Oud of the Day

[Mousse de Chene]

The sample pack from mesoud inspired me to bring out my other samples to see which they are similar to. Came across this gem - I thought I had used the last drop. ASO Malek al Malayzi. This is sweet nectar of the gods I tell you. Just the perfect balance of notes of the Malaysian ilk. Very “dignified and old” but with that jungle wildness throughout. It has that old Malaysian oud deep tang akin to what I recall smelling in the old oud royale when I got a sniff 15 or whatever years ago. Not equating the toils. This one is richer and more complex and multifaceted and profoundly appealing on a deep level for me. View attachment 29678

“Dignified and old” is the perfect summary of this oil.
Obviously, I haven’t smelt every Malaysian oil ever distilled but it’s hard to imagine it gets better than Al Malek Al Maliyzi.
It’s deeply resinous, floral, ripe fruits - very dark, yet buzzing with a brightness; jungle greenery, camphor, mint, moss.
Al Shareef mentions the tree was so old & sick the resin was crystallised & oozing out the ant holes. I can literally smelt this in the oil.
Malaysian & Hindi oils are right in ASO’s wheelhouse. You can tell how much love he has for these regions, he does special things with these woods.

 

[Al Shareef Oudh]

The sample pack from mesoud inspired me to bring out my other samples to see which they are similar to. Came across this gem - I thought I had used the last drop. ASO Malek al Malayzi. This is sweet nectar of the gods I tell you. Just the perfect balance of notes of the Malaysian ilk. Very “dignified and old” but with that jungle wildness throughout. It has that old Malaysian oud deep tang akin to what I recall smelling in the old oud royale when I got a sniff 15 or whatever years ago. Not equating the toils. This one is richer and more complex and multifaceted and profoundly appealing on a deep level for me. View attachment 29678

From a time when we were both a little less grey

 

[oudstronaut]

Pursat - Royal Bengal Ouds

This batch was distilled back in 2016 so it’s a decently viscous oil presumably due to the few years of age. I am really curious about the effects of aging on oud oils as many of my current favourite oils are still quite young (some only a few months old) and I have can’t wait to come back to my backup vials in a few years and experience the effects of aging.

Sweet, sweet, sweet and heavy. Some dried plums on the opening and candied cherries. Molasses.. smells a little like jujube candies too. A tinge of sourness lingers in the background with some light tobacco notes.

Over time, the sourness comes out a bit with some light muskiness. There is a jammy note and some florals which remind me of rose. I could see this one making a nice clean oud/rose attar.

On the drydown I get this wet paint (in a good way) note with a little bitter medicinal edge.

In general, this oil is pretty linear but it lasts a while and it doesn’t hurt the pocketbook. Nice stuff 🙂

 

[Mr.P]

I have enjoyed the pursat oils I have smelled.

Where do you go to see RBO’s stuff? I have a very unique vetiver that I got from him a while ago.

 

[Rezwan]

I have enjoyed the pursat oils I have smelled.

Where do you go to see RBO’s stuff? I have a very unique vetiver that I got from him a while ago.

Etsy

 

[oudstronaut]

I have enjoyed the pursat oils I have smelled.

Where do you go to see RBO’s stuff? I have a very unique vetiver that I got from him a while ago.

RoyalBengalOuds - Etsy Canada

Shop "The Art of Attars & Ouds" by RoyalBengalOuds located in Montreal, Quebec. Smooth dispatch! Has a history of dispatching on time with tracking. Rave reviews! Average review rating is 4.8 or higher

www.etsy.com

as our friend said above, he’s on Etsy!

 

[Mousse de Chene]

A late Friday evening swipe of Kanbi Koh - The Oud Lab. Absolutely stunning, it’s one of the best oils I’ve put my nose on, very special.

A delicious thick jammy oil. A deeply resinous Oudy core, yet also kinamic. Dark, but no funk. Molasses, wisps of smoke, Rose, the rich sweetness of berry jam, cream soda, vanilla.
So complex, it’s like Nha Trang, Koh Kong, Wild Trat & Kedah all coming together in perfect harmony.

 

[edwardleong85]

Emperor of Meghalaya... brown sugary caramel sweet smoooooooooth hay and leather... This is the hindi profile that i truly desire, wants and needs for the rest of my life

 

[Mr.P]

RoyalBengalOuds - Etsy Canada

Shop "The Art of Attars & Ouds" by RoyalBengalOuds located in Montreal, Quebec. Smooth dispatch! Has a history of dispatching on time with tracking. Rave reviews! Average review rating is 4.8 or higher

www.etsy.com

as our friend said above, he’s on Etsy!

Thank you. I had tried searching for royal Bengal ouds on Etsy, but for some reason the website seems to make it very difficult to search by vendor (or I am missing something obvious)

 

[Mr.P]

Wearing a bit of mesoud tarakan today.

Generally, one of the first things I do with something like this is to take a small amount and dilute it in alcohol, and carry in a roller bottle.

In my experience, some oils really shine on a whole other level one diluted like this. Others I prefer full strength.

