Cypriol Oil or Nagarmotha

What it is

Distilled from the root of a sedge grass grown in India. Cheap relative to what it imitates, which is why it appears so often.

What it smells like

Smoky and leathery with a dry, tarry depth. It is the material most used where oud is implied but not paid for, and it is convincing enough that most people cannot tell the difference.

Where it sits

Which layer of the pyramid it is listed in, across every fragrance here that carries it. A base note is one you smell for hours; a top note is usually gone within the first.

What it turns up with

How much more often than the catalogue average. 1.0x would be chance, so these are the things that genuinely travel with it rather than the things that are simply common.

When it is worn

Against the average fragrance here. The line marks that average, so a bar past it means this is worn in that season or setting more than most.

Houses that use it most

Counted across the fragrances here, which reflects what we cover as much as what a house makes.

Amouage (5), Xerjoff (4), Nishane (3), Bvlgari (2), Ajmal (1), Carolina Herrera (1).