Miscellany of the day

[Shiningrobes]

Current layering scenario:

Vintage khus, Persian rose and frangipani under each arm and inside of elbows.

An Anjawa’s Khus heavy attar Hejaz and sparkling indian rose on wrists neck and hair. With alternating Indian ouds and or sandalwood on my forearms.

Sometimes I switch up which combo I wear in which location. I love wearing blended scents with their component parts on other areas of my body. I get to experience the main scent and its components at their best as they all change over the course of the day.

 

[Mr.P]

Current layering scenario:

Vintage khus, Persian rose and frangipani under each arm and inside of elbows.

An Anjawa’s Khus heavy attar Hejaz and sparkling indian rose on wrists neck and hair. With alternating Indian ouds and or sandalwood on my forearms.

Sometimes I switch up which combo I wear in which location. I love wearing blended scents with their component parts on other areas or my body. I get to experience the main scent and its components at their best as they all change over the course of the day.

People downwind of you are in for a treat 🙂

 

[Shiningrobes]

Vetiver recommendations?

Ive been so lost in Ruh khus lately that I’ve also been reorienting myself toward plain vetiver. Anybody have favorites or exceptional examples that spring to mind? I’m back in NYC and plan on going to Enfleurage to re-sample their wild, copper distilled Indian vetiver. I don’t call it khus because I remember it being exceptionally clean without the raw edge of Khus. I’ve really come to think of the two as separate materials born from the same starting point. Kind of like steam or hydro-distilled neroli and orange blossom absolute. My fantasy is finding a sweeter, more mellow Vetiver (or maybe a dank smoky one) to layer with khus and get the most out of both facets of the same scent.

 

[Mr.P]

Vetiver recommendations?

Ive been so lost in Ruh khus lately that I’ve also been reorienting myself toward plain vetiver. Anybody have favorites or exceptional examples that spring to mind? I’m back in NYC and plan on going to Enfleurage to re-sample their wild, copper distilled Indian vetiver. I don’t call it khus because I remember it being exceptionally clean without the raw edge of Khus. I’ve really come to think of the two as separate materials born from the same starting point. Kind of like steam or hydro-distilled neroli and orange blossom absolute. My fantasy is finding a sweeter, more mellow Vetiver (or maybe a dank smoky one) to layer with khus and get the most out of both facets of the same scent.

@An Najwa has sent me some killer green khus of a variety of ages over the last few years - stuff that changed my mind about green khus. @AlHind Oud has a vintage khus that has some of the clean glossy honey like sweetness of Haitian vetiver.

If you want some thing on the extremely clean and candylike end (not green khus i mean) you should sample one of the Haitian vetivers from Eden. They have a double distilled which is a little more expensive and maybe a little bit cleaner but the single distilled oil is great too.

 

[Ahmaoud]

Ive been so lost in Ruh khus lately ...

You don't even know the half of it Shiningrobes, I'm on my 4 swiping set of Ruh Khus, currently the 2021 vintage from An Najwa. Meanwhile I'm reading this fascinating article on Fragrantica while pursing the selection on Hermitage Oils, mostly just to read about the different profiles, and at the same time watching Hindi farming tutorials on how to cultivate Khus

 

[Shiningrobes]

I think I’m aiming more for plain old vetiver, for now.
@Mr.P
That double distilled from Eden is the one that sent me down this road in the first place. The problem with mine is that I’m fairly positive I diluted it with FCO before I knew what a mistake that is. It’s not oxidized surprisingly, just not very potent. Most of it went into a Vetiver accord that while being something approaching sublime is definitely diluted 😭😭😭😭.

@Ahmaoud
I have deeply bookmarked th Hermitage vetiver section, and that was before I had decided that I love it! Sadly their purchase minimum has been a big barrier for me doing any casual sampling. (Actually I just popped over there and that Papuan Red Vetiver has me salivating and contemplating what I can sell to afford an order). That Fragantica article is just what I need right now. I’ve really been wondering what it is that sets the deep emerald indian ruh Khus apart from the gold or brown western vetivers. It’s not just copper! Is it soaked? Fermented? It’s almost barny.

