Oud Reviews

[Bengal Roots]

Also, please let me clarify to all my fellow Ouddict.

I have always practiced try my sample for FREE at no cost only when you like you BUY!
'People who have got this know this'

This gives you all the freedom and peace of mind for making a right purchase rather having a doubt later. I never asked for shipping cost either. As I want to keep as transperant as possible...

I try to accommodate as much as possible. On pre-order sample is not possible as pre-sold & oil was in process. Yet I said to many will share sample from my bottle. Hence, I made all possible pictures and explanation on process. You can very well see BROWN IS NOT COLOR OF BOYA!

The reason I did this with all was to keep it fair for me and all.

 

[F4R1d0uX]

Also, please let me clarify to all my fellow Ouddict.

I have always practiced try my sample for FREE at no cost only when you like you BUY!
'People who have got this know this'

This gives you all the freedom and peace of mind for making a right purchase rather having a doubt later. I never asked for shipping cost either. As I want to keep as transperant as possible...

I try to accommodate as much as possible. On pre-order sample is not possible as pre-sold & oil was in process. Yet I said to many will share sample from my bottle. Hence, I made all possible pictures and explanation on process. You can very well see BROWN IS NOT COLOR OF BOYA!

The reason I did this with all was to keep it fair for me and all.

No need to justify yet brother ...

Focus on dispatching your bottles to us.
Let the oils come to us, we will wait few days until the oil settles down from it's trip and we will let the aroma speak.

I already have good comments on your oils.

I confirm that boya is solid pale yellow and smell like wood laced in vinegar on application.

It can become solid for other reasons.

I saw Adam once surprised by it's oil becoming solid at night and I'm sure 100% Adam doesnt distill boya ...

 

[F4R1d0uX]

I am sorry if my review was misleading.
I am not claiming Baraka Taraka to be boya or wax, or anything added. I believe it to be a pure wild oud distillation.
I put a question mark (?) on boya and wax, because I am not certain. All I know is that the oil includes the scent of more than just the essential oil, my guess is that the distiller kept cooking the pots more days than optimal which resulted in more of whatever? to be extracted from the wood. Can you help me out here distillers? Al Shareef perhaps? Why am I smelling more than the essential oil? Why is the consistency of the oil becoming thick and appearance cloudy, while at 6o degrees fahrenheit only.
I did mention how nice the profile of the essential oil is, truly.
Nobody spoke to me about this oil, everything I said came from me. I am not trying to be nasty or diss Zaks offerings, I believe him to be a nice guy offering honest products at a fair price. Tha sample of Asama Garjana lets me know that it is a very good oil, and the wood chips look fantastic under 10x magnification.
Zak even offered to refund my purchase when he sensed my initial thoughts of the oil was not spectacular, so dealing with him is a safe bet.
This is my first review with some cons and apparently it was not well received.

No worries @Oudamberlove he is a young practicionner and theses are his first releases.

I ordered from him too, I'm waiting the oil to arrive.

Sometimes oil need times after a travel in plane with low degrees.

I already experienced that.
When distillation end process turned "surprising" you can start to have some kind of "distilled resin".

Adam experienced that with a cambodi there is a video I think.

 

[Ouddict]

Oudamberlove just wrote to me about this due to worries that it could descend into an ugly exchange. He made it clear that he did not mean to cast aspersions and I can see from his PM that he is a sincere and well-meaning member. However, having read the posts, I hope they are kept as is or edited to rectify any misunderstanding only. It is clear to me that:

1. Bengal Roots does NOT use boya or other things other than Oud wood that he has already made clear. His products are praised by members on this site.
2. Oudamberlove accepts that, as do customers of Bengal Roots.

Both Bengal Roots and Oudamberlove are valued members of this forum and it is the interaction between vendors and customers that helps us all raise knowledge about this amazing natural resource.

Just a note. We want reviews to be honest and if someone does or doesn't like something, its a personal thing. However, reviewers please also understand that vendors livelihoods and their reputations are also at stake, so please consider your words and claims carefully. In this instance I know nothing malicious was meant by either party and it seems to be resolved.

Finally, please do not let this put anyone off from posting honest reviews about the Oud they buy, whether good or bad.

 

[Ouddict]

Ridhwan by Al Shareef Oudh,

A glimpse to the epic Al-Shareef I, full-blown unlocked dimensions of Oud A'meen, an epitome of how artistic oud blend should be.

