Oud of the Day

[honeybadger]

Rpp - afterburn

Decided to look inside my sample box today and pulled out this hindi oud, I have to admit that I'm not the biggest fan of the barnyard scent but it is nice to change it up every once in a while. It's actually quite nice when you catch whiffs of it in the air as opposed to up close.

 

[Mousse de Chene]

Rpp - afterburn

Decided to look inside my sample box today and pulled out this hindi oud, I have to admit that I'm not the biggest fan of the barnyard scent but it is nice to change it up every once in a while. It's actually quite nice when you catch whiffs of it in the air as opposed to up close.

View attachment 42748

I’m a big fan of this oil. Yes, it has the traditional fermented Hindi top note, but it’s not overdone or cheesy in anyway.
This oil is wonderfully musky in addition to a lovely floral-saffron quality in the heart,
The dry down is beautifully incensey, resinous, dry woods, warm & leathery with lots of hay which is a good indicator of a quality Indian Oud oil. JK executed this one with precision & finesse.

 

[honeybadger]

I've also tried kalakassi and maybe another Indian oud from his shop and to me, they have such a similar profile that it's hard for me to distinguish from each other. However the one that I liked most is krishnai char. I'm not the best at describing but this is more unique compared to the aforementioned.

 

[Woody]

Nah not that Ive tried or seen since they’re all plantation. Even many hainan, hong kong, and yunnan oils are a total miss for me.

They’re often a 1 dimensional profile of a kind of citrus, petrichor earth dirt, peanut, and this odd slippery elm bark/oats/oatmeal smell.

I don’t know if it’s the wood or the distillation but it’s not my cup of oud, despite hainan/sin sis being one of my favorite regions.

Usually they smell the same in the bottle as they do on the skin, lacking dynamics.

Maybe they’re better off considered as essential oils rather than artisanal or high end.

On that token even many Borneo oils are a total miss for me when they focus so heavily on the cedarwood/hamster-gerbil cage smell plus peanut shell notes.

Crassa oils that smell like opening a can of peaches and sour cheese.

Maroke oils that smell like dirty feet after being in wet socks all day.

🤷🏻

Tend to agree. I got so blown away by Emperor of China that all other sinensis have been severely lacking in comparison. The Hong Kong terroir is unparalleled.

 

[TheOudDood]

Idk man I get a lot of great oils from all of those regions. sounds like you’re not getting good quality oils to me.

Ceen II is a wild oud from Guangdong, and it’s anything but one-dimensional.

Just like any other species, there are great crassnas and awful ones. What you described sounds like a pretty standard fermented plantation crassna, and I’ve tried many crassnas that smell nothing like that.

Ive tried some great oils from those regions as well 🙂

 

[TheOudDood]

Pulled out

what are some specific oils that have these notes? I’m curious if I’ve tried any and had similar results.

I don't want to name any specifics because I don't want to put down or have a negative effect on anyones company/brand.

Ive tried a ton of oils from a lot of different companies over the 6 years, most of which I did not care for and didn't really see the value proposition for.

My point is not to knock on any particular region, or a specific oil, or a company. The takeaway is just that Im picky and most oils don't do much for me, especially considering the up front investment. Just a matter of personal preference is all 🙂

 

[Woody]

I don't want to name any specifics because I don't want to put down or have a negative effect on anyones company/brand.

Ive tried a ton of oils from a lot of different companies over the 6 years, most of which I did not care for and didn't really see the value proposition for.

My point is not to knock on any particular region, or a specific oil, or a company. The takeaway is just that Im picky and most oils don't do much for me, especially considering the up front investment. Just a matter of personal preference is all 🙂

On the flipside, what are some great oils you have experienced?

 

[Castingshadows]

Jinkoh Store - Selangor Qi

Brilliant candied Malaysian opening with bitter incensey woods and warm, honeyed cola. Absolutely stunning oil. This is everything I love about Malaysians because it offers that stunning gourmand quality. It’s like taking hazelnut, marzipan, tonka, vanilla, and nutmeg wrapping it all up and filtering it through bitter Malaysian green jungle syrup. Just lovely all around.

