Cacao, Dark Fruits, and Oud

[zankoku_zen]

No additional scent description.

[Arbitrary]

I picked this up because I am usually a fan of the Lab's cacao note, and I thought this might be a heavy cacao, with some oud giving it a good grounding, and some juicy fruit notes lightly sweetening up a rich cacao. This is nice, but I was way off the mark. This is more of a candy-chocolate scent, rather than a cacao.

In the bottle: Smells like opening a bag of chocolate-covered blueberry-acai something from Costco.

 

Wet: It still smells like the bottle on immediate application, but the oud quickly becomes apparent. It's much more of a chocolate scent than a cacao scent to me. I wouldn't call the fruit note 'dark'; it's more like an artificial fruit flavoring added to chocolate.

Dry: To be honest, the throw disappears on the dry down, as does much of everything about this scent. It's clearly on my skin, but it gets hard to identify the exact notes of the scent anymore. (Yes, I can still smell other things.) I do smell like a sweet snacc, and the dry scent sparks memories of walking into my local chocolate shop from childhood. This is a light "chocolate shop" scent. This is definitely not the cacao I was hoping for, but it's not a bad scent either. Just somewhat... ethereal, due to the light throw.

Addition: Asked the spouse to try to identify the notes on the dry down. This one gave them pause, which isn't usual. "It's... vanilla? No, I guess it's... chocolate?" As I said, it sort of muddles into a light chocolate shop scent that stays close to the skin on me.

Edited April 2, 2021 by Arbitrary

[Kanra]

I was worried about this at first and almost didn't buy a bottle because sometimes the lab's oud goes poopy on me. But do not fear, there is no poop here. Upon application, it's very cacao (not sweet chocolate, think pure cacao powder) plus woodsy oud. The oud calms down after a while, as does the cacao, and the dried fruits finally poke through. It’s surprisingly a lot lighter than I thought it would be.

 

I don't need a backup, but I like it and will keep my bottle. It's true to its name. If you like cacao, fruits (in the drydown), and oud without anything poopy, you'd like this.

Edited April 3, 2021 by Kanra

[zankoku_zen]

Rich cacao, woods, and dark fruits. The oudh here just adds to the dark fruits, and is not very oudh-like. In fact, can forget there's oudh in this blend. Medium throw and wear length.

[RobberBaroness]

I really like this one!  It's a dark gourmand, the sweetness reading as deeper and more intense than a lot of the cacao scents.  Might get a bottle, depending on how I like the other cacao scents.

[groovyrooby]

I tried several of the Cacao Pods this year - I just love that cacao note! But this was my winner. Smells like a cordial cherry! Rich fruity dark chocolate. Smooth and a little funky thanks to that oud - but it's a sour funk, like a nice dark Belgian beer, a Flanders red or a Flemish sour. It reminds me of the tang in Belgian Chocolate, Orange Blossom, Marshmallow, and Jasmine, which is another favorite of mine.

 

But this feels more late summer, sultry heat in the afternoon, whereas I feel the Belgian Chocolate etc. more in the wintertime, around a fire. This is not a particularly powerful throw, so it still feels safe for those warm temps. Delicious.