Aoud Violet, released in 2014, shows that if you want florals from Mancera/Montale, rose is the way to go. It's not that the brand can't do other florals, as this is certainly a decent violet fragrance with plenty in its corner. It's just that Pierre Montale knows his way around the harmonization of natural and synthetic rose materials, while the 100% synthetic violet in this fragrance poses a challenge he doesn't seem entirely willing to embrace.
It resides in a territory that has been covered, often more dynamically, by less expensive fragrances. Fahrenheit, Grey Flannel, and Creed’s Love in Black (which is ironically cheaper at grey market prices than Aoud Violet is at retail) all explore similar approaches to the peppery greenness and purple sweetness of violet materials, and do so with more personality. Mancera’s version opens green and brisk, with galbanum, bergamot, and a polished aldehydic lift that signals quality—and considerable value—at its roughly $70 grey-market price point. That quickly gives way to a plush violet accord that’s lightly petrol-tinged but mostly dry-powdery and semisweet. From there, it settles into violet wrapped in Galaxolide and other clean musks. By the four-hour mark, those musks take over, and the scent remains largely unchanged for the next ten hours, a steady impression of purpley-grey violets at the laundromat. Longevity and projection are admirable here.
There are hints of spice, but they register more as violet leaf piquancy than as distinct notes. The violet leaf itself never takes center stage, instead hovering in the background with a watery, cucumber-like effect from materials such as nonadienal and methyl octyn carbonate. This likely explains why some reviewers call Aoud Violet aquatic, even though it isn’t. In the end, I enjoy wearing it because it’s smooth and inoffensive, but I also find it the most vanilla violet I own. This is an olfactory theme that benefits from risk. Fahrenheit succeeds because it commits to how subversive and dark its subject matter can get. Love in Black is unapologetically maudlin. Grey Flannel glowers. Aoud Violet plays it safe, and the comfort it offers doesn’t quite make up for the boredom it leaves behind.
Side note: "Aoud" Violet contains zero oud.