Jinkoh Store - Maluku Qi

Rich bitter woods with an almost Hainan’esque profile. There’s an austerity here that is lovely. Feels like I’m wearing planks of ancient woods with a bitter, honeyed glaze although the sweetness here is minimal. Very solid oil and one I’m glad to have sampled.

 

[TheOudDood]

Good questions, recently:

Oud alnamir - Habz

Oud Berunai - Oud.sg

Brunei, Hainan - Fushigi

Anas - MesOud

 

[Castingshadows]

I don't want to name any specifics because I don't want to put down or have a negative effect on anyones company/brand.

Ive tried a ton of oils from a lot of different companies over the 6 years, most of which I did not care for and didn't really see the value proposition for.

My point is not to knock on any particular region, or a specific oil, or a company. The takeaway is just that Im picky and most oils don't do much for me, especially considering the up front investment. Just a matter of personal preference is all 🙂

I think it’s valuable to talk about oils you don’t like. After all this community is meant for discussion and not for blind praise. There’s lots of oils I don’t like and will talk about openly. For example Lindaraja. It’s a solid oil at the price it was originally sold at but it’s not worth it at all for the new price they started selling it at especially with how poorly it performs. We should be allowed to talk about oils we find lacking, pricing we disagree with, stories that are used to market oils. I don’t think it’s toxic and doesn’t hurt any one’s feelings. You can’t please everyone.

 

[Woody]

Good questions, recently:

Oud alnamir - Habz

Oud Berunai - Oud.sg

Brunei, Hainan - Fushigi

Anas - MesOud

I’m curious about any others. Always trying to learn!

 

[Mr.P]

I think it’s valuable to talk about oils you don’t like. After all this community is meant for discussion and not for blind praise. There’s lots of oils I don’t like and will talk about openly. For example Lindaraja. It’s a solid oil at the price it was originally sold at but it’s not worth it at all for the new price they started selling it at especially with how poorly it performs. We should be allowed to talk about oils we find lacking, pricing we disagree with, stories that are used to market oils. I don’t think it’s toxic and doesn’t hurt any one’s feelings. You can’t please everyone.

I think it’s valuable to talk about oils you don’t like. After all this community is meant for discussion and not for blind praise. There’s lots of oils I don’t like and will talk about openly. For example Lindaraja. It’s a solid oil at the price it was originally sold at but it’s not worth it at all for the new price they started selling it at especially with how poorly it performs. We should be allowed to talk about oils we find lacking, pricing we disagree with, stories that are used to market oils. I don’t think it’s toxic and doesn’t hurt any one’s feelings. You can’t please everyone.

@Castingshadows it is good that you bring this up and it brings all kinds of thoughts to mind that I have had over the years. It's an interesting dilemma. It seems that people try to talk about the things that they enjoy here and on average follow the principle of "if you don't have something nice to say, don't say anything at all". This is a mixed bag because it does keep things positive and supportive to the artisans here (and we have seen enough discussion forums dry up or turn toxic that it's worth trying to keep things positive), but it also means that some oils that are lemons may not get identified and end up being purchased by those who don't know the difference.

Over the years at the various forums I have seen more than one occasion where a bunch of newbies got jazzed about something that was not quality material, and this is where the focus on the positive ends up becoming a disservice. There have been cases where I wanted to jump in and say "guys this stuff is not what you think it is" but didn't feel comfortable doing so for a couple of reasons.

I personally stick to the positive here mainly because this is a vendor sponsored forum and I am a guest basically at their expense. I will let vendors know if there is something that I have questions about but choose to only post publicly about things that meet my standards for being decent quality materials.

 

[Woody]

@Castingshadows it is good that you bring this up and it brings all kinds of thoughts to mind that I have had over the years. It's an interesting dilemma. It seems that people try to talk about the things that they enjoy here and on average follow the principle of "if you don't have something nice to say, don't say anything at all". This is a mixed bag because it does keep things positive and supportive to the artisans here (and we have seen enough discussion forums dry up or turn toxic that it's worth trying to keep things positive), but it also means that some oils that are lemons may not get identified and end up being purchased by those who don't know the difference.

