Oudamberlove
Member
Al Hashimi Akkad
A little spicy, then a little sweet,
resinous, and oudy.
A little spicy, then a little sweet,
resinous, and oudy.
Oud of the Day
- Thread starter jalil
- Start date
hopefullawguy
Oud Beginner
These are both *excellent* oils. Kanbi Koh should maybe be called Candy Koh 😂. Your write-up does them justice
AbuTominaga
The Oud Alchemist
Kanbi (甘美) means sweet, sugary, honey-like in Japanese.
The first Kanji " 甘 " means sweet, and the second " 美 " means beauty.
MegaNuts
Oud Fan
SULTANI 1975 - ENSAR OUD
The origin of the oil isn’t disclosed, though its described as having a “signature red, velvety Myitkyina sweetness”. Elsewhere EO has said that the Sultan Qaboos personal oils are invariably Burmese or Malaysian, and his own naming criteria for a Sultan oil is that it includes New Guinea agarwood. I’d guess half Burmese and half Malaysian wood.
The oil opens with Arabian style fermentation notes that recall ASO Shawq or Jibaal, though drier and less potent than either oil. For an oil of its age, it is also a surprising shapeshifter. The depth of notes is remarkable, starting with red leather and then settling towards darker plumlike purple notes of aged Malaysian oils. There’s also a musk like fuminess to this oil, though is doesn’t tickle the olfactory tract like musk.
Longevity is outstanding, with the oil being easily detectable after 30 hours.
The drawback of this oil are that possibly due to style, and probably due to age, there’s little at the top end. There’s not even a trace of crystalline notes like in Ensar’s top oils like Nga Trang or White Kinam and overall it lacks zip and pop, like a sweet dish prepared without lemon or vinegar.
Overall, a great oil for those that like deep nuanced ouds with a touch of barn and massively long drydown stages.
The origin of the oil isn’t disclosed, though its described as having a “signature red, velvety Myitkyina sweetness”. Elsewhere EO has said that the Sultan Qaboos personal oils are invariably Burmese or Malaysian, and his own naming criteria for a Sultan oil is that it includes New Guinea agarwood. I’d guess half Burmese and half Malaysian wood.
The oil opens with Arabian style fermentation notes that recall ASO Shawq or Jibaal, though drier and less potent than either oil. For an oil of its age, it is also a surprising shapeshifter. The depth of notes is remarkable, starting with red leather and then settling towards darker plumlike purple notes of aged Malaysian oils. There’s also a musk like fuminess to this oil, though is doesn’t tickle the olfactory tract like musk.
Longevity is outstanding, with the oil being easily detectable after 30 hours.
The drawback of this oil are that possibly due to style, and probably due to age, there’s little at the top end. There’s not even a trace of crystalline notes like in Ensar’s top oils like Nga Trang or White Kinam and overall it lacks zip and pop, like a sweet dish prepared without lemon or vinegar.
Overall, a great oil for those that like deep nuanced ouds with a touch of barn and massively long drydown stages.
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Justiciar Parfums
Oud Fan
Borneo 3000
Classic sweetness and camphor that I enjoy all the time...
Classic sweetness and camphor that I enjoy all the time...
Mr.P
oud<3er
Feel oud bio Thai unsoaked. the sweet cherry and benzaldehyde pungent new Thai top note is finally changing into something woody, resinous and less cloying.
I think one thing that’s really been missing from all of the new Thai oils I have smelled has been enough time for them to transform from raw to matured. Back in the old basenotes days there was much discussion about treatment of freshly distilled oils. forced oxidation, exposing oils to air, “lamping” fresh oils and such. I know that the New Age oils are for the most part produced without these techniques and I’m beginning to wonder if one reason it’s done is to transform those cherry sweet sickening fresh notes into something more traditional.
Hang onto those newly distilled oils folks because I think some interesting things will be happening over the next 10 years.
I think one thing that’s really been missing from all of the new Thai oils I have smelled has been enough time for them to transform from raw to matured. Back in the old basenotes days there was much discussion about treatment of freshly distilled oils. forced oxidation, exposing oils to air, “lamping” fresh oils and such. I know that the New Age oils are for the most part produced without these techniques and I’m beginning to wonder if one reason it’s done is to transform those cherry sweet sickening fresh notes into something more traditional.
Hang onto those newly distilled oils folks because I think some interesting things will be happening over the next 10 years.
MegaNuts
Oud Fan
OUDLAB : BORNEO KIN AND A SHORT RIFF ON PACKAGING
I’ve been meaning to write about brother Abu’s oils at Oudlab, one of the standout new vendors of the last couple of years.
There’s a freshness to Oudlab’s approach that really resonates, from his boundless enthusiasm for fine oils to the packaging of his oils, which is the best I’ve seen in the industry.
