LV123 Ombre Nomade

Louis Vuitton's Ombre Nomade is one of the most acclaimed oud fragrances of the last decade, built around a monumental agarwood accord wrapped in smoky frankincense with a startling raspberry facet cutting through the darkness, all resting on a soft amberwood and benzoin base. LV123 chases that silhouette: a smoky oud-and-incense heart with a touch of rose and geranium standing in for the original's rarer facets. The opening is close for the first half hour, the smoke and oud both present and reasonably dark. Where it falls short is the original's fruity-floral contrast, which barely registers here, and the base note refinement, which reads more generically resinous than the sculpted amberwood of the real thing. Longevity and projection sit well below the original, so this suits testing the oud-smoke idea on a budget rather than replacing the icon it apes.