Wearing these two side by side today. Many similar notes in these, particularly tobacco and leather are prominent in each.
However each has a unique approach. S1 starts off heavy with a beautiful dark chocolate note right off the bat. There’s a brief phase with a fermented slightly antiseptic quality that dissipates quickly. Following that you get the beautiful signature grapefruit note, that transitions into a rich vintage leather and cigar tobacco resinous drydown.
Ensar’s Burmi opens up much lighter and airier in comparison. It opens with beautiful sweet red fruit and a slight camphoric tingle. It has a distinct tobacco note but instead of the heavy vintage Smokey cigar tobacco found in Sulaym, this one is a light sweet airy tobacco. This is not a light oud by any means however in comparison to Sulaym 1 it feels light.
Overall two great ouds. I find that the opening of Ensar’s Burmi maybe shines a bit more with the beautiful sweetness and fruitiness. However the deep resinous drydown of Sulaym 1 is incredible and continues to showcase its complexity for longer than Ensar’s.
Happy to have these two incredible high grade Burmese examples in my collection.