The structure is constructed mainly on Malaysian oud of similar characteristics yet more complexity than of A'meen with its ambergrisified resin and added beautiful white chocolate on background of faint rose-like and strong red musky notes (not greenish jungly muskiness as in Oud Ahmad or Tigerwood Royale for example), augmented by luxurious leathery note that is reminiscent of AS-I, a signature of Al Shareef Oudh, wrapped up at the opening by the smoothness and refinement of the greatly aged Assamese oil Al Malek Hindi with its luxurious tamed barn, and the authentic cambodi oily sweet deliciousness of Oud Qais (I guess). There may be Indonesian Borneo characteristics start shinning in the heartnotes after the animalic notes settled down slightly but definitely there at the basenotes. The vaporous whiffs lifted by the latter that you get from time to time away from the site of application are oozing with oudiness. The long lasing drydown is just pure luxurious musky suede leather as of AS-I. All notes are in harmony with no isolated note overcomes or compromises the well-engineered construction till the end.

I really don't know why I haven't grabbed a bottle especially at the time when I had unlimited oud budget but sadly not the case at the moment! I think mostly because it's an acquired test not an easy love from the first sniff plus the price tag, although I appreciated its complex nuances and refinement immediately.

A heritage oud telling the story of a culture if I may add...

I haven't smelled Ridhwan, but I was lucky enough to smell a small sample that Habz786 has of the Al-Shareef I. The Al-Shareef I blew me away with its notes and complexity. Those of you who know me, are aware of the Ouds I am lucky enough to own, but I have to say that the Al-Shareef I is beyond comprehension.

Upon smelling it, I wondered how on Earth Al-Shareef Oudh was able to distil such an Oud? It is hands down, the best scent I have had the pleasure of sampling along with Oud Royale No. 1, Kyara LTD and Kyara de Kalbar from Ensar Oud. The rose note is unnerving and the Oud is just pure smoothness and harmony from start to finish.

 

[Oudamberlove]

I deleted my review because it was obviously misleading.

 

[F4R1d0uX]

Easy @Ouddict we are all happy with ouddict's platform and we are confident with @Oudamberlove as we are confident with Zakir.

@Oudamberlove Clumsiness is my second name dont bother with that my friend !

 

[hedycent]

Not to labour the issue but baraka taraka is one beautiful oil and so far from boya to make the suggestion......
Love to all

 

[Habz786]

Reviews should always be honest and if something in an oil is worrying or raising questions, those questions should be asked and answered as it was in this case. I have smelt some of Zakir's Hindi oils and they are great classical oils, he also has so much passion for Oud and a great reputation. I have seen/own oils from a few different trusted vendors which turn solid due to the cold and have questioned them. Maybe if i had shown these pictures to distillers they would simply say "its boya" without truley knowing. I was looking through vendors websites and found the reviews seems to be controlled with pretty much all positive reviews. Some vendors allow reviews to be posted and other simply seem to copy and paste from forums or share select reviews. I think its worrying to think 100% of people enjoy a certain oil, i can appreciate vendors want to protect their business interests and reputation. How do Ouddict's feel reviews on vendors websites should be? all positive? negative? I think all honest reviews good and bad should be shared as even bad reviews can bring about positive outcome.

 

[Faizal_p]

I agree @PEARL, its a very subjective, emotive experience. Whats good for one is not necessarily taken the same way by another. The only thing that one can do is compare perceived quality and aroma against other oils from the same region and price point. One has to produce a library for oneself and continue upon the journey how they see fit. One very important aspect in my opinion is to be completely true to ones self, you have to take each oil upon its merit. Sometimes that means disregarding bias toward or against the vendor, or not forming an idea or opinion of an oil until you have experienced it yourself. By doing this you may actually stumble upon something you love that perhaps would've been ignored. Case in point this oil from Riviera/ Nagaland.

 

[Ammar]

You can review tons of things in an oil objectively and apart from scent profile like density, intensity, complexity, development, smoothness and refinement, the basic 3 layers construction, collapse of the oil at certain point of time, longevity excluding the generic drydown, how alien notes like barn or smoke work in or against harmony of the notes and so on. These are mostly related to the concentration and types of the sesquiterpenes versus other aromatic compounds which needs most of the time high grade wood and/or distillation techniques that are able to extract these compounds in precision to get superior oil.

Regarding scent profile I believe it can reach close to scceptable objective levels but it is not one man show which needs retrospective and prospective efforts and folks who have the olfactory ability, scent library, and this vision on their mind over their personal taste, although unfortunately few people understand this concept leading to dismiss any review or point of view that doesn't fit their taste.

One of the problem is that the venders sometimes are trying to be protective about their oils subjectively scent wise for example by using objective evidence like the grade of wood or the innovative distillation technique used...

