Andrew Salkin
it's aboud time!
Does AA ever make oils that are dark, musky, and super thick and incense heavy. I know he did a much of Malays recently - just curious because I've been getting the impression that the majority of his oils are very "thin" and top heavy. Great aromas - but even on his site, he says that when he distills, he aims to only get the oil and avoids and waxes or lipids - that's why his Gen 3 or 4 (whatever that all means) oils are all very thin. In one of his blog posts, he actually states this and says that with his oils more than other oud oils, you really don't want to smear it around your skin and emphasizes that you really just want to gently dab once or twice to avoid killing part of the aroma. I'd have to search for the post he made, but that's the gist I got. He was saying how since oud is so expensive it's important that the oil only contains the agarwood oil and no lipds or fats or whatever and that's why his stuff is priced higher because you are paying for only the oil. But I've heard elsewhere that those other lipids and some waxes can actually help to keep the oil on your skin longer and help with the practical application of wearing the oil.
I've heard nothing but good things about the aroma quality - but continue to hear they are very delicate oils. I do think it's cool that his goal is to mimic the smell of room temperature or gently heated wood and not add any auxiliary notes in the distillation process, but when I think of those things, I think of a delicate aroma vs other ouds that might take a departure from the aroma of the actual chips, adding in other notes and creating more of a complex perfume. That seems to be an opposing philosophy or school of thought (in the letters from Ensar and Taha) - that is, create an oil where the sum is greater than any of it's parts - so rather than smelling like the gently heated chips the oil was made from, it actually adds to it and creates a new smell/aroma.
For me, when I think of oils that smell like unheated chips that it's from - I think of C02 oils. I had always thought the advantage of the painstaking process of hydro distillation was to create something greater than the sum of it's parts. Maybe I should just try a sample pack of some of his oils. Getting back to my initial thought, has AA ever produced an oil with the same power and density of oils like yasuke from LMK, or Ghaith from ASO? Those are just two that come to mind when I think of SUPER terpy and heavy heavy aromas (vs. lighter profiles like a muhib).
Today - Al Hashimi Kelatan, I smell this and I think PINK! pink fizzy soda and tropical drinks with powdery finish. Feel like it would be fun to add some white ambergris to this and let it chill for a year!
I've heard nothing but good things about the aroma quality - but continue to hear they are very delicate oils. I do think it's cool that his goal is to mimic the smell of room temperature or gently heated wood and not add any auxiliary notes in the distillation process, but when I think of those things, I think of a delicate aroma vs other ouds that might take a departure from the aroma of the actual chips, adding in other notes and creating more of a complex perfume. That seems to be an opposing philosophy or school of thought (in the letters from Ensar and Taha) - that is, create an oil where the sum is greater than any of it's parts - so rather than smelling like the gently heated chips the oil was made from, it actually adds to it and creates a new smell/aroma.
For me, when I think of oils that smell like unheated chips that it's from - I think of C02 oils. I had always thought the advantage of the painstaking process of hydro distillation was to create something greater than the sum of it's parts. Maybe I should just try a sample pack of some of his oils. Getting back to my initial thought, has AA ever produced an oil with the same power and density of oils like yasuke from LMK, or Ghaith from ASO? Those are just two that come to mind when I think of SUPER terpy and heavy heavy aromas (vs. lighter profiles like a muhib).
Today - Al Hashimi Kelatan, I smell this and I think PINK! pink fizzy soda and tropical drinks with powdery finish. Feel like it would be fun to add some white ambergris to this and let it chill for a year!
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