Over the years at the various forums I have seen more than one occasion where a bunch of newbies got jazzed about something that was not quality material, and this is where the focus on the positive ends up becoming a disservice. There have been cases where I wanted to jump in and say "guys this stuff is not what you think it is" but didn't feel comfortable doing so for a couple of reasons.

I personally stick to the positive here mainly because this is a vendor sponsored forum and I am a guest basically at their expense. I will let vendors know if there is something that I have questions about but choose to only post publicly about things that meet my standards for being decent quality materials.

Yeah the oud market is difficult to navigate. The ad copy is one thing, then you get some and you’re like “oh, this one smells like oven cleaner and that one smells like a dusty purse full of moldy hay. Cool cool.”

 

[honeybadger]

Yeah the oud market is difficult to navigate. The ad copy is one thing, then you get some and you’re like “oh, this one smells like oven cleaner and that one smells like a dusty purse full of moldy hay. Cool cool.”

There is an oil in my collection that has a minty grape aroma and I remember a few ouddicts mentioning that it smelled like grape cough syrup or pine sol cleaner and ever since then this oil never smelled the same again 😂 because it became immediately apparent and that's the first thing I associate it with now but I try to shun that comment out and enjoy the complexity of it.

 

[SophMarie]

There is an oil in my collection that has a minty grape aroma and I remember a few ouddicts mentioning that it smelled like grape cough syrup or pine sol cleaner and ever since then this oil never smelled the same again 😂 because it became immediately apparent and that's the first thing I associate it with now but I try to shun that comment out and enjoy the complexity of it.

I don't sense many of the notes other people do, whether it's in oud or perfume. I don't know whether it's a matter of vocabulary -- concepts like leather and chypre confuse me, though I like so-called leather and chypre fragrances. Or maybe it's a matter of experience and sophistication. Either way, I get plenty out of my fragrances. I'm a super smeller and have an emotional, rather than intellectual connection to them.

 

[Zubayr]

I don't sense many of the notes other people do, whether it's in oud or perfume. I don't know whether it's a matter of vocabulary -- concepts like leather and chypre confuse me, though I like so-called leather and chypre fragrances. Or maybe it's a matter of experience and sophistication. Either way, I get plenty out of my fragrances. I'm a super smeller and have an emotional, rather than intellectual connection to them.

Yeah honestly, if a perfume smells like eggs but makes me feel good, I'd enjoy it more than a perfume that smells like fruits but makes me feel bad
Although egg perfumes might make me feel ill

 

[User]

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[honeybadger]

I don't sense many of the notes other people do, whether it's in oud or perfume. I don't know whether it's a matter of vocabulary -- concepts like leather and chypre confuse me, though I like so-called leather and chypre fragrances. Or maybe it's a matter of experience and sophistication. Either way, I get plenty out of my fragrances. I'm a super smeller and have an emotional, rather than intellectual connection to them.

I resonate with this as I also sometimes have difficulty describing notes in a fragrance. in the past, I ordered some essential oils of pure ambergris, tobacco, patchouli, etc. Just to see what these smell like individually so I can broaden my scent vocabulary but I still don't understand what it means when people say things like camphorous or petrichor. I like the way you described having an emotional connection to them. I'm the same, I have an abstract way of identifying oud scents.

 

[User]

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[Castingshadows]

Geosmin is the aroma molecule responsible for the smell of rain which is essentially wet dirt and I do believe you can purchase geosmin aromamolecules which is awesome.

I’d also recommend buying pure camphor crystals for the smell of real camphor. It’s sweet, cooling, slightly bitter and smells way better than tigers balm but nothing beats a good ol’ pack of Newport’s for that menthol aroma. It’s more of a feeling than a small.

Petrichor I would almost describe as the smell of earthy, moldy, dusty, ancient, desiccated woods and rocks. Like rain can be described as a petrichor scent but not all petrichor scents smell like rain.

The best way to train your nose is to buy raw materials, study perfumery, study perfumes, cross reference more than necessary and understand that there’s objective truths with smell but all of it is deeply personal and subjective on an individual. For example we all know a rose smells like a rose. You would never say a rose smells like jasmine but a rose can have jasmine-like facets. Knowing what each material smells like is important when you make the connection to these flowers in other materials.