Hermessence Oud Alezan was released in early 2024, created by Christine Nagel. A unisex amber floral, it has notes of rose and oud. Nagel approached this perfume by wanting to overcome her fear or horses, a foundational piece of the Hermes brand which began making harnessed, saddles, bridles int 19th century Paris. When Nagel ran across a woody oud that reminded her of that smell of a horse she had spent a lot of time with. The perfumer notes: “As a perfumer, I’ve smelled many ouds, but never one that touched me so deeply—let alone one that made me feel the exact same power of emotions that I felt with the horse,” and "That feeling of being immersed in an incredibly intimate and sensual material revived a disconcerting memory I have of smelling the neck of a chestnut horse." Originally a creation for herself, Nagel wore it to a meeting at Hermes, and everyone wanted to smell it. Hermessence Oud Alezan is an eau de toilette, edt.
Reviews of Hermessence Oud Alezan
Fragrantica - "There’s a lot more oud in this than what I was expecting from both the Hermessence line as well as the early comments here. The oud here is of a higher quality than the oud in the LV line of Sables Roses & Ombre Nomad (as would be expected from Hermes compared to LV products)."
Fragrantica - "I tested it today and fell in love. On the test strips the rose is strong and dominant while on the skin (mine at least) it kinda steps back and the oud kicks in. It is not the kind of oud most ppl don't like. It's opulent, it's sexy and definitely unlike other rose oud accords."
Fragrantica - "he opening is about strong, medicinal and animalic oud/rose/leather combo. The dry down reminds me of Vuitton's Ombre Nomade."
