Oud of the Day
- Thread starter jalil
- Start date
boolin_ayub
Oud Beginner
Wearing An Najwa Khlong Yai tonight
Viscosity is thick as molasses and Im hit first with a clean minty green incense with swirls of dark fruits. Theres a subtle honeyed woody sweetness lurking in the background when it starts to settle but throughout the wearing there is no fermentation to my nose. Overall am very much a fan of this, great quality at an amazing price..
I was given a sample of his Mysore Sandalwood and wow....such a delicious treat it was. Milky, creamy, and emphasis on the smell of very light wood shavings. Reminds me of a Somali tea I drink called Shaah which consists of milk, black tea, cardamon, and cinnamon served hot.
Viscosity is thick as molasses and Im hit first with a clean minty green incense with swirls of dark fruits. Theres a subtle honeyed woody sweetness lurking in the background when it starts to settle but throughout the wearing there is no fermentation to my nose. Overall am very much a fan of this, great quality at an amazing price..
I was given a sample of his Mysore Sandalwood and wow....such a delicious treat it was. Milky, creamy, and emphasis on the smell of very light wood shavings. Reminds me of a Somali tea I drink called Shaah which consists of milk, black tea, cardamon, and cinnamon served hot.
Mr.P
oud<3er
Isn’t that sandalwood nice? 😍
I’m here just to mention that I have applied a swipe of “Sheikh ul Oudh” from alhind. If I recall, this is a blend of many different oils, most or all of which are from India. AlHind set me straight if i am wrong. This oil is super smooth and balanced. It has the typical engaging je ne sais quoi of low fermentation (?) assam oud (creamy sassfras? Fermented chocolate? It’s “that note” that often is in the opening of agallocha.
The heart is suave and velvety, the various resin and accessory notes are all in balance. It has this certain appealing balanced warm sweetness that is backed up by this delicious deep dark choco-resin heart that sucks in my attention like and olfactory black hole… my nose is compelled to smell the stuff. Lots of olfactory gravity in this one. I want to pull out that resinous heavy note and just take a bath in it. I have no idea why it is so pleasant to smell these things. Some weird adaptation for survival gone sideways in the presence of olfactory experiences that didn’t exist for most of our history.
Do you ever speculate about the origins of this attraction? One principle of evolutionary psychology is that if humans all share a certain irrational behavior, it possibly is the result of what was a rational and adaptive behavior in our ancestors, but is functioning strangely in this screwball, modern world.
A simple example is our relationship or any herbivore’s relationship with salt - it was rare in much of our diet (mainly comes from meat which wasn’t a large enough % of our diet) and needed for minerals so when our ancestors encountered it, the ones that tended to gorge on it more, like deer at a salt lick, had betterd odds of survival, healthier offspring and so on. A craving for salt doesn’t help us survive today where salt is everywhere. People who eat toxic amounts of salt today might’ve been the best survivors 10,000 years ago. Concentrated sugar is the same. People who are highly attracted to the flavors of fruits, might tend to gorge out, gain body weight, more likely to survive winters, etc.. obligate carnivores like cats don’t find sweet flavors at all interesting I don’t even think they have a receptor to taste it because they’re adapted entirely to a meat diet, which is not filled with simple sugars like fruits
So I wonder for the people who are really tuned into the amazing subtle fragrances of things like oud: 10,000 years ago, this tendency to be preoccupied with scent must’ve had some kind of adaptive benefit because it is a pattern in our species. Maybe these people were especially good at recognizing when food had turned bad, or distinguishing edible mushrooms from poisonous ones (aroma is a very useful characteristic to distinguish between similar species and we used to have a Wine Wheel up in the mushroom lab to help with identification and consistency in adjectives for aromas when taking notes), or using aroma to recognize danger like predators or fires.
I’m here just to mention that I have applied a swipe of “Sheikh ul Oudh” from alhind. If I recall, this is a blend of many different oils, most or all of which are from India. AlHind set me straight if i am wrong. This oil is super smooth and balanced. It has the typical engaging je ne sais quoi of low fermentation (?) assam oud (creamy sassfras? Fermented chocolate? It’s “that note” that often is in the opening of agallocha.
The heart is suave and velvety, the various resin and accessory notes are all in balance. It has this certain appealing balanced warm sweetness that is backed up by this delicious deep dark choco-resin heart that sucks in my attention like and olfactory black hole… my nose is compelled to smell the stuff. Lots of olfactory gravity in this one. I want to pull out that resinous heavy note and just take a bath in it. I have no idea why it is so pleasant to smell these things. Some weird adaptation for survival gone sideways in the presence of olfactory experiences that didn’t exist for most of our history.
