Burn of the Day

[Mr.P]

My sotd: Tigray at VERY low temp on subitism.

I am utterly surprised by what I am smelling. This resin is transformed from tart heavy and cloying budget frankincense odor at high temp to a delicate, mimosa-like, sweet narcotic waxy floral perfume at low temperature, along with a balanced sense of old cool stone that has been bathed in frankincense smoke for centuries.... I love this stuff on a whole new level. My den smells like an old stone cathedral with the doors flung open and warm air wafting in from a nearby groove of mimosa and frankincense. That’s the mind buzz I get from this resin.

 

[Andrew Salkin]

I learned a very valuable lesson today that both vendors and ouddict's I communicate with here have been trying to tell me for ages - but I've failed to really "hear" them on it.

That is, looks don't mean everything (in this case anything) when it comes to wood. And sinking grade or king grade means jack if the aroma isn't good. Today I've grown a new found appreciation and respect for vendors here who spend years developing relationships with their suppliers to ensure when they are shipped wood, it actually smells good. I can only begin to imagine how difficult this is - especially when I'm certain vendors get shipped wood and in many cases it's a total gamble until it arrives and gets thrown on the heater for testing.

Last month I started up a conversation with a Facebook vendor in one of the filipino agarwood groups. Now most of these guys are scammers I've found - they say they will ship you wood or samples but only if you pay them. Even for samples, they 99% of the time want money for shipping - and I've never been keen on taking the risk, even for a small amount of money - especially after talking with people here who just told me it's not worth it.

So I was super surprised when one guy I was messaging with who spoke great english offered to ship me samples at no cost of some sinking fili wood - like battery sized/shaped nuggets of about 2-4g/piece. I was even more surprised when he actually sent me tracking. update: wood reported to be aquilaria cumingiana

They arrived today. And let me tell you, these things look awesome. Almost identical to some of the baby king pieces I got from @Habz786 in appearance. Giddy, I shave a bunch off the biggest piece and crank the subitism to 15. Andddd.............

Burnt human hair. Ughh - totally gross, wet mold and burned hair. Really bad.

I messaged the guy who was super nice and said he didn't particularly like it either but it was the only batch he had and that they've been selling well to some of his connections in the arab market. Not sure I believe that last bit, just because I really doubt anyone would enjoy this wood. But anyway, he said he will send me alternative batches in another package for me to try. Time will tell - but it is nice to see he wasn't a scammer. I think we'd all be elated to find sources on the ground in the filipines (or elsewhere) who had great wood, but more often than not it seems these vendors are not setup for proper business and looking for a quick buck. Will continue reporting back any and all findings to my fellow ouddicts! Here are the photos:


#lessonlearned

 

[Oudamberlove]

I too have had wood that looks great
but doesn’t smell great.
One was from an ouddict member whom
I had confidence buying from but🙁

 

[EJayB]

I too have had wood that looks great
but doesn’t smell great.
One was from an ouddict member whom
I had confidence buying from but🙁

Would hope the Ouddict would do you right!
When ever I get bad wood it’s in the pursuit of finding a new connection closer to the source, when I get bad wood I just throw it in my bag of lame wood and move on rather then pass it to anyone. One day I’ll throw it all in the pot and see what I can juice from it!

 

[Mr.P]

“Now most of these guys are scammers I've found - they say they will ship you wood or samples but only if you pay them. Even for samples, they 99% of the time want money for shipping ”


Why would anybody expect someone to send them a free sample and pay for shipping? If I read that post right, you were complaining that people are scammers because of charging you for shipping, that you expect people to ship you wood for free - as in, someone sending you 4 grams of sinking wood at no cost to you is a sign that things are as they should be?

That’s something to spend a little time thinking about because to me it seems more “scam-like” to harsh on someone because they won’t send you stuff for free.

Maybe you mean it’s not worth it because they all charge at least shipping and there’s no way to know who is legit and who isn’t so it’s not worth it to you to find out which ones are legit. I feel the same way. This is a good reason to appreciate the vendors to bring us the good stuff. They kind of go through this sorting process for us. No doubt at great personal expense.

 

[Andrew Salkin]

Yeah I definitely wrote the part you mentioned incorrectly.

I don't expect free samples with free shipping. I don't expect anything really. Actually that's not true - my expectation is that no matter what happens, if it involves me paying anything to a new Facebook vendor - for samples or for a full wood order - my expectation is that I will be conned/robbed.

As this is what's happened to me before on numerous occasions before finding ouddict. I pay for shipping of samples or wood and nothing arrives and no contact can be made with vendor after payment is sent.

I totally understand that shipping and samples cost money - and I tell all these vendors that I'm happy to pay for these costs provided they accept PayPal goods and services so I'm protected from scams. Most of the time they poo poo this and say they only accept Western Union. At which point the conversation is over as far as I'm concerned. No wood is worth the risk.

