Regarding marketing tricks... I've said it over and over again that there's a difference between "merchandise" and collectible works of art (you can follow me on Instagram @ensar.bey for a visual illustration of what I mean). Stuff that's made to sell is "merchandise" that's got to move. Things that are created in order to achieve a dream or inner vision that doesn't allow one to sleep at night... it means very little if they "sell" or don't. Ensar Oud the company and Ensar Oud the man are different entities. What EO the man owns in terms of oils is separate to that which is the property of Oriscent LLC (i.e. Ensar Oud the company, a.k.a. ensaroud.com). Something may sell out on Ensar Oud while my personal stash remains untouched and vice versa (although admittedly this hasn't happened as of yet).
What I consider to be marketing "tricks" is the kind of things that inundate the so-called "artisanal" oud market. It is that which happens when works of mass production or routine manufacture don the clothes of someone's artistic vision and ride the waves of its fame (i.e. by cashing in on it). Things like Nha Trang Royale, Nha Trang Exclusive, Nha Trang Imperiale, Nha Trang Supreme, Nha Trang BS that stalk the trail of unsellables like Nha Trang LTD.
When someone buys a bottle of Nha Trang LTD, I make a profit. When they don't buy a bottle of Nha Trang LTD, I make an even greater profit. That's the difference between a work of art and a "fast oud" marketing pastiche that aims to plagiarize and milk.
Now on to the Sultan Series. The reason behind its discontinuation is not the lack of raw materials as much as the end of an era. I'd mentioned on a different thread that the aesthetic behind it is inextricably connected to the aquatic profile of New Guinea gyrinops, whether single origin or co-distill. All of the oils were done in a span of a few years, following the same artistic inspiration. After completing the series I moved on to a different aesthetic (which remains for the most part undisclosed, with very few teasers introduced to the online oud community). After the last couple of vials of Sultans Salahuddin, Süleyman and Mustafa are gone, the Sultan Series will share the fate of every genuine artistic endeavor that ever burned in the heart of man. I.e. they will not be reproduced again or replicated (save by perhaps reproducers and replicators). The genuine material will only go up in value while the knockoffs perish into oblivion.
If you're shocked by my words, thank Bünyamin Usta whose company I've been keeping the past few days in Erzurum. We're busy crafting the most expensive tasbihs in the history of tasbih, and he and I share the same grievances from copycats, bootleggers and blatant ripoffs. He recently posted something that turned the Turkish misbaha world upside down on Instagram, and as a tip-off of my hat to him, I guess you had to read all of the above.
To get a glimpse of our vintage Cambodian tasbih, you can check out my Facebook or Instagram pages (@ensar.oud & @ensar.bey).
Full disclosure: Sultan Beyazit, which has never been officially released, remains in my personal collection. All of the other New Guinea Sultans are sold out and neither EO the company nor I own as much as a single drop of any of them, apart from what's currently listed on the site.