Attar/Mukhallat of the Day

[Ahmaoud]

I didn’t realise you were creating from a formula, however you are making custom modifications in regard to different Oud oils, florals & Khus though?…

I totally agree, I was feigning humility 😉 Just tried a bit of it yesterday, the initial overwhelming Hojari has settled under the دهن كنز الغابة القديمة (Ancient Forest Treasure Oil) from Sokkat Al Teeb, which is to say, not completely vanished but hidden behind the mossy opening of the Ruh Khus Ateeq. I'm impressed with how wonderfully NTT Batch III has held up with these more dominant scents. The bitter green notes, and overall cooling tone created through the mixture of the Oud and Hojari compliment the sandalwood, which alone can come off quite lactonic. Still some difficulty transitioning , kinda stays stationary. Actually it does transition out from the bitter green Khus, taking longer than if it was just neat. The fact it doesn't smell repulsive at this stage is a success in my books, even though more work is needed at the top and in the mid. However the initial goal of enhancing and smoothing out the Khus has been achieved.

Another note about this "Ancient Forest Treasure Oil", I was way too harsh on it earlier. It's spectacular, and I spoke about it feeling like it was from Borneo, well today I got hints of Sumatra and Sumbawa from it as well, yet the overall feeling still firmly remained rooted in North Borneo, or the Malinua profile. Letting these oils settle after shipping has worked its magic again. I wonder how much is due to our nose getting accustomed to a scent, versus anything actually happening.

About three days I was quite enamored with musk, during a musk fueled bender I'm sure we all go on, and it was mesOud's Rustam and Sulaym's Dusk Musk which kept me lost in that trance. Beautiful stuff, I felt the raspberry tones some hindis develop when paired with rose, but the soil like quality of the musk grains was so unashamedly dominant in Rustam that I was lost in a cloud of toothpick swipes for most of the day. In the late evening I applied an equally tiny, if not even less amount of Dusk Musk and felt a standing meditation overcome me, the beauty of this composition, almost satiates all desire for musk in an attar.

Today I'm wearing some تركيبة ملام (Malaam Combination/Recipe) from Sokkat AlTeeb, which is supposedly a combination of natural ambergris with an earthy Cambodian oud. Powerful stuff, unlike غالية دارين (Ghaliya Daarein) which is supposed to be similar but which was a very low projecting scent. I've never tinctured ambergris myself so I don't know how authentic the scent is, however it's truly a new expression of the term earthy. As it just arrived today, I'll see how my opinion of it changes. Today I just couldn't help layer it with Sulaym's Kaa'bah Attar, I kid you not, I scratched my wrist with a sample vial dipstick and that was enough. I love this stuff, but it really squashed the Malaam Combination.

 

[Mr.P]

@An Najwa Kshmir II - this one has a delicious strong sweet spicy fruity opening, cardamom is doing some interesting things here! I get some notes that remind me of cinnamon and citrus, some other fruity notes bordering on peachy. There is something effervescent and tantalizing about the top notes that carries through as the scent unfolds - it is almost edible smelling. 🙂 There are some granules in the bottom of the sample bottle, perhaps musk grains? I struggle to dissect the base - skillfully blended into a harmonious unity.

 

[Kabir Attars]

I'm smelling like a French Hooker right about now, decanted some samples and rubbed excess on me. Right now the two loudest is the White Amber Sandalwood and the Vanilla Musk Sandalwood you get a gentle wisps of the Vanilla Mongolian Rose Musk and I don't smell the Cambodian Musk Oud at all, Got one more to decant that's Brown Amber Sandalwood.

 

[Mr.P]

I'm smelling like a French Hooker right about now, decanted some samples and rubbed excess on me. Right now the two loudest is the White Amber Sandalwood and the Vanilla Musk Sandalwood you get a gentle wisps of the Vanilla Mongolian Rose Musk and I don't smell the Cambodian Musk Oud at all, Got one more to decant that's Brown Amber Sandalwood.View attachment 43310

"Smells like a French whorehouse around here" is how my mother once put it. This was in my youth - she was a funny one.

 

[Al Shareef Oudh]

"Smells like a French whorehouse around here" is how my mother once put it. This was in my youth - she was a funny one.

There is good reason why they would use such terms. The early generation French peefumers were notorious for using musks for those sort of purposes. Until the early 1900s the scent of genitalia was a big thing in their perfumery

 

[Mr.P]

View attachment 43286
@An Najwa Ruh Khus Ateeq
A very clean, refined, aged traditional rug khus, the notes are all present and detectable yet rounded and balanced perfectly.
The other Ruh Khus is like a modern representation of the Ateeq, subtler, less earthy more green, almost citrusy, fresher smelling.

