Wood Leaf II

A budget take on Tom Ford's Tobacco Oud Intense, Wood Leaf II leads with what the original is built around: dry, smoky tobacco leaf laced with oud and a animalic touch of castoreum. The heart deepens into warm amber, sweet tonka and resinous labdanum before a woody base of sandalwood, cedar and patchouli, with a spicy thread of coriander, grounds the blend. Against the real Tobacco Oud Intense it reads more two-dimensional - the tobacco less juicy-boozy, the oud and castoreum tamer - so it trades the Tom Ford decadence for a leaner, smokier interpretation. Projection is moderate and turns intimate after a few hours, with respectable but not the original's marathon longevity. Even so, for the money it captures the dark, masculine mood convincingly - a smoky tobacco-and-oud warmth that suits cold-weather evenings, dates and formal occasions, reading as bold, sensual and grown-up rather than fresh or sweet.