I’ve finally heated Kinam/Kyara!!!

[Rename]

Yeah it makes total sense now. I understand how people can smell bits and pieces of Kinam in other oils but the experience is really like no other.

And the concept that we’re so incredibly lucky to smell this stuff became evident to me last night. Talk about 8 lifetimes of merit to easily purchase some and burn it in my spare bathroom before going to bed.

There’s a lotta stuff we kick around in here conceptually, that is exceedingly challenging to talk about if all parties haven’t experienced it first hand.

It’s not a movie we can all watch, or a book we can all read and understand them from just a synopsis. It’s a taste we must experience before it can be discussed.

I have an expression that I use with my patients when talking about Chinese Medicine.

“What does a strawberry taste like?”

It’s red!
So is an apple. Does a strawberry taste like an apple? No

It’s sweet!
Most fruits are sweet. Does a strawberry taste like all those other sweet fruits? No.

It has seeds!
That’s literally the definition of a fruit 😆

The point I try to make with my patients is that it’s very challenging to talk about Chinese medicine if they don’t know anything about Chinese medicine. There’s a lot of terminology. A lot of concepts. A lot of context. And lacking any of these things, it’s really really difficult to discuss.

Ouds and Kynam and any other number of things about this unusual hobby we all have is just like it.

And the reason there is so much confusion is because No one has likely ever met someone that hasn’t tasted a strawberry. The language is assumed to be understood because it’s an experience everyone has shared.

In here, many know the terminology, but few have experienced it first hand. Makes it really really challenging to have cohesive conversations when all of our experiences aren’t on the same page.

The only way to understand the strawberry, is to taste the strawberry. Any discussion before the tasting is futile.

 

[iori]

I have a thought -

Back when Baieido was the main source of agarwood info in the US, the word on the street was that kinam and kyara are not synonyms. Kyara was some specially selected material, chosen first based on olfactory profile. Only a fraction of kinam is kyara.

I keep hearing those with experience saying that kyara is distinct in some qualitative way - not just more or finer, but categorically different from more ordinary types of kinam.

At the same time, I hear that the terms kinam and kyara are just words for the same thing from different languages.

Wondering where the truth lies, if there even can be said to be a simple truth about this?

Actually there is lots of truth to that, however in general Kyara/Kinam same thing but in specific its not and its complicated.

Some of Kinams doesn't make it under Kyara label, it goes under "Rakuko, Managa, Manaban and Shinkyara"
If you dealt with different wood from varies school you will see that clear as sun, especially the Oie does it a lot.
If you remember also "ListenClosely" from basenotes he bought Rikkokugomi set from Tenkundo and he had Kyara in Rakoku envelope, Koz had it under Managa envelope and mine under Manaban envelope.


Also another point i mentioned many times at least true to some companies and schools, Rikkokugomi Kyara need to have specific profile and some companies you need to ask for it to get that profile if you ask for only Kyara they show you other stuff.

Also while i don't like dealing with Chinese when it comes to it they have ther views etc but in general i don't like ther grading and ther choice of scent for Kyara/Kinam... few i tested from there considered top were lacking and some disgusting <- "this probably was tainted or bad cultivated sold as wild"

Isn't kinam the Chinese term which can be from any region, and Kyara must be from Vietnam (also needs to be graded in Japan?)

Actually even that isn't true, there is different views in China too, most of who i dealt with have Kinam from "Cambodia, China, Vietnam, Thailand" the ones from other regions called Kinam is just special type of soft silk Agarwood.

However there is another view in China says Kinam comes from any regions, lots of controversy on that.

In Japan most say Kyara only from Vietnam, however some others include Cambodia and coastal Thailand to it, and regardless of its grading Kyara is Kyara and Agarwood is Agarwood.