Oud Reviews
- Thread starter Ouddict
- Start date
Well... a respected authority on Kyara called time on this and clearly said that these oils have nothing in common with real Kyara after showing them to his multi-millionaire Kyara suppliers who have KILOS of the stuff. They weren't impressed at all.
Does oil X smell like Kyara or not? Not so subjective when Kyara experts resoundingly say NO!
Then again, what do they know?!!! After all experts like them are the losers in this new post-factual age...
Ammar
True Ouddict
Good point but at the same time it will open the gate for unethical competitors and biased reviewers to post unreal negative reviews, while here at forum with strict policy and faithful watchers this type of reviews become less likely. Plus the oud business model is relatively small and such unrestricted negative reviews can affect selling more drastically than popular online shoppers, even no reviews can affect selling as @F4R1d0uX mentioned above.
F4R1d0uX
Resident Artisan
My marketing model for me is kyarazen one.
Fair products, fair prices, doesn't want to please with seductive discourses.
Products talk for him...
Does not enter in polemics, even suggestives competitors cannot have impact on the sales.
People waiting for next release and jump on it because they know it would be enjoyable for the price range and resselable.
Very inspiring and forces respect ...
Fair products, fair prices, doesn't want to please with seductive discourses.
Products talk for him...
Does not enter in polemics, even suggestives competitors cannot have impact on the sales.
People waiting for next release and jump on it because they know it would be enjoyable for the price range and resselable.
Very inspiring and forces respect ...
Habz786
Resident Artisan & Ouddict Co-Founder
I suppose you are right as it is a niche market so the implications of reviews which can be perceived as negative could maybe be costly.
Ammar
True Ouddict
Since you brought this point even when they actually smelled the wood…
Sorry to say that but what @gaharu.com established regarding Kyara and Kyara-like oils in this short period of time is more than what even Ensar would imagine when he started this trend years ago as an act of passion and vision as well as business advertising model to the level almost every Sinensis and some high grade Malaccensis and Crassna oils are now “kinamic”. I even recall someone mention Oud Yusuf having some Kyara/Kinam notes which leads to the question what makes Kyara being Kyara scent wise? Are these vaporous greenish bitterly sweet aromas what make Kinam a Kinam or they are merely what make Sinensis a Sinensis but with differences in the grade and quality of the wood of the latter making them superior compared to each other? Are there different scents notes that distinguish Kyara/Kinam from others and need long time and painful practice and patience to reveal these notes?
For easy read, I’m partially copy/pasting website article “GCMS of Kynam” by a PhD guy, aka KyaraZen, who dedicates himself to this subject since 2013 I guess, but when the discussion on forums is heating up regarding Kyara rarely someone would mention him.
“….Compounds found in normal aloeswoods can be found to be present in kynam such as α-agarosfuran, agarospirol, baimuxinal etc, but Kynam contains very much more unique compounds that have not been fully identified and characterized…
In certain ways, some of these aloeswoods, can have notes that one would be able to smell in kyara too. This is no surprise if you have had read the article to this point, as mentioned earlier, both aloeswood and kyara has overlapping chemical compositions to a certain degree. But what that makes Kyara unique, are the chemical substances and notes that are not present in aloeswood, but purely in kyara itself. This can be a point worthy to be mindful about to prevent purchasing mistakes when it comes to fragrant wood procurement.”
I would imagine Japanese incense master when reviewing these oils saying hmmm nice oil can I get a sample? but would probably freak out if someone tells him they are “Kinamic” oils, or even better, to Chinese master Kyara nose and mostly we will get meh, what are these you showing me, bleh…LOL! I mean come on even Ranjatai, the most famous piece of agarwood, is not Kyara/Kinam by their strict criteria although centuries aged!
“The Chinese have a saying that one needs an accumulation of 3 lifetimes of virtues before one would have the chance of encountering real kynam, and 8 lifetimes of merit to have the chance to use and appreciate kynam. Such a saying could only suggest the rarity and precious nature of kynam.” ~KyaraZen “What is Kyara or Kynam?”
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Ammar
True Ouddict
LOL!
Habz786
Resident Artisan & Ouddict Co-Founder
I agree that Agarwood being Agarwood does share similar notes etc as it is from the same family of trees but different species regions etc. It makes sense now @PEARL that every other oil smells kinmanic and kyara like as its all agarwood and shares similarities. However for me personally using these terms should be more specific and not so easily thrown around as these woods are so precious, rare and sacred. It would be kind of undermining the woods and not respecting them if that makes sense in my world lol.
