Khalis – Oud Afgano

Khalis don’t get the love they deserve in the fragrance community. They have a wide selection of originals and clones, most of which are at a really cheap price point – and I’ve got quite a few.

This one was my second ever buy from Khalis. It stood out to me. I really liked the simple brown and gold bottle, so I went for a blind buy and boy, was I pleased.

Oud Afgano is a dense, smooth, smoky scent with a hint of tobacco, but not the same tobacco you’d find in Carolina Herrera’s Mystery Tobacco or Mancera’s Red Tobacco. It has a sweetness to it, but nowhere in the league of something like Bentley Intense For Men. The smooth dry smokiness is tempered by floral notes (rose and jasmine are listed on Fragrantica), but these are so subtle as to work really well – I’m not a fan of strong rose or jasmine. It makes me think of a reading room with the tick of a grandfather clock (yeah, I know that’s a bit out there).

In the few years I’ve had this, I’ve nearly emptied the bottle (a backup is on standby!) and would say my favourite time of year to wear it is in the autumn – with a brown cord jacket with fleece collar.

Now here’s where it gets interesting: Some have said this is trying to be a clone of Nasomatto’s Black Afgano. Now, I have a bottle of Blend Afgano which is under a sub-brand of Paris Corner. That smells near identical to Oud Afgano. Yet, Oud Afgano doesn’t smell like Black Kabul (FA Paris) or Hash Intense (LPDO) or Black Afgan (also Khalis) all three of which whilst slightly different to each other, have a red-wine like body to them.

Regardless of whether it’s a clone of Black Afgano or not, I love it for what it is and it’s definitely one of my favourite fragrances.