The Story
Why it exists.
The beginning
Zlaza's Oud & Tonka arrived in 2024, composed by Bertrand Duchaufour, a perfumer known for working across a wide stylistic range. The brief was uncomplicated: take two ingredients most people already know by reputation, oud and tonka bean, and find the tension between them. No misdirection, no poetic rebranding. Just the materials, set against each other, and asked to do the talking. The composition commits to the idea that naming a fragrance after its core notes is only honest if the juice actually delivers on the promise. Two ingredients with strong reputations, forced into dialogue, and expected to prove that their pairing creates something neither could achieve alone. The name tells you what to expect. The composition decides whether you believed it.
What surrounds those headliners is where the fragrance earns its character. The heart leans on chocolate supported by freesia and geranium, with tonka bean grounding the transition between phases. Chocolate in an oud context is not a common move, and it pulls the composition toward confectionery without tipping into candy. The green facets from geranium and the soft floral lift from freesia keep the sweetness tethered. Oakmoss anchors everything with a damp, mineral undertone that prevents the sugar from floating off.
The evolution
The first ten minutes belong to bergamot and saffron, and they don't apologize. Citrus brightness cuts against the saffron's spiced warmth, and the combination feels almost architectural. Then something unexpected: chocolate arrives, and the fragrance shifts registers entirely. It stops being a spiced composition and starts being a confection. The chocolate reads rich and dense, with enough bitter edge to keep it from collapsing into sweetness. Freesia and geranium weave through, adding a cool floral current that keeps the chocolate from going one-directional. As the opening fades, the tonka takes the wheel and oakmoss grounds it with a mossy, almost forest-floor dampness that prevents the sweetness from becoming cloying. Vanilla blooms in the background, soft and rounded.
Cultural impact
Oud & Tonka occupies a distinctive position through its note choices rather than through any one ingredient. The oud-and-tonka combination is familiar, but the decision to place chocolate at the heart of the composition, supported by freesia, geranium, and tonka bean, reshapes what those two core materials can do together. The green floral accents keep the sweeter elements from settling into pure gourmand territory, while oakmoss gives the base a textured, slightly mineral quality.
The House
ZlazaZlaza is an artisanal fragrance house built around emotional storytelling, where each scent is conceived as a personal narrative rather than a commercial product. Based in Lusignan, France, with a presence reportedly spanning both French and Albanian markets, the brand draws on a founders' shared love of scent, travel, and partnership to compose fragrances that aim to bottle intangible moments. The catalog centers on artistic, identity-driven compositions across multiple collections, including the 2024 lineup of Cybell, Aetheria, Astral, Desiderium, Meridian, Timeless, Oud & Tonka, Scenteligence, Celestique, and Oud & Pear, alongside newer launches such as the Volo D'Amore series and the White Collection.
The Creator
Bertrand DuchaufourDuchaufour is the master of smoke and shadow, of incense rendered with painterly depth rather than theatrical force. Where many perfumers treat frankincense as a single note, he builds incense as a tonal range, capable of austerity or warmth depending on what the fragrance dem…