 

[Habz786]

So do you guys think its fair anyone should he able to post reviews on products on vendor sites? Or do you think its better if vendors simply pick good reviews as opposed to critical ones for their own reasons?

 

[Faizal_p]

So do you guys think its fair anyone should he able to post reviews on products on vendor sites? Or do you think its better if vendors simply pick good reviews as opposed to critical ones for their own reasons?

Our review setup is different, anyone can enter a review and give it a star rating, as long as they've signed up. not sure how other vendors websites work.

 

[F4R1d0uX]

Our review setup is different, anyone can enter a review and give it a star rating, as long as they've signed up. not sure how other vendors websites work.

A webmaster suggested me one interresting option.
If client give bad review, it alerts directly a mercenary squad to attack him in the street !

I think that's the way it should be otherwise they will start asking for refound.

 

[Ammar]

I think it is unfair to obligate venders to put negative reviews on their oils at their website. These kind of reviews are not meant to be there, and this is their business, life style and vision, and their comfortable zone. We don't see such thing frequently in other business models why should we enforce it here?

There are other places someone can talk freely about vendors products in objective manner and as subjective opinions, like this forum I guess...

 

[Ammar]

@PEARL,
My prospective and vision on this forum is to establish this type of reviews as you can sense from my prior posts, but I might be failed. For example, after heavy posts and reviews within short period of time here trying to be as objective as possible, or at least that's what I was thinking, it doesn't qualify me to be chosen to review a basic Hindi oil LOL!

 

[Ouddict]

So do you guys think its fair anyone should he able to post reviews on products on vendor sites? Or do you think its better if vendors simply pick good reviews as opposed to critical ones for their own reasons?

I personally think that you cannot reasonably expect any vendor to allow negative reviews on their sites. They are in the business of selling oud! Forums like this however, must allow all kinds of reviews as long as they are fair.

I don't take much notice of positive reviews on vendor sites anymore, after being caught out a couple of times and buying a nasty oud that has been praised to the high heavens on vendor site reviews.

The other problem is that as this is a small market, customers tend to be positive in their reviews (type 1 - see below) even when they are privately disappointed. This is something I personally would like to see change. People spend a lot of money on this stuff and are entitled to speak their mind without fear.

For me reviews consist of two dimensions:

Type 1. Experiental - where the reviewer bases their opinion on their experience of the aroma, sillage, scent profiles, price and development etc... On an individual level, this is subjective, but if enough reviews concur in their assessment of an Oud then we could say that we may have something approaching an objective level through consensus.

This type of review cannot be challenged as it is subjective and this is the type of review where we want the reviewer to be honest - that is, whether the Oud oil is good or bad from an individual perspective. Would they recommend it? Would they buy another bottle?


Type 2. Factual - where the reviewer bases an opinion on their assessment of the grade of wood used, the distillation techniques, the estimated commercial markup on the Oud oil based on the source wood and age of the oil, the purity of the Oud, the origin etc. Reviews based on this can cause a LOT of issues if the reviewer assesses any of the above mistakenly or makes incorrect assumptions about the facts presented.

The second type of review is something we have to strictly police on this forum, as these types of reviews must be based 100% on objectively verifiable facts - e.g. the origin of the wood, grade of wood etc. If a reviewer get these facts wrong, then it simply is unfair on the vendor and can be libellous. As long as the facts are verifiable, then we can let these aspects pass on a review.

 

[Habz786]

@Ammar i'm not obligating anyone to do anything, vendors can/will run their businesses how they feel comfortable. Now with online shopping being so popular i find a lot of businesses do offer a star/review section where people can review products and others can read reviews and base their decision on purchases. I'm not saying reviews which are completely unfairly bashing an oil should be posted but honest reviews which point out certain notes customers may not like could help others in picking an oil and not being disappointed. For example "i really liked the deep barn of the oil but there was a rather unpleasant metallic note in the background". Now for people who like a metallic note this will appeal to them and those who don't will stay away. @Faizal_p yes i really like how you have the star/review section and aren't so controlling on reviews which is so much more open and i think good practice and shows openness and a sense of security, with knowing what customers don't like about certain oils can help both parties in the long run but again scent being subjective its not that straight foward.

 

[F4R1d0uX]

More seriously we know that a buyer knows that when an oil has no reviews, he hesitates more than another oil with 15 epic reviews.

No reviews on an oil which is posted like since 6 months ...

 

[Ouddict]

Our review setup is different, anyone can enter a review and give it a star rating, as long as they've signed up. not sure how other vendors websites work.

Wow, I didn't realise. That's probably the most honest approach I have seen with a vendor.