Do you ever speculate about the origins of this attraction? One principle of evolutionary psychology is that if humans all share a certain irrational behavior, it possibly is the result of what was a rational and adaptive behavior in our ancestors, but is functioning strangely in this screwball, modern world.
A simple example is our relationship or any herbivore’s relationship with salt - it was rare in much of our diet (mainly comes from meat which wasn’t a large enough % of our diet) and needed for minerals so when our ancestors encountered it, the ones that tended to gorge on it more, like deer at a salt lick, had betterd odds of survival, healthier offspring and so on. A craving for salt doesn’t help us survive today where salt is everywhere. People who eat toxic amounts of salt today might’ve been the best survivors 10,000 years ago. Concentrated sugar is the same. People who are highly attracted to the flavors of fruits, might tend to gorge out, gain body weight, more likely to survive winters, etc.. obligate carnivores like cats don’t find sweet flavors at all interesting I don’t even think they have a receptor to taste it because they’re adapted entirely to a meat diet, which is not filled with simple sugars like fruits
So I wonder for the people who are really tuned into the amazing subtle fragrances of things like oud: 10,000 years ago, this tendency to be preoccupied with scent must’ve had some kind of adaptive benefit because it is a pattern in our species. Maybe these people were especially good at recognizing when food had turned bad, or distinguishing edible mushrooms from poisonous ones (aroma is a very useful characteristic to distinguish between similar species and we used to have a Wine Wheel up in the mushroom lab to help with identification and consistency in adjectives for aromas when taking notes), or using aroma to recognize danger like predators or fires.
Last edited:
AlHind Oud
Resident Artisan
It’s not a blend of oils rather its distilled from wood collected from all over Assam region more than a decade ago.
Mr.P
oud<3er
Since I see you are here al hind… that galiya is driving me crazy. There is some central accord there that is rich, balanced, very very tenacious. Pretty incredible performance for a blend of natural materials. I would love to know some of your secrets, but I will not put you in a position of literally asking.
AlHind Oud
Resident Artisan
My Ghaliyah? Are you sure it’s mine?
Fiet Nam 2020 from AlHind, I find the soapy Note is more complex for me as I pick out a slight animalic, coconut oil, slight fresh floral and resinous wood that seems to combine to a kinda soapy note but in a real nice way. for me there is also a lovely creamy sweet almond note.
Mr.P
oud<3er
Just applied a swipe of Hindi Jadeed 2 (Manipur) from AlHind. This is another delightful oil has that creamy sassafras opening of agallocha that has not been soaking in a vat of anaerobic bacteria for months. So interesting to see which notes are inherent in the wood versus those that were introduced by the processing. I don’t have the info on this oil in front of me and most agallocha / Hindi i have smelled is the stanky fermented stuff with that heavy barn.
I see that this has creamy sassafras top notes that are familiar. When I smelled it from the dipstick, I was immediately intensely reminded of something by this fleeting top note, but I couldn’t figure out what it was before my receptors were flooded (a problem for me when smelling full-on oud up close). It was some kind of intense, beautifully floral waxy note that “fit” perfectly with the sassafrass-cream note… almost like that same note, but shifting into some floral dimension.
What remains now is an extremely pleasant creamy woody herbal fuzz with some kind of enticing “twang” just below the surface. Yummy stuff.
So i am commenting here on my current experience with the first 20 minutes or so of this oil’s development…. I will have additional thoughts I’m sure once I get to revisit it. Having smelled maybe a half dozen or so oils along the lines of this, to me, this one is exceptionally appealing.
I know that the color calibration background is kind of absurd, but I needed something to photograph it on because my desk isn’t always the best backdrop. I was starting to print a 15% gray sheet and then decided why not make an interesting background that I can use to check exposure.
I see that this has creamy sassafras top notes that are familiar. When I smelled it from the dipstick, I was immediately intensely reminded of something by this fleeting top note, but I couldn’t figure out what it was before my receptors were flooded (a problem for me when smelling full-on oud up close). It was some kind of intense, beautifully floral waxy note that “fit” perfectly with the sassafrass-cream note… almost like that same note, but shifting into some floral dimension.
What remains now is an extremely pleasant creamy woody herbal fuzz with some kind of enticing “twang” just below the surface. Yummy stuff.
So i am commenting here on my current experience with the first 20 minutes or so of this oil’s development…. I will have additional thoughts I’m sure once I get to revisit it. Having smelled maybe a half dozen or so oils along the lines of this, to me, this one is exceptionally appealing.
