formula.

A Thai house where the founder is also the perfumer

Bortnikoff is based in Thailand, in the heart of the agarwood-producing regions. It was founded by Dmitry Bortnikov, a Russian perfumer who is both the owner and the nose of his brand, and who works with wild Thai oud, sourcing his ingredients at the source. He uses genuine animal materials — deer musk, castoreum, civet, ambergris. The catalog is divided into four lines: Entry Level, Main Collection, Colognes and Attars. 50 ml bottle.

An opening of bergamot, orange, cardamom, and amber

Bergamot and orange open bright and zesty, while cardamom brings its fresh and slightly camphoric spice. Amber arrives right from the start, which is rare, and immediately establishes the warmth.

A heart of nine ingredients, flowers, and spices blended together

Rose and jasmine form the bouquet, while cinnamon, clove, nutmeg, and pink pepper add spice, myrrh its bitter resin, and tonka bean its sweetness. In the middle, castoreum — leathery and animalic — comes to disrupt the whole.

A base of nine woody and resinous ingredients

Oud and Indian oud establish the depth, accompanied by sandalwood and cedar. Tolu balsam, opoponax — sweet myrrh — and labdanum provide the resins, vanilla the sweetness, and lotus an unexpected aquatic clarity.

The house's signature touch

Castoreum placed in the middle of the flowers. The construction seems abundant — twenty-two ingredients, nine in the heart, nine in the base — but one detail governs everything else: the animal material is not in the base, where it is usually placed to support the dry-down. It is in the heart, between the rose and the jasmine. The disruption therefore arrives at the moment when the perfume should be the most floral, and that is what gives it its name. Second detail: two ouds, one generic and the other named Indian, coexist in the base — the house distinguishes its agarwoods instead of blending them. Lotus, finally, is an ingredient that Western perfumery almost never uses.

For whom, for what occasions?

Woody, oriental, and spicy, this extract is for those who love dense compositions and orientals that cannot be easily summarized. It gives its best from autumn to winter, in the evening, and is equally suitable for both women and men.

With Mysterious Oud Bortnikoff, Dmitry Bortnikov slips an animal material into the middle of a bouquet.