Speaking of Borneos. While I was enjoying Royal Sumatra, I kept having this deja vu feel of another oil, of Borneo origin, that shares a lot in common with it. It wasn't Borneo 5000, which is deeper and creamier, less top-note dominant. And then it hit me, it is Sultani Sekadau. Someone asked me about this oil a few days back, and I was recollecting about it, so today it made perfect sense to take a swipe next to the RS. And it does indeed share plenty in common. It opens up in a similar fashion, minus the "AA Royal bite" and the aquamarine tinge. Instead of lemon grass, I get more of a zesty clementine scent, like when you tear one open with your fingers. Juicy and sparkling. To that, there is also a refreshing green vibe, not far from the lemongrass note in RS. Overall, it feels more orange-green, whereas RS is more blue-green-yellow. But both possess this citrus-like sparkling green opening. I'm quite surprised the EO team keeps going on about how purple this oil is. Yes, after the opening, it slowly morphs into this purple-glazed candy wood smell, with the characteristic Bornean pedigree, but it is more of a zesty purple in the vein of Dokusan than a deep and resinous purple, or dark purple, like some Maluku, Pinoy, and Malaysian oils that come to mind. It's even more sparkling purple than Dokusan. And now I realize how much it shares in common with Royal Sumatra. The latter goes more woody-vanillic in the base, whereas Sekadau is more candy-like purple. I don't know if it's an oil I crave to own more of, but for sure it is one of the most unique Borneo oils I have smelled, and the only oil ever to make me think of the orange color. It's one of those oils that you want to have at least 0.25 grams around just for the archive.
