Sahafi

Junior Member
I am curious about the various phases an oud oil displays in the evolution of its scent profile, ie: after 15-minutes, 1 hr, 4-hours, and so on. Which oud oil has the best slow reveal to you, bringing different facets in succession?

If I may quote Taha directly on how Shano Shokat develops:

"There are radical changes in the scent profile. At times, it will smell like your nose is in a pouch of raw tobacco, the next moment its glistening odorous raw oud chips. About an hour in, it goes through a ‘candied wood’ phase. Next thing you know, you smell burning agarwood."

He goes on to say:

"this oil is very base-note intensive. The base fractions comprise about 30% of the oil, which is WAY more than what’s normal."

Which ouds are the most complex in your collection, with changes in scent profile (top, middle, base) and are they the most dear to your heart?
 

RobertOne

Oud Beginner
My first ever Oud was EO Aroha Kyaku, the first time I tried it my skin chemistry had some sort of nervous breakdown that subsequently does not happen, thankfully.

It stunk of decomposing rubber, bat guano and god knows what else.

Now, I knew that the scent profile should in theory change over time so I persevered with it, and two hours later when my wife got back home she loved how I smelled to rather dramatic effect. Think a milder real-life lynx or axe effect.

To a degree it will always hold that special place in my Ouddict heart as it totally bowled me over, changed my expectations and raised the bar of what a scent could be about 1 kilometer upwards.

For more reviews composed chronologically, see my old post: http://www.ouddict.com/threads/oud-reviews.2/page-13#post-2311
 

Tarik

Junior Member
IME a lot of oils progress over a narrow bandwidth. A lot of oils display their complexity closer to the front and as the top notes fade some of their other notes, that were actually there in the beginning, become more apparent and perceivable as it goes into the middle and base.
IME the most complex and biggest shape shifters are single source, "classic" Hindis. Followed by mixes of single source oils, then Borneo types.
Hindi's-these can start fermented, cheesy, fecal, barny, etc. and change drastically as they dry down. One such Oil is Oud Shuayb, the opening goes straight past barn and into the circus. The opening is beautifully brutal, highly fermented, freshly and vegetally indolic, clean funk. As it dries it takes on a more Vietnamese/Cambodian profile with dark fruits and some of the kinamic aura of Kinam Rouge. As it goes into the base you'd think you swiped on a floral Thai type oil.
Mixes-this is a category I'd like to see more artisans experiment with, Ensar had one that I sampled and can't recall the name and he had one called Archipelago Supreme, that I have and preceded Archipelago 2008 IIRC. The quintessential one in the category is Al Shareef's Ridhwan. As smooth and well blended as is it, it still displays facets of its constituent oils. It's highly resinous throughout from what I believe to be from the Malay component. The barn that it has is airy and blends so well with the dark fruits. It's seamless yet complex, while it's difficult to isolate the different oils, all of their attributes are there.
Borneo types-I've read that some think they all smell alike and I don't totally disagree. But as a genre they can be complex, shape shifting oils. A good Borneo can start airy, sweet, turpy and even some good ones smell like petrol or diesel fuel in the opening. As they go into the middle they can become more berried and/or floral. As they further dry becoming more vanillic and woody. In saying that I don't totally disagree that they all smell alike, I can't recommend anyone specifically. Any good one from the known good sellers-Adam,Shareef, Ensar, Imperial, Taha-should suffice.
HI Pearl
That's right , by drying it can smell cocoa (powder), dark chocolate or milk.
After the cheese ,we have chocolate.
 
The stages of development of a swipe of Oud on your skin can be a remarkable ride, there are oils out there that keep me sniffing non-stop, like KRouge, Hudhayl, and Koh Kong 76 to name a few.
Equally remarkable is an oil that is well composed, with notes that are well defined and complement the overall profile.
 

deruitem

Just Arrived
My first ever Oud was EO Aroha Kyaku, the first time I tried it my skin chemistry had some sort of nervous breakdown that subsequently does not happen, thankfully.

It stunk of decomposing rubber, bat guano and god knows what else.

Now, I knew that the scent profile should in theory change over time so I persevered with it, and two hours later when my wife got back home she loved how I smelled to rather dramatic effect. Think a milder real-life lynx or axe effect.

To a degree it will always hold that special place in my Ouddict heart as it totally bowled me over, changed my expectations and raised the bar of what a scent could be about 1 kilometer upwards.

For more reviews composed chronologically, see my old post: http://www.ouddict.com/threads/oud-reviews.2/page-13#post-2311
You got lucky on this one. I am wearing a very small amount today for testing. I have worn it twice and I know it gets better after some time. Man it sure is fecal for a long time
 
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