Fugazzi Passionfroudh, a passionfruit oud with a chaperone

Fugazzi Passionfroudh is a 2025 extrait de parfum from Ilias Ermendidis, built from passionfruit, mango, black tea and ginger over black pepper, gurjan balsam, agarwood and cypriol. On paper that reads like a beach holiday with a smokehouse booked for the evening.

I found Passionfroudh through an 8ml sample, which sat alongside others like Golden Kingmaker, and those have taught me exactly what I don’t want from an oud: the “poopy oud” version, the one that walks in like a barn with opinions. Passionfroudh keeps getting compared to Oud Maracuja, the usual entry-level oud, where enough sweetness and enough going on around the oud stop it going feral. I’m not a fan of sweet fragrances, so I went in sceptical; I wanted an oud I could wear without apologising for it. Passionfruit, as it turns out, is a decent chaperone, and the sample did its job: I now own the 50ml bottle.

Fugazzi Passionfroudh 1 1

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On the Skin

It opens sweet, with the passionfruit unmistakably there and the ginger giving it a slight edge. The oud is already underneath: dark, heavy and smoky from the first spray, just not the sort that makes you check the soles of your shoes. Through the middle and into the dry-down the passionfruit softens, and the tea and ginger step up beside it rather than over it. Then it settles. This is oud, with no way around it, but smoky and woody rather than animalic, with a depth that earns the name.

One thing the official notes don’t list is a leather-adjacent note, though it reads more as suede, and I’m no leather fan. I like it here. The first hour could pass for a fruit fragrance with ambitions; once the passionfruit has stepped back, there’s no mistaking what’s underneath.

Performance

Three sprays from the sample and it lasted a good 24 hours. I woke up in it, went to bed in it, and could still catch it in the damp bathroom the next morning, just before getting in the shower. Sillage is strong too: several people said they could smell something. A compliment magnet it probably isn’t, because oud isn’t for everyone, so you wear it knowing the room has a vote.

The Verdict

This isn’t an office scent, and owning the bottle doesn’t change that. It belongs to formal occasions where a cologne would feel too light and you want something heavier and more mature than the passionfruit suggests. It’s a fragrance for an occasion rather than a day, and the sweetness is the only thing about it that hints otherwise. The fruit gets oud through the door; oud is still the one wearing the suit.

Pro's & Con's

Dark oud without the barnyard
Suede-like depth in the dry-down
Lasts a full 24 hours
Strong, noticeable sillage
Sweet opening, not for everyone
Too much oud for the office
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