Oud of the Day

[MegaNuts]

Attar Store - Malinau
Hamza's got a treasure trove of new oils, which include the spectacular Fragarant Harbour and an aged Tigerwood. Swiped the Malinau this morning and while its not my favourite profile, this a undeniably fine oil. Opens with a nutty fragarance with a touch of cinnamom before settling into a comorting cocoa finish. Decent projection too.

 

[Mario P.]

IO Adhrijaya v1
AA Syed Ceylon no 1

 

[joud]

Just got my latest in from Hamza at The Attar Store -- Yunnan. I picked it up from my PO Box and couldn't wait to get home, so I took a sniff from the bottle while driving home. Not much happening. Hmm. Applied a nice dab on my wrist and again took a sniff. Still not much happening. I began to think that I got a dud -- surprising because I've always really enjoyed the oils and wood I've gotten from Hamza. Just as I'm pulling up to home I started to catch a really lovely medicinal, sweet smell that made me grin. This beautiful smell just kept growing and growing until I felt like I was wading through it. The notes are a little more high end, and it definitely doesn't hit you over the head right out of the gate. It's an exponential blooming of Yum. Really liking this one.

 

[Mr.P]

For me the oud of the day was a tincture I made of some old agarwood I got when Iived in the Bay Area in the late 90’s. There was an amazing TCM herb shop there with great specimens of musk, ambergris, arm-sized oud logs, even larger sculptures… was a family business which originated in Hong Kong which explains all the agarwood and such. Somebody sold off all of the good stock and reopened it with a really mediocre supply of stuff in 2001.

This tincture is from a sinking chunk I got that was the last of a large log the owner had been cutting shavings off for years, just for use in herb mixtures prescribed by TCM docs. It has a very nice sweet honey smell and is very “oudy” somewhat more like a co2 extract than a distilled oud. For me, surprisingly satisfying for a tincture. It is saturated in the sense that I kept extracting shavings in hot alcohol until thick resin started to accumulate at the bottom of the bottle I was extracting in, and no more would dissolve. This has been sitting in a drawer since 1999 or so… I added some everclear to try to dissolve the resin goop in the bottom of the bottle.

I think alcohol extracts are not a waste if you have a decent amount of an oud you can afford to experiment with.

 

[AlHind Oud]

My oud of the day is just staring at this beautiful oud in making! 😍

 

[MegaNuts]

Hirta - Al Hind

Syrupy notes of straw and honey like a new gen Hindi, but somehow more resinous and with a strong bitter topnote cutting through a haze of white flower. The bitteness yields quite quickly to purple fuit, like concentrated plum and cherry. Honey, flower and resinous power makes for an intriguing and sublime drydown.

 

[Yajee]

Received @EJayB's E-Laos and Prachin today. Tried and enjoyed both and found the Prachin to be lovely and sweet, great value for money.

 

[iori]

IO Malindang

 

[Sproaty]

I've not been posting in a while, here's what I've worn recently and some thoughts,

@Al Hashimi - Tariq 2. Wowee. So this starts off very barny to me, the Hindi aspect is coming through majorly here. I have aa sample of Tariq (the original) and in that one, the Cambodi aspect harmonises with the Hindi better from the go
About 3 hours afterwards (maybe a bit sooner, wasn't smelling too constantly - this is when I noticed it) I then get a burst of "red" spilling through, A very velvet leathery texture ensures for hours on end - and I mean, hours. I applied this around 8pm, I'm fairly sure that I had a bath around 3hrs later, and had a shower when I woke up. I could still smell this oud 7pm the next day

@AlHindOud - Sheikh-ul-Oud. Was surprised at this one being a Hindi oil, as I've never encountered a profile like this. No barn or funk yet doesn't feel "new-gen". Comes across as a light brown, beige perhaps as opposed to the sheer black profile of your typical Hindi oil. Good lasting power and extremely enjoyable

@AlHindOud - Yunnan. Start off with a twange of barn, as if it's very far off in the distance. Settles down into a lovely sinensis

@AlHindOud - Hirta Gold. *another* new profile to me. I've smelled a couple of hirta oils but nothing like this!

 

[MegaNuts]

Malay Magnifique - Agar Aura

This is a well-integrated fragrance with at least several years of aging. The opening is unusually top note heavy for a Malay, but more like crushed eucalyptus leaves than terpenes. The drydown is a pleasant mix of dry woods but more green than resinous and without much shifting of the scent profile. The final drydown which has hints of marine is excellent but not something I usually seek.

Update: the drydown after 6-8 hours is beautifully floral

 

[Al Shareef Oudh]

Just the name, no words need - Samandari by Al Shareef Oudh

 

[Anwar]

Feel-Oud Bortnikoff New Global Asia. Very interesting mix. THINK Agar Aura top note heavy with added, buttery depth.

Attar on the other hand. Check Mukhallat of the day.

Plus, a dab of Agarwood Indonesia Timor sinking roots sandal.

 

[Ofaruk]

King mysore on my left wrist, Craftoud Nagaland classique on the right. A glimpse of change in every 15 minutes, and both oils gets only prettier in every new dimension. I usually can’t quite reconcile oud and sandal, but these two are the perfect match to each other.

 

[MegaNuts]

Hitam Quadeem - Habzoud

Habz has some really interesting oils, and always at reasonable prices.

HQ is the type of oil that makes me really happy. On first sniff it seems to be a mix of Cambodia and Malay with some bottle age. An hour in, its unmistakably Thai but leaven with the resin, chocolate and leather of very good Malay oud. This is such a good co-distillation – all at once accessible, elegant and intriguing.

 

[Tauhid Shaikh]

Hailam Ltd on the left and Yu Chuan on the right.

 

[Renzo C]

Hailam Ltd on the left and Yu Chuan on the right.

Tell us about the Ya Chuan!

 

[Renzo C]

First time sampling Hainan 2005 today…what a rollercoaster!

An animalic opening underscored by ambergris and musk. I rarely wear oils of this kind, so this profile is still very pungent to me. Perhaps with some time I will grow to love it…

Then, a deep, resinous, smoky oud. Leathery, sweet rich wood, hints of almonds, bitter orange.

Finally, magic. Hainan agarwood on full display. Zesty florals, cinnamon, sweet wood.

Completely blown away by this oil…

 

[Tauhid Shaikh]

First time sampling Hainan 2005 today…what a rollercoaster!

An animalic opening underscored by ambergris and musk. I rarely wear oils of this kind, so this profile is still very pungent to me. Perhaps with some time I will grow to love it…

Then, a deep, resinous, smoky oud. Leathery, sweet rich wood, hints of almonds, bitter orange.

Finally, magic. Hainan agarwood on full display. Zesty florals, cinnamon, sweet wood.

Completely blown away by this oil…

Surprisingly, someone sent a sample too. On its way.

 

[iori]

Oriscent Chenla

 

[Tauhid Shaikh]

Tell us about the Ya Chuan!

I am bad at describing. I would say great oil must have in your collection.