Vendor: Bath & Body Works
Whiskey Reserve
Green apple and oak with a light whiskey bite
Oak in perfume smells dry, sturdy and woody, like a cut plank or an old barrel. The collection holds 350+ perfumes that list oak or oak wood as a note; prices start around $10 and reach about $675.
Oak is the hardwood used for furniture and for the casks that age wine and whisky, so an oak note can read as plain dry timber or as a hint of a cellar. Perfumers build it from woody materials. It is different from oakmoss, a lichen with a green, mossy scent that has its own page.
Among the perfumes people discuss in the communities Scendira tracks, Thomas de Monaco Raw Gold and Parfum d'Empire Salute each list oak. Both list oak in the base, Raw Gold beside honey, patchouli and cigar and Salute beside musk and oakmoss.
Suits: People who like dry, woody, cellar-like scents. Skip if: a dry, plank-like woodiness feels austere on you.
Oak sits inside the woody perfumes family, and oakmoss perfumes or cedarwood perfumes are close relatives.
Vendor: Bath & Body Works
Green apple and oak with a light whiskey bite
Vendor: Rossano Cortini
juicy peach and melon with powdery white florals
Vendor: Dorall Collection
Ripe fruit punch, sweet vanilla marshmallow, airy florals
Vendor: The Dua Brand
smoky cherry cigar with bourbon vanilla warmth
Vendor: Ralph Lauren
bright citrus and minty melon over cedar-musk
Vendor: The Dua Brand
cool ocean breeze with bitter citrus and herbs
Vendor: The Dua Brand
Bright citrus, incense, and creamy coconut breeze
Vendor: Maison Crivelli
sweet dried fruit, wine lees, smoky woods
Vendor: Miller Harris
cool sea air, fig cream, bright citrus zing
Vendor: Ralph Lauren
Aromatic herb breeze over suede and earthy wood
Vendor: Milestone
Warm cinnamon tonka, sweet cognac amber, soft vanilla powder
Dry, solid and woody, like timber or a barrel.
No. Oak is the wood of the tree, while oakmoss is a lichen that grows on it with a green, damp smell.
In Thomas de Monaco Raw Gold oak sits in the base with honey, patchouli, cigar and saffron, and in Parfum d'Empire Salute it sits with musk and oakmoss.