Amouroud — Licorice Woods
Essence
Licorice Woods is a dark, resinous, smoky woody amber built around anise/licorice ideas - but with a twist: some wearers get exactly that, while others say the licorice almost disappears and the scent becomes leathery smoky oud instead. That instability is part of what defines it. At its best it smells like bitter black licorice wrapped in elemi resin, smoke, and ambered woods; at its least convincing it smells like a familiar approachable niche oud with the title note only implied.
Scent Profile
The opening is sharp and dark rather than sweet. wearer statements emphasi
Performance
Performance appears good, but not monstrous. wearers tags longevity as above-average, and the statement scores read qualitatively for longevity with 6 - qualitatively for sillage. The clearest wearers wear log says it projected well for three hours and then began fading in and out, which sounds like a meaningful opening presence followed by a more intermittent smoky amber trail. No reliable documentation gives a reliable clothing-versus-skin split. The texture of the reviews does suggest that cooler air helps the composition, because smoke, resin, bitter herbs, and amber are what dominate wearer descriptionss. This is unlikely to be at its best in hot humidity, where the smoky-sweet aspect could turn heavier and the nuance between licorice root and burnt-sugar leather might blur. The safest application strategy is moderate spraying, ideally into cool-weather clothing rotation rather than high-heat daytime wear.
Wearing Context
Licorice Woods is built for fall and winter, evening wear, and offbeat casual or semi-dressy settings where an unusual bitter-herbal perfume feels intentional. It suits people who enjoy smoke, resins, anisic bitterness, and a slightly occult or apothecary vibe more than people who want a clean crowd-pleaser. It is not the best office scent unless your office tolerance is high and your spraying restraint is real. Socially, it skews masculine and niche. wearers’ strongest statement explicitly says “masculine, not sweet,” and even the positive wearers takes tend to describe it as dark, smoky, resinous, or weirdly compelling rather than comforting or flirtatious. It falls flat if the name makes you expect candy-black-licorice fun. What it actually offers is closer to bitter root, elemi resin, smoke, and woody amber with occasional gourmand flickers.
Comparisons & DNA
The most useful comparison is paradoxically not another Amouroud but the small licorice/anise niche cluster Matvey Yudov mapped in a 2024 article. He places Licorice Woods among fragrances explicitly dedicated to licorice, alongside Hermès Hermessence Brin de Réglisse, Guerlain Aqua Allegoria Laurier Réglisse, Caron Eau de Réglisse, Molinard Autour de la Vanille Réglisse, Maison Incens Tabac Licorii, and Lolita Lempicka Caprice Réglisse. That does not mean it smells exactly like those fragrances; it means the scent belongs to the narrower “licorice-forward” family rather than merely using anise as trim. wearer comparisons then sharpen the deltas. One wearer uses it to boost the anise facet of Lolita Lempicka without adding sweetness, which implies Licorice Woods is drier, darker, and less confectionary. Another says it resembles newer, smokier, less sweet batches of Maison Margiela By the Fireplace and also feels close to Lattafa Ameer Al Oudh Intense, which suggests a smoky-burnt-wood overlap - but Licorice Woods is more herbal/anisic when the title note shows up properly. It also makes sense that wearers’ “people also like” and wearers’ user-like graph connect it to By Kilian L’Heure Verte, Mancera Red Tobacco, Tonka Cola, and Xerjoff Naxos-adjacent territory: it lives in the same broad space where sweetness, spice, and unusual edible notes meet darker woods, though Licorice Woods is usually less boozy
Reception
Reception is mixed and revealing. wearers rates Licorice Woods qualitatively from limited responses, while wearers call it resinous-smoky with above-average longevity and records a small but fairly positive cluster of 8 - qualitatively statement scores. In plain terms: people who connect with the bitter anisic side seem to like it quite a lot; people who do not often come away frustrated that the scent does not smell like its title. The praise side focuses on dark black licorice, oily resins, smoke, complexity, and the way the fragrance keeps the florals from becoming sweet. The criticism side focuses on title-note mismatch, familiarity, and a late-stage drift toward generic leather-oud. wearers has several reviews saying, in effect, “where is the licorice?” or “nice, but I have smelled this before,” while others smell realistic licorice root and find that very distinctive. The tiny wearers signal is consistent with the smoky reading too: one user described it as smoky and even a little salty. No major critical review surfaced. Blind-buy verdict: only for committed anise/licorice lovers who enjoy bitter, resinous compositions and are comfortable with note perception varying dramatically from skin to skin.
Versions & Reformulation
Single composition, no known reformulations.
Acquisition Notes
Licorice Woods sits in Amouroud’s niche price tier. Catalog pricing lists 230 USD / 100 ml. Licorice Woods is documented as EDP. Sampling is the safest path when the dossier flags polarized wear; treat reseller chatter, batch-code speculation, and unusually cheap listings as non-authoritative.
Notable Facts & Lore
- Licorice Woods is a dark, resinous, smoky woody amber built around anise/licorice ideas - but with a twist: some wearers get exactly that, while others say the licorice almost disappears and the scent becomes leathery smoky oud instead.
- That instability is part of what defines it.
- At its best it smells like bitter black licorice wrapped in elemi resin, smoke, and ambered woods; at its least convincing it smells like a familiar approachable niche oud with the title note only implied.