No.240 Oud Wood

Launched in 2007, Tom Ford's Oud Wood remains one of the most influential fragrances in bringing oud into mainstream Western perfumery, built on a warm rosewood and cardamom opening that moves into a smoky oud, sandalwood and vetiver heart before settling into a sweet tonka bean, vanilla and amber base. Eden Perfumes' No.240 follows the same structural roadmap, opening with rosewood and cardamom that give an immediate, recognisable echo of the original's warm spice. The heart brings oud, sandalwood and vetiver together, and this is genuinely the strongest part of the resemblance, capturing the smooth, refined woody character that made the original so influential. Where the dupe falls short is in the finishing base: Eden's tonka bean, vanilla and amber combination is pleasant but noticeably thinner and less rounded than Tom Ford's version, which is prized for how it seems to grow smoother and creamier over the course of wear. Longevity and projection are also more modest, a few hours of good performance before the fragrance settles close to the skin, well short of the original's reputation for lasting the better part of a day. Still, as one of the most requested dupe targets in the fragrance community, this is a reasonable way to sample the rosewood-oud-tonka shape that made Oud Wood a modern classic.