I have just arrived from a long camping trip in the mountains of Najed, my nose is too full of campfire smoke and camel grazing grounds, and I’m very very tired, so this needs a revisit later when I’m more relaxed.
A special thanks to An Najwa for the many samples he sent, you’re very generous, and I loved every one of them, I will order some of them inshallah later after a long, careful smelling session or ten.

I have not put in the time/energy to really sort out my khus specimens... however I smelled that ateeq and agree it is a delightful khus! An Najwa's khus oils helped my appreciate this kind of vetiver more (I am more drawn to the sweet and tangy notes of Haitian oil as a personal fragrance as opposed to the starchy / vegetal notes of Indian oil).

Some day I need to do side-by-side comparisons of my Indian green Khus oils - after smelling the stuff for decades the "THIS IS RUH KHUS!!!" note is still so strong and dominant that I kind of retreat from the aroma and never really tune into the sophisticated nuances.

What's so nice about these is the clean profile, strong incense notes, minimal asparagus, minimal iron / metallic

 

[Saudalhajri]

I have not put in the time/energy to really sort out my khus specimens... however I smelled that ateeq and agree it is a delightful khus! An Najwa's khus oils helped my appreciate this kind of vetiver more (I am more drawn to the sweet and tangy notes of Haitian oil as a personal fragrance as opposed to the starchy / vegetal notes of Indian oil).

Some day I need to do side-by-side comparisons of my Indian green Khus oils - after smelling the stuff for decades the "THIS IS RUH KHUS!!!" note is still so strong and dominant that I kind of retreat from the aroma and never really tune into the sophisticated nuances.

What's so nice about these is the clean profile, strong incense notes, minimal asparagus, minimal iron / metallic

Agreed haha. I didn’t like ruh khus in the beginning, but after using it in the recent months especially in my sleep ritual it grew on me.
The ateeq is like an old traditional ruh khus in a tuxedo, very nice. And the 2023 one is a little more modern I’d say, less earthy and smoke, more green and sweet. Would love to see how it is when it ages.

 

[Mr.P]

I made an amber attar today. In the picture I'm grinding up a bit of benzoin - just a gram so the little mortar and pestle works fine. This amber blend is pretty traditional I think - bergamot, sweet orange, tonka, balsams of peru and tolu, sandalwood, ambrette seed, vanilla absolute, rose otto, benzoin, cypress, clary and a handful of others. My intended use of this is as a base for more complex fragrances and as a scent in itself.

 

[Mr.P]

Another attar worth talking about just because it's so easy to make and good for anyone here who feels like a simple DIY: 10% Rose oil in Sandalwood oil can be a classic rich beautiful fragrance. Simple but deeply engaging to me and it somehow just feels like a classic on some level I don't know how to articulate. In this case I combined some recently distilled Sandalwood oil from @An Najwa with rose otto and rose absolute. My intent was to have slightly more absolute than otto but I accidentally overdosed the otto a bit and I'm not sure exactly how much I put in. Still 90% sandalwood oil and 10% rose oils overall. This particular Sandalwood is of the slightly floral kind and so it's especially good for this blend. It's floral presence is boosted somewhat.

 

[Ashfaque]

Kinam Attar (Agar Aura): Wearing the attar version now. Anyone know when it was first released? Do you have the official description?

Initially, the intensities of green & campharecous facets are less intense than in Green Kyara attar (Agar Aura). On the other hand, later, the spicy & incensy oudy facets are more intense than in GK, which occasionally nods towards purple kinamic (not kinam) smell. Sometimes its spiced fruity parts and certain metallic facets evoke a reddish balsamic smell (within oudy territory). It is probably done through some woody/starchy Javanese vetiver, blue hemlock and some flinty wood notes - reminding me of the said profile in Tsuga Musk (Mellifluence) sans the latter's humming musky base. After 3 hours, the spicy oudy accord is still going strong. Now an Indo-Malay oudy and similar balsamic qualities are getting more prominent.

I have not worn GK for a while, but sans the green (at the start) and incense (in the middle), the differences between GK and KA (attar v.) are very subtle. Will wear GK again before sharing a detailed impression of KA attar v. Regardless, it will be fun to listen to it.

 

[Fragdoctor]

Kinam Attar (Agar Aura): Wearing the attar version now. Anyone know when it was first released? Do you have the official description?

Initially, the intensities of green & campharecous facets are less intense than in Green Kyara attar (Agar Aura). On the other hand, later, the spicy & incensy oudy facets are more intense than in GK, which occasionally nods towards purple kinamic (not kinam) smell. Sometimes its spiced fruity parts and certain metallic facets evoke a reddish balsamic smell (within oudy territory). It is probably done through some woody/starchy Javanese vetiver, blue hemlock and some flinty wood notes - reminding me of the said profile in Tsuga Musk (Mellifluence) sans the latter's humming musky base. After 3 hours, the spicy oudy accord is still going strong. Now an Indo-Malay oudy and similar balsamic qualities are getting more prominent.