 

[Shiningrobes]

Addendum: One of the many descriptions I just read on Hermitage mentions a difference between North and South Indian Khus and calls the northern as hydro-distliied and not having the sweaty element that southern can have on skin. Is that what I’m smelling? 🤔 As always I know the only real answer here is sampl, sample, sample. I’m off to try and learn More about northern vs southern khus if I can.

 

[Ahmaoud]

I think I’m aiming more for plain old vetiver, for now.
@Mr.P
That double distilled from Eden is the one that sent me down this road in the first place. The problem with mine is that I’m fairly positive I diluted it with FCO before I knew what a mistake that is. It’s not oxidized surprisingly, just not very potent. Most of it went into a Vetiver accord that while being something approaching sublime is definitely diluted 😭😭😭😭.

@Ahmaoud
I have deeply bookmarked th Hermitage vetiver section, and that was before I had decided that I love it! Sadly their purchase minimum has been a big barrier for me doing any casual sampling. (Actually I just popped over there and that Papuan Red Vetiver has me salivating and contemplating what I can sell to afford an order). That Fragantica article is just what I need right now. I’ve really been wondering what it is that sets the deep emerald indian ruh Khus apart from the gold or brown western vetivers. It’s not just copper! Is it soaked? Fermented? It’s almost barny.

What I've learned is, farmed varieties aren't what's used in making the emerald Khus we're grown accustomed to, for that it's wild Khus, and additionally it has to be hydrodistilled in copper "degs". It's not fermented but the roots are soaked overnight in the open, very different from the powderized, weeks long soaking in barrels I've seen in commercial oud factories. Interestingly enough while the price this copper hydrodistilled Khus commands is the highest of the Indian vetivers out there, its yield is quite low (when compared to farmed species, some of which have been bred for oil production, and of course steam distillation units seem to yield more in general).

One aspect which might surprise you is, after a run is completed (from what I hear it's about 150 kg of roots), the "bhapka" copper receiving vessel is actually heated with a radiant heat source (campfire made of firewood or cow dung) before a special mop can introduced and squeezed to get out the Ruh Khus. It still has to sit and cure then, so that water can be separated and ideally stored in a leather kuppi for even more moisture to be wicked off. What's actually weird for me is, I can't seem to stand the steam distilled vetiver, it smells way too peanut-y for my liking. As for the Papaun Vetiver ..... yes I have my eyes on that as well, but the buy trigger is far, far out into the future 😅

I've also heard of some talk which implies Khus extracted at different times of the year is slightly different, though I'm not entirely convinced of that!

Also what do you make of the article ? There's a picture within which seems to indicate that some constitutions of Khus are also found in white florals, this is wild because I was convinced this one Ruh Khus, I believe it's the 2023 from An Najwa starts giving me the faintest hints of delicate white florals sometime into the dry down

 

[Shiningrobes]

From that article I’m now planning to combine Vetiver and grapefruit and possibly gardenia? I’ll have to reread it to see if the first two alone produce a gardenia like accord or if thats a good companion to gardenia. I have all three oddly enough.

 

[DubOudh]

You don't even know the half of it Shiningrobes, I'm on my 4 swiping set of Ruh Khus, currently the 2021 vintage from An Najwa. Meanwhile I'm reading this fascinating article on Fragrantica while pursing the selection on Hermitage Oils, mostly just to read about the different profiles, and at the same time watching Hindi farming tutorials on how to cultivate Khus

What an interesting site. This is due some serious looking into and they are based in Europe. What is the general quality of their oil like?

 

[Ahmaoud]

Could work very well, Sulaym's Firdaus was a blend which had both Khus and Gardenia, and I often wear it with a bit An Najwa's Hejaz to give the overall blend a bit more animalic, leather-y nuances.