The feature that really most attracts me about the oil is the dark bitter sweet core that smells to me like the smell in a room midway through a larger chunk of some nice resinous oud on a coal. I think this is one i will mostly wear pure because that best creates the bittersweet aura. The diluted oil is also extremely pleasant - more of the woody and earthy notes stand out when diluted to ~4% in etoh

Jasmine is another oil that I sometimes dilute and sometimes don’t. Jasmine grand. absolutes to me smell dull when diluted, whereas I prefer sambac diluted. the grandiflorum oils i distill (ex concrete) on the other hand to my nose have to be diluted to show their charm. Interesting pure, but the level of realism is improved when diluted.

 

[oudstronaut]

Thank you. I had tried searching for royal Bengal ouds on Etsy, but for some reason the website seems to make it very difficult to search by vendor (or I am missing something obvious)

Hmm… If you click that link it should take you right to his page. Perhaps there are some regional preferences set either on your Etsy account or on his? That’s all I can think of!

 

[Mr.P]

The link worked fine. It was the searching that didn’t work. I was saying that I had already tried to find them on Etsy, but had failed using their search function.

 

[Ersel]

The link worked fine. It was the searching that didn’t work. I was saying that I had already tried to find them on Etsy, but had failed using their search function.

It's difficult to search on etsy by vendor. I always save the shop once I find it. Also, I believe that Ish still has a 15 percent off for ouddict members with 1 coupon he shared here.

 

[Brahim_knows_nothing]

ASO Ameen

 

[User]

ASO Ameen

How is it? I want to try more of Al Shareef's oils. I tried a few but they were just ok, or at least weren't really my style.

 

[Dr B1414]

Jinkoh Store Hainan Essenza
Jinkoh Store Royal Tripura
Rising Phoenix Terengganu Ant

Hainan Essenza is a fantastic oil, such a unique profile for a Chinese Sinensis, very earthy, almost mushroom-like, musky. Unusual but so fun to explore.
Tripura is another one with a unique profile for an Indian oil, and although this oil is revered by a few, I never really caught on with its beauty. It has that cedar-like sharp quality that I'm no fan of, but I appreciate the scent.
The Terengganu Ant is amazing. Would have never guessed this to be a Malay oil, ever. More Crassna and Sinensis-like qualities, very honeyed, and strawberry, blueberry-like facets. One of the very few Malay oils that I actually find beautiful not just complex/interesting.

 

[Arabiad07]

Ensar Oud Kambodi 1976
Jinkoh Store Hainan Essenza
Jinkoh Store Royal Tripura
Rising Phoenix Terengganu Ant

I find EO's super high-priced Kambodi to be the least exciting and satisfying out of these. I can see its charm, but 3.5k for a 3 gram bottle, heeelll nooo.
Hainan Essenza is a fantastic oil, such a unique profile for a Chinese Sinensis, very earthy, almost mushroom-like, musky. Unusual but so fun to explore.
Tripura is another one with a unique profile for an Indian oil, and although this oil is revered by a few, I never really caught on with its beauty. It has that cedar-like sharp quality that I'm no fan of, but I appreciate the scent.
The Terengganu Ant is amazing. Would have never guessed this to be a Malay oil, ever. More Crassna and Sinensis-like qualities, very honeyed, and strawberry, blueberry-like facets. One of the very few Malay oils that I actually find beautiful not just complex/interesting.

What’s K1976 akin to? How would you describe it. Never smelled it but also never understood why it’s 1,000/1g, other than “rarity” and age.

 

[oudstronaut]

Jiribam Guf - Rising Phoenix

On the opening you get some dark dried fruit (plum mainly) with a slightly sour funk. There is a camphorous element. After that initial blast settles, a dark cacao powder almost verging on a fresh-roasted coffee note takes hold. This softens over time to a more comforting cacao powder note. The fruit notes also get a little sweeter going from a dried plum to almost a dark grape or berry.

As this oil develops it just gets sweeter and increasingly pleasant to smell. The fermentation sits in the "core" of the scent profile (which is where I like it) rather than smacking you in the face. There is a “thickness” to the scent of this oil and, paired with the sweetness, it really does a good job of “taming the funk”. A beautiful oil with nearly 2 decades of aging on it! And a good traditional Hindi for those who would usually be scared off by excessive "barnyard notes" in my opinion.

 

[Dr B1414]

What’s K1976 akin to? How would you describe it. Never smelled it but also never understood why it’s 1,000/1g, other than “rarity” and age.

It smells like suede leather, with some bitter medicinal facets, and soft red fruit notes. Nothing offputting, clean but old-school oil. Smells old, mature.

 

[oudstronaut]

Royal Guallam - Ensar Oud

Really intense stuff. On the opening there is a bitter blast. I don’t have a better way of describing it other than bitter. It has the “most” of this facet of any oil I own so far. I assume this is what people mean by “kynamic” because I’ve certainly come across this facet in lesser amounts in other ouds. Behind this bitter kynamic edge there are medicinal notes, a spicy bite (sichuan pepper comes to mind), and some sweet honey and resin. It also has a citrus note to it that I particularly enjoy… subjectively, that’s probably my favourite part of this oil. I don’t think I have anything else like that.

I find some of Ensar’s stuff to be more powerful up front at the cost of being a little linear in the long run. This certainly falls into that category. It’s not that there isn’t a drydown… but I just find it loses some of its bitter edge over time and some resin-ey sweetness emerges in the final hours. It still lasts a while on the skin and, in general, is one of my favourite oils in my collection.