Oud Oil Encenser pt.2

[holy-wood]

Earlier in the year I posted my unfavorable review of some oud oils from former vendor Encenser. They all smelled really off, so I performed a “water test” and was proven correct in my suspicion of adulterated oils. After confronting the vendor, he apologized, removed his inventory and sent some various agarwood samples my way as an apology along with a commitment to source better materials in the future.
Then, a few weeks ago the vendor reached out to me again, informing me of a “new source” and inventory of oils that he would like to send me samples of. I agreed to receive and quickly reviewed them. Out of 9 samples, only one smelled of authentic, pure oud, which is the only one claimed to be not from the “new source / distiller”: an aged plantation Assam. The rest are said to be a variety of fresh distilled gyrinops and aquilaria from indonesia, which again all carry some sort of off-note signature that is, again, truly offensive. This time however they do not necessarily smell of synthetic adulteration but more like other possible essential oils used to dilute, that are not oud. Theres a dulled-down / altered zest of typical volatile top notes, a lack of sweetness or refinement of any kind and still some sort of soapy, powdery note that just does not belong. They initially blamed their blind trust in business partner and father for the original batch’s faults, and this time, the distiller. I was hopeful that redemption was a possibility, that integrity could be repaired and reputation could be restored, but sadly not in this case. After discussing this with and hearing the perspective of a well-regarded distiller of indonesian ouds, a saying came to mind: “everything comes out in the wash.”

 

[Olfactory Nomad]

Oh dear 😞 Does the oil go cloudy in the fridge?

 

[Mr.P]

Earlier in the year I posted my unfavorable review of some oud oils from former vendor Encenser. They all smelled really off, so I performed a “water test” and was proven correct in my suspicion of adulterated oils. After confronting the vendor, he apologized, removed his inventory and sent some various agarwood samples my way as an apology along with a commitment to source better materials in the future.
Then, a few weeks ago the vendor reached out to me again, informing me of a “new source” and inventory of oils that he would like to send me samples of. I agreed to receive and quickly reviewed them. Out of 9 samples, only one smelled of authentic, pure oud, which is the only one claimed to be not from the “new source / distiller”: an aged plantation Assam. The rest are said to be a variety of fresh distilled gyrinops and aquilaria from indonesia, which again all carry some sort of off-note signature that is, again, truly offensive. This time however they do not necessarily smell of synthetic adulteration but more like other possible essential oils used to dilute, that are not oud. Theres a dulled-down / altered zest of typical volatile top notes, a lack of sweetness or refinement of any kind and still some sort of soapy, powdery note that just does not belong. They initially blamed their blind trust in business partner and father for the original batch’s faults, and this time, the distiller. I was hopeful that redemption was a possibility, that integrity could be repaired and reputation could be restored, but sadly not in this case. After discussing this with and hearing the perspective of a well-regarded distiller of indonesian ouds, a saying came to mind: “everything comes out in the wash.”
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uh-oh. I also encountered a red flag early on

 

[AlHind Oud]

The primary issue here is that inexperienced individuals are eager to become vendors due to the influence of social media.

Secondly, Indonesia stands out as the leading country for scamming people out of their money for oud unfortunately. People either abscond with the money or provide fake products. I’ve heard numerous stories from individuals who have encountered this issue. While there may be a few genuine sellers, the majority are scammers. Avoid opting for cheaper alternatives and compare the pricing with reputable ouddict vendors. We undergo a rigorous process to ensure that we provide you with the best oud oils.

 

[holy-wood]

Oh dear 😞 Does the oil go cloudy in the fridge?

No clouds this time, but the scent was obvious as none of them were even enjoyable to me and I can usually find something to like especially from indonesia.

 

[holy-wood]

uh-oh. I also encountered a red flag early on

Ive since heard this from several others as well.

 

[holy-wood]

The primary issue here is that inexperienced individuals are eager to become vendors due to the influence of social media.

Secondly, Indonesia stands out as the leading country for scamming people out of their money for oud unfortunately. People either abscond with the money or provide fake products. I’ve heard numerous stories from individuals who have encountered this issue. While there may be a few genuine sellers, the majority are scammers. Avoid opting for cheaper alternatives and compare the pricing with reputable ouddict vendors. We undergo a rigorous process to ensure that we provide you with the best oud oils.

Agreed. I find it hard to believe in this case that the fault lies solely with the source(s) but i could be wrong. At the time of my original purchase, i was under the impression that the vendor was in-line with ouddict quality and simply chose not to continue membership, but found out otherwise. All in all, a very informative lesson which I am grateful for, having deepened my trust in my nose and my intuition.

 

[Mr.P]

I wasn't sure what the story was with that business either… they were active for a short while and then just vanished without any word here that I was aware of. at one point the owner pressured me to buy samples and review them on the forum but I was not shopping for the types of oils he was carrying and didn't know him well enough to feel comfortable taking a chance on the brand (fortunately, it seems).

In my case the negative experience was sort of indirect: a friend of mine had ordered a white ambergris extract from another business associated with his family, and it clearly had some kind of natural isolate or essential oil mixed in with it, to the point where I'm not even sure it contained actual ambergris at all. Not at all hard to smell the adulterant - something with linalool like coriander or rosewood (or linalool). I had brought it up here at the forum not knowing that the Ambergris business was connected to Essencier. He pointed out the connection, there was a little kerfuffle, he sent some authentic products to Nadeem i think to verify the authenticity of ambergris in his possession but of course the ability to produce a piece of authentic ambergris has no bearing on the fact that the extract that my friend purchased was adulterated. I didn't push it but I never felt satisfied with how that was resolved because it wasn't hard to tell. So I'm not entirely surprised to see this coming up again, kind of closes the loop for me actually to see somebody else verify the experience.

 

[Olfactory Nomad]

Agreed. I find it hard to believe in this case that the fault lies solely with the source(s) but i could be wrong. At the time of my original purchase, i was under the impression that the vendor was in-line with ouddict quality and simply chose not to continue membership, but found out otherwise. All in all, a very informative lesson which I am grateful for, having deepened my trust in my nose and my intuition.

That's the best way to look at it. It sucks but there is a good lesson here that we all seem to have to go through at some point.

 

[Shampoo_Dream]

For what it’s worth, I received some “black kynam” that was certainly not kynam and to this day is the only wood I have ever smelled that left me with a burning throat and terrible feeling. I didn't post my experience because he seemed friendly and I don’t like calling people out about bad experiences.