In lots of industry, free samples are common if you cover shipping costs - sometimes even without shipping costs covered. In the case of Agarwood, I think the idea with sending samples is so that I can evaluate a larger buy. It establishes trust and communication. Especially with Agarwood with so many scams and people with many Facebook and social profiles, no websites or traditional and modern methods of accepting payment, I've been weary of speaking to such vendors without them doing something to earn trust. On my social profile, I have my real first and last name - I provide my phone number, address, social profiles. I offer to cover costs for shipping and the cost of the samples upon delivery.

Given the one sided nature of the transaction - I don't feel it's fair that I take on all the risk of paying up front for the samples and shipping. In this case, the gentlemen offered to ship and provide samples for free - as a sign of building trust for future purchases. I offered to pay upon reciept but he said don't worry about it.

If these nameless and faceless fb vendors had open info, website, and payment processing I'd gladly pay for samples and shipping upfront. I do that with vendors here all the time. We all do. But given most of these vendors aren't doing anything to make buyers feel like they aren't at risk of being scammed, if they are honestly looking to build a relationship with a buyer, and genuinely have product they are selling, they should have zero problem taking the risk of sending samples without payment. That's just how I feel. They could so easily just accept PayPal and it wouldn't even be a discussion. But they don't. So I expect more.

 

[EJayB]

Sitting home heating filli wood from Habzoud
This really is a special grade of wood and I have reserved it for rare occasions or special times.
Today we all need to relax and be thankful for everything as what we had yesterday may not be the same tomorrow. As we all loose our freedom of movement and life is changing by the minute I am choosing to relax and be thankful and heat some wood!

 

[Andrew Salkin]

Sitting home heating filli wood from Habzoud
This really is a special grade of wood and I have reserved it for rare occasions or special times.
Today we all need to relax and be thankful for everything as what we had yesterday may not be the same tomorrow. As we all loose our freedom of movement and life is changing by the minute I am choosing to relax and be thankful and heat some wood!

Said this to you earlier today - it's like fili kynam!

 

[EJayB]

Heating some slivers off this piece of non-sinking Sri Lankan I got from Habzoud, very nice scent , like all his wood

 

[Mr.P]

Piece of a 6” diameter 20 year old yamada matsu heartwood slice on the subitism. This is the pinnacle of sandalwood - resonantly woody, deep, vibrating sandalwood buzz in my brain.

 

[EJayB]

Sinking Sri Lankan from Habzoud
Same scent profiles as the non sinking just more intense and a touch cleaner

 

[Muhammed Afthab]

Habzoud Sinking Walla - small sliver lasted reall good in low heat.

Also - Brunei chips from ASO.

 

[EJayB]

Kien Ruc Nah Trang
Finding one of my favorite profiles in these less then sinking chips , maybe double super in other circles but amazing scent. Very easy on the wallet but super pleasing effects. Very vanilla creamy with a hint of sweetness ending with a hint of bitter pine

 

[Mr.P]

Baieido Tsukigase Vietnamese agarwood chunks purchased in 2005 or so. Really nice wood - sweet, clean balanced scent when heated at low temp, really nice robust hearty oud voice when heated hotter. Resin content isn’t spectacular but it is a very nice smelling agarwood overall. I wouldn’t dare to guess the species but at times I feel like it is Aquilaria sinensis at other times maybe malaccensis. I do know the regional woods very well - the only organized set I have is a rikoku set.

 

[Andrew Salkin]

Absolutely awesome marauke resin from @oudbase - this opening smells almost identical to Shoyeido miso sticks. It's got all the floral elements, powdery, really dry almost green wood note. So cool! I never take this out but glad I did today!

 

[Mr.P]

Here is some Baieido “Tsukigase” which is their entry level Vietnamese agarwood. This is from early 2000’s. It was about $8-10 a gram back then, if I recall correctly.

 

[Andrew Salkin]

Can you buy Agarwood like this from the incense companies any more? Everything I see is in kodo format. Never seen chips like this!

 

[Hosayn]

Creamy Mysore sandalwood and hand crafted bakhoor by Brother Al Shareef on 13.5 volt of heat for a slow, patient and meditative burn.

 

[Mr.P]

Can you buy Agarwood like this from the incense companies any more? Everything I see is in kodo format. Never seen chips like this!

I haven’t tried to purchase since I got these. It would be a shame if Baieido no longer sells loose chips like this. It is fun cutting them up to look for the really resin soaked bits. Like all agarwood in this form, different pieces have different qualities though like all Japanese woods they are very consistent in scent for all pieces.

 

[Mr.P]

Mystery oud from an old TCM shop in SF Bay Area purchased in 1998/1999. Nice minty rich old profile but a little more funk than I personally prefer. Very very resin rich - all the pores collapsed and filled with resin- the wood looks aged, compressed which makes me think it might be old wild oud. this was cut off of what was a fully resinated trunk section about the diameter of my wrist. I posted some pictures of a different piece of this a while back but I’m burning some at the moment. So it is my second burn of the day.