 

[Ahmaoud]

What an interesting site. This is due some serious looking into and they are based in Europe. What is the general quality of their oil like?

No info on that front DubOudh, I've only partaken in window shopping but their descriptions are delightful !

 

[DubOudh]

No info on that front DubOudh, I've only partaken in window shopping but their descriptions are delightful !

Thanks for that. I must have a deeped dive on their site. The khus looks very inviting.

 

[Joe]

Thanks for that. I must have a deeped dive on their site. The khus looks very inviting.

I recommend the perfumer’s site that I use frequently for odor profiles, but they do not include artisans, https://www.thegoodscentscompany.com/ helpful to me in blending and selecting sources.

Don’t be specific. For example, search for “rose” not “rose Otto”. The rose Otto will show up in the results. Just a tip!

Joe

 

[Joe]

I HIGHLY recommend https://aromology.com/products/attar-ruh-al-khus-oil-green-vetiver?_pos=4&_fid=3a8c28027&_ss=c

Great pricing. Good reputation. I have oud, ylang, and Japanese yuzu from them (along with some incredible Bakhoor). Buy a small amount to see your liking. Just because they aren’t high priced doesn’t mean their quality is subpar. I’ve had great experiences with them.

Joe

 

[Shiningrobes]

I ended up at Enfleurage today to try their vetivers and Blue Lotus (abs)!!
I also got my perfume sample and other goodies from An Najwa. I talked so long at Enfleurage and nerded out so hard that I got to smell something that they never put out in the store. A once in a lifetime, one ounce only, barn-full-of-Ferraris rarity. But this was actually a cellar in Azerbaijan. So if you know you know, or can guess. I ended up spilling rose damask so now I’m covered with that blue lotus and Haitian vetiver. Even after sitting in a park and sweating for an hour I still smell amazing. But, as wildly beautiful and romantic and diffusive as that whole mess is I keep getting wafts of whatever is in the An Najwa package. When I first opened it on the subway I got the deepest musk bomb waft and I must have gotten some on my hands and neck because even outside, even covered with other strong materials and running with sweat, that low down, sweet warm musk depth charge has reared its head and shushed the whole affair.

 

[Faris]

A brief overview of Khus (Indian Vetiver)

The best profile (Minty Cool) simply comes from wild roots (Munjad) distilled in Copper, giving it the green color. Those distilled in Steel come out brown & smell sweet muddy with no mint.

The most sought after, pristine-cool emerald profile (Aligarh region) is achieved through proper washing of the wild roots before distillation & curing post distillation, making sure there’s no trace of earth/mud remaining with the Khus, followed by ageing in kuppis. The kuppis give it that greasiness & viscosity by wicking moisture effectively.
When such a Khus ages, it develops a unique sweetness (Menthol). When applied, the menthol stays until the very end & that my friends is the crème de la crème of Khus.

To mimic that profile, people add a drop or two of Ruh Gulab to the Khus but, what develops naturally is something extraordinary. The only place I was able to experience such a profile was the 2020 batch from @An Najwa
We already call him the “Man of Khus” here in India

 

[Zazu]

Not sure if this one should go here, but on my way to the supermarket I got stopped in my tracks by the smell of this one:

And at the moment I’m enjoying the scent of this one because it’s growing near the open window. (It’s my FAVORITE window to open for that reason LOL)

Does anyone know what kind of jasmine they are? (@Mr.P ??)

 

[DubOudh]

Not sure if this one should go here, but on my way to the supermarket I got stopped in my tracks by the smell of this one:
View attachment 48552

And at the moment I’m enjoying the scent of this one because it’s growing near the open window. (It’s my FAVORITE window to open for that reason LOL)
View attachment 48553

Does anyone know what kind of jasmine they are? (@Mr.P ??)

Is there a citrusy smell from the flower?

 

[Zazu]

Is there a citrusy smell from the flower?

Not that I can remember. It was just wonderful, a scented breeze of air!