I know that the color calibration background is kind of absurd, but I needed something to photograph it on because my desk isn’t always the best backdrop. I was starting to print a 15% gray sheet and then decided why not make an interesting background that I can use to check exposure.
Castingshadows
@scentofsamadhi
Those new Gen Hindi’s are something else. I always get the sassafras like you mentioned but also honey, brown sugar, florals like helichrysum/immortelle and then bitter grapefruit and green tea. So complex and wonderful.
Castingshadows
@scentofsamadhi
In honor of Olefaktory leaving the community I wore his first Thai oil last night. I swiped it around 6pm and I can still smell the drydown on my chest this morning at 9:30am. I’m sure that’s because it got onto my shirt I wore to bed but either way it was a lovely smell to wake up to.
This is one of my favorite Thai oils. It’s creamy, dried fruits, dark cherries, medicinal, powerful and long lasting. Ed is such an inspiration to me because he just goes and does the things he wants to figure out and learns the secrets along the way.
This is one of my favorite Thai oils. It’s creamy, dried fruits, dark cherries, medicinal, powerful and long lasting. Ed is such an inspiration to me because he just goes and does the things he wants to figure out and learns the secrets along the way.
Ahmaoud
True Ouddict
Wearing Al Hashimi's Viet Kong today, starts off with a very distinctly Vietnamese profile. That incense-y quality, with reduced fruits but taken to a sweeter side of things, the sweetness holding the reins tight around the tartness here. Projects quite a bit, helping to catch whiffs as your arms move around. There's also a funk here, one which I initially couldn't distinguish until I wore a cleaner oud alongside this. It's not barnyard-y at all in the traditional sense, I recall one sniff giving me a faint deer musk like quality, another reminding me of shou style pu-erh teas, with their oceanic, fishness to them. Whatever it is, it helps to future accentuate the ripe (but not overripe) fruitiness, which is more akin to dried mango rather than dried apricot. As it dries down, the initial, bubbling cauldron like quality (which aided the initial projection) falls off and the scent become warmer into the dry down, with a preserved citrus peel in sugar floating on tea likeness, with a bed of green warmth. There's a lot more I haven't been able to capture in the dry down, it really shakes off the fruits, and what remains is very enjoyable, and unique.
I can't help but emphasize two points, the sweetness is void of that condensed sourness (note this isn't the cat lick/crushed bug scent), which even some aged Koh Kong's tend to exhibit, and the fruitiness somehow feels fresher (in a relative sense to the overripe and fermented quality you might be used to). Truly a delightful wear!
Edit: The late dry down is ridiculously good, I could smell it when I went to bed, can't describe how lovely it truly was. Even into the next morning, I can smell hints of the dry down on my arms.
I can't help but emphasize two points, the sweetness is void of that condensed sourness (note this isn't the cat lick/crushed bug scent), which even some aged Koh Kong's tend to exhibit, and the fruitiness somehow feels fresher (in a relative sense to the overripe and fermented quality you might be used to). Truly a delightful wear!
Edit: The late dry down is ridiculously good, I could smell it when I went to bed, can't describe how lovely it truly was. Even into the next morning, I can smell hints of the dry down on my arms.
Last edited:
Mr.P
oud<3er
Mesoud Cambodi Classic
This is a first impressions based on two sessions. Still developing an understanding of this one. From the dipstick a kind of bitter chocolate / fermented oud is evident. Spread on skin, a slight soapy bitterness, some kind of transparent barnyard, resinous darkness, and some berry-like sweetness emerges as well. This is not a sweet candy crassna though the crassna DNA is there in the background. There are some dry mineral notes as well as some of the same fermented wood backdrop as the Burmese crassna, annd overall this is a complex oud with a lot going on simultaneously. This oil goes deeper and brings a handful of contrasting and interesting notes to the table and is an interesting twist on the crassna experience. I can share more about its base / dry down in the future when I have had a chance to wear this alone for a more extended period of time.
This is a first impressions based on two sessions. Still developing an understanding of this one. From the dipstick a kind of bitter chocolate / fermented oud is evident. Spread on skin, a slight soapy bitterness, some kind of transparent barnyard, resinous darkness, and some berry-like sweetness emerges as well. This is not a sweet candy crassna though the crassna DNA is there in the background. There are some dry mineral notes as well as some of the same fermented wood backdrop as the Burmese crassna, annd overall this is a complex oud with a lot going on simultaneously. This oil goes deeper and brings a handful of contrasting and interesting notes to the table and is an interesting twist on the crassna experience. I can share more about its base / dry down in the future when I have had a chance to wear this alone for a more extended period of time.
Similar threads