I have not worn GK for a while, but sans the green (at the start) and incense (in the middle), the differences between GK and KA (attar v.) are very subtle. Will wear GK again before sharing a detailed impression of KA attar v. Regardless, it will be fun to listen to it.

I have the perfume version of this. Top tier perfume for me. One of the best representation of oud in a sprayable form.

 

[Saudalhajri]

Another attar worth talking about just because it's so easy to make and good for anyone here who feels like a simple DIY: 10% Rose oil in Sandalwood oil can be a classic rich beautiful fragrance. Simple but deeply engaging to me and it somehow just feels like a classic on some level I don't know how to articulate. In this case I combined some recently distilled Sandalwood oil from @An Najwa with rose otto and rose absolute. My intent was to have slightly more absolute than otto but I accidentally overdosed the otto a bit and I'm not sure exactly how much I put in. Still 90% sandalwood oil and 10% rose oils overall. This particular Sandalwood is of the slightly floral kind and so it's especially good for this blend. It's floral presence is boosted somewhat.

Love this combo rose and sandalwood oil.
Try macerating a pinch of ambergris in it, or add a drop from an already made maceration or tincture. It elevates it makes it more “royal” I’d say, mutates the middle and base notes giving a more complex profile.

 

[Mr.P]

Love this combo rose and sandalwood oil.
Try macerating a pinch of ambergris in it, or add a drop from an already made maceration or tincture. It elevates it makes it more “royal” I’d say, mutates the middle and base notes giving a more complex profile.

Ambergris is wonderful stuff, I would be tempted to add it to everything if I used it in my fragrances I think!

I can absolutely imagine a wonderful variation on this with an ambergris twist!

 

[Saudalhajri]

Ambergris is wonderful stuff, I would be tempted to add it to everything if I used it in my fragrances I think!

I can absolutely imagine a wonderful variation on this with an ambergris twist!

Not a lot is needed! Just a drop or two.
There are ambergris forward fragrances where the actual scent of it is present and noticeable, but in very small quantities it just acts in the shadows, by being a fixative of course and adding a “mystic” feeling to everything, making everything deeper and more complex and almost unlocking new notes in the ingredients that you wouldn’t notice before. Try it out

 

[User]

Ambergris is wonderful stuff, I would be tempted to add it to everything if I used it in my fragrances I think!

I can absolutely imagine a wonderful variation on this with an ambergris twist!

Why don’t you?

 

[Mr.P]

That said, it kills me that I don't have a couple of liters of ambergris tincture maturing somewhere. Some day! If I win the lottery… I'll have that set up within a week. 🙂

 

[Relitaliano]

I'm smelling like a French Hooker right about now, decanted some samples and rubbed excess on me. Right now the two loudest is the White Amber Sandalwood and the Vanilla Musk Sandalwood you get a gentle wisps of the Vanilla Mongolian Rose Musk and I don't smell the Cambodian Musk Oud at all, Got one more to decant that's Brown Amber Sandalwood.View attachment 43310

While making a nighttime blend for sleep, spilled a drop of Eden Botanicals Haitan Vetiver oil on the side of vial and a couple drops of lavender. Dabbed excess oils on chest and I can barely keep My eyes open

Sleep Perfume Blend (1 ml EB Sample Vials)

3 Drops Lavender EO (Young Living)
7 Drops Haitan Vetiver EO (Eden Botanicals)

Peaceful Air Sleep Blend

4 Drops Lavender EO (Young Living)
2 Drops Haitan Vetiver EO (Eden Botanicals)

Which Oud oils do you swipe for sleep or relaxation?

 

[Relitaliano]

Love this combo rose and sandalwood oil.
Try macerating a pinch of ambergris in it, or add a drop from an already made maceration or tincture. It elevates it makes it more “royal” I’d say, mutates the middle and base notes giving a more complex profile.

The Gulab Attar from Mellifluence (Mysore & Rose Damascena) is very nicely done.

I wish he would resurrect “Sahra” (#350) Attar which smells like Apricot Jam and “3 different Ouds are in the base; The warm and soothing Oud Yaaseen, A light woody Chantaburi Thai and a rich, ancient smelling Wild Pailin.”

 

[Castingshadows]

Nankun Kodo by Sultan Pasha

This is probably the best Japanese incense attar ever made and that’s not even a debate. I don’t think anyone has ever replicated the aroma of specific incense so perfectly. I mean this smells identical to Shoyeido’s Nankun Kodo.

So what I do after I swiped it? Sprayed on some By and By from Folkwinds. Perfect combo.

 

[Saudalhajri]

Improvised in three minutes:
A very clean, masculine deep Manipur oud.
Resinous incense earthy merauke
Dark patchouli
Ruh gulab
Benzoin.
Smells like a gentleman’s club, or something Poirot would wear.
Just need to add more oud.