Most oils are sold in the sturdy glass bottles with faux gold caps and small sample vials. The former is intended to look traditional and expensive, but end up all looking alike and there is always the fear of the caps oxidizing into the oils. The glass sample vials are fiddly to open and break easily if dropped onto hard surfaces.
Oudlab’s packaging is modern, with electric orange emblazoned on black. The bottles appear to use glass applicators and his sample bottles are in high quality plastic V-vials where samples will last a lot longer and there is no worries about breakage. Jinkoh Store also uses similar high quality quarter tola bottles, but the additional of labelling on the top of the cap makes it easier to find Oudlab bottles.
These may seem like small things, but the there’s a sense that rather to impress that the bottles and content are expensive, the effort is on the oud experience.
None of this of course, would matter much if Oudlab’s oils weren’t good, and more the most part they are more than just good.
Borneo Kin in is a cracking oil. It incredibly clean and oozes with signature Borneo oudiness, opening with pronounced notes of old textbook vanilla and creamy caramel. The notes dance around, alternating between pollen, alpine woods, citrus zest and a smidgeon of berry, offering a wonderful explosion of white and yellow scents. This oil also transcends fragrance to deliver a meditative and invigorating experience.
I’ve been meaning to write about brother Abu’s oils at Oudlab, one of the standout new vendors of the last couple of years.
There’s a freshness to Oudlab’s approach that really resonates, from his boundless enthusiasm for fine oils to the packaging of his oils, which is the best I’ve seen in the industry.
Most oils are sold in the sturdy glass bottles with faux gold caps and small sample vials. The former is intended to look traditional and expensive, but end up all looking alike and there is always the fear of the caps oxidizing into the oils. The glass sample vials are fiddly to open and break easily if dropped onto hard surfaces.
Oudlab’s packaging is modern, with electric orange emblazoned on black. The bottles appear to use glass applicators and his sample bottles are in high quality plastic V-vials where samples will last a lot longer and there is no worries about breakage. Jinkoh Store also uses similar high quality quarter tola bottles, but the additional of labelling on the top of the cap makes it easier to find Oudlab bottles.
These may seem like small things, but the there’s a sense that rather to impress that the bottles and content are expensive, the effort is on the oud experience.
None of this of course, would matter much if Oudlab’s oils weren’t good, and more the most part they are more than just good.
Borneo Kin in is a cracking oil. It incredibly clean and oozes with signature Borneo oudiness, opening with pronounced notes of old textbook vanilla and creamy caramel. The notes dance around, alternating between pollen, alpine woods, citrus zest and a smidgeon of berry, offering a wonderful explosion of white and yellow scents. This oil also transcends fragrance to deliver a meditative and invigorating experience.
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If only I had enough quantity of the freshly distilled oils to last me 10+ years 😅
DubOudh
Aster Oudh
Still wouldn't be enough.... 🙂
Mr.P
oud<3er
You’re right about that. The oils that I’m talking about were NOT very expensive so I bought a tola of one and a half tola of a couple of other ones. Shortly after that I found myself kind of disgusted by that weird almond top note, or at least over tired of it, but now after a few years they are really settling down. Scratching my head how to make sure I don’t just burn through these now and give them a little more time to get better.
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Al Shareef Oudh
Master Perfumer
I have always found good content in your post, that invite for good discussion, unfortunately due to my time constraints I can't always chime in.
Age is part and parcel of Oudh. One factual element that is usually missed in the Oudh discussion is its history. People will generally speak about Oudh as a fragrant ingredient quoting classical religious text and history without making distinction between oil and wood.
The wood has been used in many traditions for thousands of years. The oil however in historical context is a fairly new thing. In the last 1000 odd years taking its beginning from Ibn Sina. Whilst there are records of different forms of primative distillation techniques prior to Ibn Sina, distillation in the modern form begins with him.
This context is very important, because within the methodology of Islamic perfumery aging is treated nearly like a separate ingredient, as such Oudh that was distilled HAD to be aged. And the modern use of Oudh that we see take its root from the Islamic philosophy of perfumery.
Here is the deviation, today most of the oils that are sold are distilled and shortly after sold. This is a practice that has been adopted from the essential oil revival of the 70s, that the fresher the oil the more better it is, this notion however is based on a treatment consumption anti oxidant contant basis, not smell, and we are in the smell business.
The key learning from this to the consumer is, don't write off oils on your first engagement with it. Time is an ingredient and a good dose of it with Oudh does wonders. Freshly distilled oils are half the story and when I see some of the newer Oudh heads exclaim what a wonderful Oudh X y z is and it was distilled last month, I think to myself you are only on the intro to the book and I wonder how the later chapters will greet you.
I've heard many accounts of how an oil which wasn't pleasant initially was better after aging. Is the opposite true as well? Where an oil was exceptionally beautiful straight out of the pot and then it turned into an unbearable oil?
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