Ammar
True Ouddict
It would be kind of undermining a whole centuries-age culture in my opinion if I may add...
I simply don't agree with the above. It is like saying a Daihatsu car is similar to a Ferrari as they both have wheels, windscreen, engines etc... I hope that KZ does not mind me posting a superb analysis of this issue from his blog, on here, but I would think that a real Kyara expert knows more about this than others.
There may be oud vendors that may claim that they used “kyara” or “kynam” / like materials into their distillations, and that the oil is the smell of kynam, kyara etc. To some of these vendors that I had sampled their oils, with due respect, some of these oils are really really excellent scents, some even “regal” in my opinion, some are quite well worth the price they command. But in any way to claim that superbly expensive raw material of kyara-kynam types were distilled, it does not make financial sense! at a 1% yield, you will need $500,000 worth of material (if you auction the wood at sotherby/christies/poly hongkong or beijing) for a tola of oil. if sinking grade material, you will need about $50,000 per tola (unlikely though because sinking grade has very little oil). At such margins, even if the vendor can afford the raw material, it makes no sense for the vendor to sell the oud product at a few thousand dollars per 3ml just to regain a small percentage of the cost. If it is charity, why not give the oil away free, since more than 95% of the cost is not accounted for?
If you’re a deep appreciator of kyara/traditional incense culture, there will always be this indignance when people are ruining what kyara/kynam with the incorrect stuffs. If you are a deep appreciator of ouds, this is the same indignance when someone compares a premium artisanal oud to be no difference to a cheap $10 synthetic/fake mass produced oud. Of course the artisanal oud is superior, and artisans always fairly argue that artisanal oud is better, which is true, since their oils do smell great. Similarly, kyara lovers are trying to fairly argue on kyara matters, and trying to exclude materials that are not the same quality nor type. I hope the oud lovers can be fair to the kyara/kynam lovers in the same light.
Ammar
True Ouddict
Probably he doesn't even have any for himself LOL!
Oudamberlove
Member
I revisited KZ's Cambodia Classic a couple days ago. At first swipe I thought🙄 "Oh Man!, I'm smelling a good facet of Kambodi 1976 in here"😱
Then I thought🙄, "thank you Kyarazen for sourcing this oil"🙂
Cambodia Classic is not Kambodi 1976, but it does share a scent facet (licorice liquor).
So if I'm enjoying a facet of Port Moresby that is shared with actual heated Kyara, the enjoyment itself is the reward. I won't be concerned about the other exclusive notes that are in the heated Kyara that Port Moresby doesn't possess. It's not about duplication, it's about similarity.
I guess when Ensar was chasing the smoke of the green dragon, he was trying to create an oil with as many facets of heated Kyara as he could. But to achieve maximum facet potential he would have to ask Scotty to beam him down some trilithium crystals, and distill at warp speed😛
Then I thought🙄, "thank you Kyarazen for sourcing this oil"🙂
Cambodia Classic is not Kambodi 1976, but it does share a scent facet (licorice liquor).
So if I'm enjoying a facet of Port Moresby that is shared with actual heated Kyara, the enjoyment itself is the reward. I won't be concerned about the other exclusive notes that are in the heated Kyara that Port Moresby doesn't possess. It's not about duplication, it's about similarity.
I guess when Ensar was chasing the smoke of the green dragon, he was trying to create an oil with as many facets of heated Kyara as he could. But to achieve maximum facet potential he would have to ask Scotty to beam him down some trilithium crystals, and distill at warp speed😛
No idea what you are trying to say here, but it looks like semantic word play... what KZ said is very clear and I respect his authority on Kyara more than anyone else. Each to their own.
Ammar
True Ouddict
I would probably run such crazy distillation if I have this type of Ali Baba fund, but as a start let me save for a bottle of China Sayang first LOL!
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I love clarity , honesty and integrity.
However I don't think the public should have free access to posting on vendors sites. It would leave vendors open to all sorts of malicious comments along side honest critical opinions .
A vendor's site is their shop front and as such they may dress their window as they choose.
Forums have the distinction of being the cafe down the Oud souk where we can all kick back and chat about our views and opinions
However I don't think the public should have free access to posting on vendors sites. It would leave vendors open to all sorts of malicious comments along side honest critical opinions .
A vendor's site is their shop front and as such they may dress their window as they choose.
Forums have the distinction of being the cafe down the Oud souk where we can all kick back and chat about our views and opinions
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F4R1d0uX
Resident Artisan
Like : "look brother, we are 16 in my family ready to bash comments section in your website so you'd better accept 90% discount on 3 tolas 😎
