Blog 

Round 24 of the AlHimyan Perfume Battle puts the most stubborn champion this tournament has ever produced against one of the most quietly luxurious oud compositions on our shelves. On one side, Afnan 9 PM — an Eau de Parfum that costs AED 131 for a full 100ml and refuses to lose. On the other, Acqua di Parma Oud & Spice — a Laotian oud built in Parma, priced at AED 1,513 for the same 100ml.

Afnan 9 PM comes into this round on eight straight wins, already the longest reign in the history of this tournament. Win a ninth and it moves further ahead of Amouage Interlude Man and Parfums de Marly Layton, who both stalled at seven.

The contenders

Afnan 9 PM Eau de Parfum, 100ml

Released in 2015, 9 PM is the fragrance that made Afnan a household name outside the Gulf. It is a sweet, creamy, apple-and-vanilla gourmand that reads as expensive and behaves like a much more expensive bottle. Parfumo's community scores it 7.9 out of 10 across 2,334 ratings.

• Top notes: apple, Provencal lavender, cinnamon, bergamot
• Heart notes: lily of the valley, orange blossom
• Base notes: vanilla, tonka bean, patchouli, amber
• Main accords: sweet, fruity, creamy, gourmand
• Price at AlHimyan: AED 131 for 100ml — AED 1.31 per ml

Shop Afnan 9 PM EDP 100ml at AlHimyan

Acqua di Parma Oud & Spice Eau de Parfum

From the Signatures of the Sun collection, Oud & Spice arrived in 2021 and takes a distinctly Italian approach to a Gulf material. Instead of a heavy, animalic oud, Acqua di Parma wraps Laotian oud in rose, raspberry and warm baking spice, then finishes it with labdanum and patchouli. It is restrained where most oud fragrances are loud. Parfumo rates it 7.4 out of 10 across 330 ratings.

• Top notes: rose, bergamot, raspberry
• Heart notes: clove, pink pepper, cinnamon
• Base notes: Laotian oud, labdanum, patchouli
• Main accords: spicy, woody, oriental, smoky, floral
• Price at AlHimyan: AED 1,513 for 100ml (AED 15.13 per ml) or AED 1,936 for 180ml (AED 10.76 per ml)

Shop Acqua di Parma Oud & Spice EDP at AlHimyan

How the scoring worked this round

Our standard formula weights Fragrantica at 35 percent, Parfumo at 25 percent, longevity at 15 percent, sillage at 10 percent and value at 15 percent.

For the twelfth consecutive round, Fragrantica could not be reached. Every route returned either an outright 403 or, worse, a page for a completely different fragrance. We do not guess numbers to fill a gap, so the Fragrantica category was removed entirely and its weight redistributed proportionally across the four criteria we could verify on the day:

• Parfumo community score — 38.46 percent
• Longevity — 23.08 percent
• Sillage — 15.38 percent
• Value for money — 23.08 percent

Every figure below was read live from Parfumo on 2 August 2026. Nothing is estimated.

Head to head

The verdict: Afnan 9 PM wins Round 24 by exactly 1.00

Afnan 9 PM takes all four scored categories and extends its reign to nine consecutive wins — a new outright record for this tournament. The margin of exactly 1.00 is the widest since Round 19.

Acqua di Parma wins only one measure, and it is the one our formula does not count: bottle design, 7.8 against 6.9. That is not a throwaway detail. The Oud & Spice flacon is genuinely beautiful, and if a fragrance is going on a dressing table where guests will see it, that matters.

But on the numbers, the gap is not close. 9 PM outperforms on longevity by 0.4, on sillage by 0.6, on community score by 0.5, and on value by 2.7. The value gap is decisive: at 100ml, Oud & Spice costs 11.5 times more per millilitre.

There is also a depth-of-evidence difference worth naming. 9 PM's scores rest on more than 2,300 ratings; Oud & Spice's rest on 330. Both samples are large enough to trust, but one is a mass verdict and the other is a connoisseur verdict.

So which one should you actually buy?

These two fragrances are not really competing for the same wardrobe slot, and the score should not be read as "do not buy the Acqua di Parma."

Buy Afnan 9 PM if you want a sweet, creamy, crowd-pleasing evening scent that performs for eight-plus hours, projects well in Gulf heat, and leaves enough budget for two more bottles. It is the single best value in our catalogue and it earned that title over nine rounds against fragrances costing ten and fifteen times more.

Buy Acqua di Parma Oud & Spice if you want real Laotian oud handled with Italian restraint — rose and raspberry lifting the wood, clove and cinnamon warming it, nothing shouting. It is a considered, grown-up oud for someone who already owns the loud ones. If you go this route, the 180ml at AED 1,936 brings the price down to AED 10.76 per ml, which is a meaningfully better buy than the 100ml.

Frequently asked questions

Is Afnan 9 PM a men's fragrance?

It is marketed for men, but the sweet apple-vanilla profile wears comfortably on anyone. Plenty of our customers buy it as a shared bottle.

Does Acqua di Parma Oud & Spice smell like traditional Gulf oud?

No, and that is deliberate. It uses genuine Laotian oud but frames it with rose, raspberry and spice rather than letting the wood dominate. If you want a traditional dehn al oud profile, this is not that fragrance.

Why was Fragrantica left out of the scoring?

Because we could not reach it. Rather than invent a rating, we removed the category and redistributed its weight across the four verified criteria. Every number in this article came from a live Parfumo read on the day of publication.

Which size of Oud & Spice is the better buy?

The 180ml. At AED 1,936 it works out to AED 10.76 per ml against AED 15.13 per ml for the 100ml bottle.

How long can Afnan 9 PM keep this record going?

Nine wins is now the benchmark. Both previous record holders fell on the defence that would have taken them past seven. 9 PM has cleared that twice.

Round 24 result

Champion: Afnan 9 PM EDP — nine consecutive wins, a new tournament record.

Both fragrances are in stock now at AlHimyan with cash on delivery across the UAE, Tabby and Tamara instalments, and a 7-day return window.

Afnan 9 PM EDP 100ml — AED 131 | Acqua di Parma Oud & Spice EDP — from AED 1,513