This is such a wonderful perfum for those people who are just dabbling into OUD or those who just want a bit of oud. Top notes are Basil, Incense and Fruits; middle notes are Vanilla and Woodsy Notes; base notes are Amber and Cambodian Oud.

I do really like Interlude, but if the similarities are indeed microscopic I can’t imagine this would be satisfying to me. And I loved seeing my own bewilderment reflected, because while I like this one more than you do, I haven’t a clue why I like it. The soothing scent of delicately sweet vanilla transports you to the heart of this fragrance, perfectly balanced with long base notes of smoked oud. That said, in terms of how dry smoke dominates a stage of the perfume’s development, I can see some parallels between Sehr el Kalemat and the much more expensive Amouage fragrance. During this short period, the hot summer here in Bahrain, and considering the number of fragrances that I am using per week, Kalemat has given me compliments almost every-time that I have worn it.To calculate the overall star rating and percentage breakdown by star, we don’t use a simple average. Bakhoor are fragrant wood chips burned as incense and in this regard Kalemat Black delivers in spades.

There is the faintest, tiniest dusting of amorphous spices, though it doesn’t really smell like cardamom and it definitely doesn’t smell of coriander, as one list mentioned. To those that say longevity and projection are just OK, you have got to be kidding me or maybe you have the wrong fragrance. The cocoa was a rich, almost buttery, thick chocolate with a nutty undertone that soon mixed with a very custardy vanilla in the base. Once that dissipates you will be greeted with a very wearable cold weather sweet vanilla/oud fragrance which is "western" enough not to offend anybody even the relatively inexperienced noses. And mind you, the moment she said that, she was standing in one of those cubicles in the office with a ventilator on top to suck out the cigarette of the smokers.

this smokey, boozy, vanilla spicy fragrance, it's one of my top favorite fragrances, I have a huge complaint though, the bottle.

My first thought was "saliva" - the same kind of saliva smell that I got from Arabian Gardens, and Suki Weil. I hope to re-visit this fragrance soon as I still remember how amazing this smelt and even though I don't remember the exact scent, the memory of this being unique and besotting still remains with me. This can be worn in all seasons except in very humid conditions (IMO) depending on the number of sprays.

I truly did find myself bewildered at one point because Sehr el Kalemat seemed so much sweeter than regular Kalemat, but it was also drier at quite a few points. I'm starting to see a trend here where if Oud is listed as a note people just intensive the hell out of it, like blinded, and hungry berserkers, thirsting for precious things. Despite being a sweet gourmand fragrance, this is completely non-cloying and wearable in the summer. The scratchy, dry, dusty, almost metallic, steeliness in Sehr el Kalemat is a given, no matter how much of the fragrance I applied. To me, it has the characteristics of guaiac wood: singed woods with an aroma like that of burnt leaves in a large autumnal bonfire.

So after a while I took peace in the fact that I should only wear this fragrance for others to enjoy. It smells very much like a typical Middle Eastern concoction that has been done so many times before. This is a somewhat unsophisticated but enjoyable Eastern gourmand that merges sweet and resinous notes against a lively backdrop of woods, fruits, spices, and florals.

At no point, however, can I detect any violet whatsoever in Sehr el Kalemat’s development, nor any bergamot, vetiver, or sandalwood (real or otherwise). Performance is also great solid 15-20 hours lol no joke this stuff lasts for ever on me and sillage is good.