OK here I go, working through a backlog of a few days' of oils. I use this thread to post mini reviews, as I feel like even with 5 1/2 years experience of oud and attar wearing, that I'm still rubbish at conveying scent profiles, so mini writeups are my thing, instead of full reviews. Let's see....
@RisingPhoenix
Musk Rose Attar (yea, not an oud but cba to post in a different thread) - new batch. The old sample I had was from 2018. Difference in colour - this new one is green, and that shines through in the smell. It's as if it's not as rose-forward as before, there is a green earthiness that is more prominent. I mean, the rose is still there but not jumping out as much as before. I like the vibe this gives it. Absolutely beautiful attar.
Haflong Afterburner - oh wow. Smelling this from the cap, I was a bit taken aback. I've only tried one other Haflong oil (besides the Haflong Qinam by RPP - a recent buy [which is amazing]) and that was by Agarwood Assam (now Ahom Oud) - possibly the most animalic, fecal, barn oil I've ever experienced. I didn't own it for long and quickly sold it, it was way too much to wear. I wonder how it is now.
Anyway, I digress. Haflong Afterburner, when smelling it from the dipstick made me recall that oil eeevvveerrr so slightly, and I was couldn't help but think "oh no". Oh no indeed, this smells nothing like that - thankfully. A tiny bit of barn purrs off yours skin upon first swipe, and very quickly recedes. It's a golden hue, very new-age Hindi but there is a glimse of older-style Hindis lurking in the background, but only ever just. Drydown was similar to the Qinam but that's operating on another level in terms of (perceived) quality - hard to put the difference into words
Bija II. I'm fortunate to own a decent amount of Bija 1 and bought this out of pure curiosity to see how they compare. I don't even think I put the equivalent of 1/8th of a swipe on - I just dipped a plastic toothpick into the very top of the vial where the oil had previously touched during transport (having been kept upright since) and then swiped that. That was enough - so even 0.1g of this will last a long time. It's strong, poweful. Similar to the IO Hainan Ultima (down below), I suppose. Basically, an out of this world smell.
How's it compare to the original? Honestly...I don't know. It certainly smells alike. Just amazing.
Kakawit - WTF, this is a Filipino oil?! Could've sworn it was a Hindi! JK's writeup on this is spot on, except ...on me, I didn't get any kind of Filipino vibe from it, not even hours into the wear. I've only tried a few Fili oils so my experience there is limited, but the ones I tried had a common shared profile which I couldn;t pick up in here. A very clean, new-age Hindi type aroma to me that remained fairly constant across my skin. Good performance with this one, exceptionally enjoyable. I went for a walk several hours into my wearing (being inside, in an office), being outside brought the scent back alive to full force and I was smelling the back of my hand a lot during this short walk.
Krishnai Char - Smelling from the applicator gave a very alcoholy type of smell which I didn't then pick up on during the wearing. This is an old school oil but void of any funk, but just deep, dark and resinous. Rich in profile, very long lasting and strong. I thoroughly enjoyed!
In summary: I've tried several new oils from JK and all have exceeded all expectations. I think I have one more that I bought that I've yet to try, and also several samples to work through too.
Imperial Oud
Hainan Ultima - I have to be careful with this one. It leaked like crazy during transit (private seller), and it seems the oil is leaking upwards out of the bottle, and has coated the threads of the bottle and is inside the cap. I didn't even swipe this but rubbed the top of the bottle / cap rim and base of the applicator onto my hand. Sinensis heaven right here. It's bright, fizzy, smooth, alive, honeyed, sweet, explodes into your nostrills. Golden brown. Incredibly addictive, worthy of the name Ultima indeed.
@Faizal_p should organise a group buy for this, too 😅
Yunan Imperiale - another stunner. It was hard to apply as the oil in my sample vial (which must be 4-5yrs old) was dripping down the bottle at 0.0005mph when turned upside down and needed me to rub it in between my fingers to generate some heat to become viscous. Ever so slight barn at first swipe, but nowhere near what you get from the Yunnan Vintage. Another beautiful profile, golden, yellow, vivid and absolutely stunning.
Mellifluence
Hainan - absolutely great value here. Reminds me of Imperial Oud's Fragrant Harbour Supreme - one that I regretfully sold. Wish I'd kept that. Peanuts is what comes to mind, but there's much more to it. That peanut smell fades quickly and that sinensis profile kicks in. It's interesting, this is a great oil but after the absolute powerhouses above you can tell that this is operating on several levels below them. I wore this late at night while in bed to read, so I didn't have it on for too long before sleeping, and when I woke up I couldn't detect it any more (I think it always rubs off onto my duvet)
Tabeer Oud
Sultan Saladin - oh my. Wore this to Tai Chi tonight. I'm bald, I have alopecia therefore don't grow hair. My legs are smooth and are the envy of all women I meet. However I've decided not to shave my chin for a few weeks and have the most hilarious "beard" in place, which I'm sorta trolling myself by keeping it, as it really does look stupid. Anyway, my point here is that I swiped this oil onto this so-called beard, and for 4hrs I have been blasted with an amazing Hindi new-age oil. Rich and luxurious, this is a Kalakassi oil. I'm sounding like a repeating record here but golden smooth, no barn, just very blissful and meditative (which is what I was doing! wehey!)
Okay so the writeups are kinda similar but there was a lot of overlap in the profiles of these oils that I've worn recently. Need to mix it up a bit.
Also I REALLY enjoyed the experience of having oil close to my nose and being surrounded by the scent instead of swiping the back of my hand. I need to start
wearing oils properly! I've got grams and grams of oil, I better start to actually use it to scent myself with it.
I'm always wearing sprays so oud oils seem more of an afterthought / curiosity as opposed to a full experience.
ok this may be my longest post to date. Time for bed! I probably missed some oils.