# Bortnikoff — Oud Monarch Attar > Oud Monarch Attar (2020) is the concentrated oil version of Bortnikoff's much-loved Oud Monarch, a 2019 floral-oriental built by artisan perfumer Dmitry Bortnikoff around real agarwood, a dry dark cac ## Essence Oud Monarch Attar (2020) is the concentrated oil version of Bortnikoff's much-loved Oud Monarch, a 2019 floral-oriental built by artisan perfumer Dmitry Bortnikoff around real agarwood, a dry dark cacao accord, tropical florals and an animalic base. Its signature is the marriage of natural oud with bitter cocoa, softened by florals into a "friendly," wearable oud - an entry point for the oud-curious that still satisfies committed lovers of the material. The attar is the denser, oilier, more intimate sibling of the spray extrait. ## Scent Profile It opens on tropical, almost fruity florals - frangipani and magnolia over a lush plumeria and jammy rose - before a heart of cinnamon, tobacco and rose brings forward the composition's centerpiece: a dark cacao and chocolate accord. Crucially this cocoa is dry, bitter and powdery rather than sweet or dessert-like, which keeps the whole thing from tipping into gourmand territory. The base reveals two distinct ouds beneath an animalic underpinning of castoreum and civet, rounded by labdanum and vanilla, with the civet emerging in the drydown. The oud itself reads tame and clean rather than barnyard-funky, and some wearers detect dried-fruit nuances of apricot and dates arising from the cinnamon-cocoa-floral interplay. Compared to the spray, the attar is significantly denser and syrupy, with the balance shifted further toward tobacco and cocoa - a soft tobacco enveloping a cocoa-soaked oud. ## Performance Performance is the attar's most debated trait and its clearest difference from the spray. As a pure oil it delivers enormous longevity but soft, close-to-skin projection. Reports split: some find it so intimate that someone must lean in to catch it, while others report a modest cloud and uniformly excellent staying power. A recurring pattern is that it starts quiet and gains depth over the day rather than opening with a blast. The takeaway: the attar trades the spray's projection for intimacy and density. ## Wearing Context This is a cool-weather, evening, special-occasion and personal-enjoyment fragrance - dark, sweet, musky and rich. It is firmly not a hot-weather scent, though its naturalness keeps it pleasant rather than cloying. It wears as genuinely unisex, leaning slightly feminine to some noses while working equally for men. It suits the connoisseur who appreciates naturals, oud and gourmand-animalic depth, with a smoothness that makes it far more approachable than typical artisan ouds. ## Comparisons & DNA - Bortnikoff Lao Oud shares the chocolate-oud theme but is funkier and more challenging; Monarch is the friendlier version. - Bortnikoff Oud Maximus is the denser, more vintage-oriental oud-rose in the lineup. - Areej Le Dore is the defining external peer - the house of Bortnikoff's former Feel Oud partner - generally heavier and funkier where Monarch stays tame and clean. - Areej Le Dore Oud Luwak is the closest external echo of the cocoa-oud idea (there, oud and coffee). - It sits within the artisan-naturals sphere alongside Ensar Oud and Sultan Pasha Attars, prized for composition as much as raw materials. ## Reception Oud Monarch is among Bortnikoff's most acclaimed scents, repeatedly named a personal all-time favorite and framed as the ideal oud entry point that nonetheless entices committed oud lovers; the chocolate-oud accord is the most-praised element. Criticism clusters on three axes: the cocoa polarizes and a minority find it overwhelming; the attar's soft projection disappoints those expecting extrait-level performance; and there are reports of batch and aging issues, including a rancid edge in one bottle and sediment that calls for a shake before use. The prevailing verdict is strongly positive for lovers of sweet, animalic, natural oud and dark cocoa, with sampling advised given the price and the polarizing cacao. ## Versions & Reformulation Two principal formats exist: the original Oud Monarch Extrait de Parfum (2019, around 25-30 percent, in 9/30/50 ml) and this Attar (2020 oil). They share essentially the same accord, with the attar treated as a concentration variant - denser, syrupier and more tobacco-and-cocoa forward. Reformulation is a live concern: several wearers report the current extrait smells different from older batches, citing a scratchier opening and a more generic tobacco, and some recommend the attar as the better current value. Early versions are prized, and the experience can differ by batch and year. ## Acquisition Notes The attar is sold direct on the house site at roughly $125, against around $350 for the 50 ml extrait, making it the more accessible route into the composition and a noted layering companion. Decant and sample houses carry it for testing, and buying from the house or trusted specialist decanters is the safest route. Two attar-specific cautions are worth noting: fragile vials prone to breaking at the cap, and possible oil separation requiring a shake before use - neither affects the scent. Given reformulation chatter and batch variance, sampling a current batch before committing is the prevailing advice. ## Notable Facts & Lore - Oud Monarch was conceived as an "understandable friendly oud," built to show oud's beauty to a broader audience by surrounding it with naturals rather than tars. - It is built on two specific oud oils: a Papuan Oud Merauke with a chocolatey start and a softer, sweeter Thai Purple Koh Chang. - The cocoa character is largely emergent from the oud itself rather than an added gourmand note. - Dmitry Bortnikoff is a former architect and onetime partner of Russian Adam at the Feel Oud distillery, which supplies several of his ouds. - The "courts of kings" framing casts oud as a historically royal material, matching the regal name.