Unrestricted Oud of the Year 2019?

Martin

Active Member
#1
I thought it would be interesting to have a simple Oud of the Year thread where there were no restrictions. A winner or a tally is not important, but simply nominating a few oils and perhaps a brief comment on why you like them.

I’ll start by saying I’m now in year two of my oud and agarwood studies/ enjoyment. This hobby is an unusual and expensive pursuit (hobby of kings, I like to say). I made a commitment early on to dedicate the funds required to buy as many benchmark and higher grade/quality oils and woods as I could afford to facilitate learning. Although brothers with much more experience (including those in the business) have helped accelerate my learning, it is the oils and woods themselves that provide the learning opportunities through comparative analysis.

Although I there are many other worthy oils released this year, I’ll go with Agar Aura Malaya and Ensar Oud Pinoy LTD.

Malaya is a moderately priced oil with an abundance of concentrated power and depth. It’s a signature Malaysian malaccensis oil with prominent semi-sweet dried fruit and cola notes. This was a grand introduction to a region I absolutely love.

Pinoy LTD is high quality Filipino cumingiana agarwood essential oil at it’s finest—a benchmark oil IMO. The quality of old growth agarwood is on display here. There’s an appealing nuttiness/ light wispy smokiness and woody heft to this oil that I first smelled in a sample. The signature Oriscent vanillic vibe is here in the background. After whiffing the sample, Pinoy LTD went to the top of my next to buy list.

Which oils would you suggest as the best releases of 2019?
 
#2
Thats a good shout, maybe get a poll going.
I vote tigerwood royale.
Interested to see what other people vote for as I’m wanting to pickup a few more oils soon.
 

Martin

Active Member
#3
I wasn’t looking for a “winner” by polling as the popularity is almost irrelevant to me. Merely trying to promote some talk about oils people liked that were released in 2019.
 

Rasoul S

Well-Known Member
#4
Oooooh. I like this approach as oud enjoyment has a strong subjective aspect to it.

My love and relationship with who I personally have come to see most aligned with my aesthetic is evident. Ensar oud and agar aura. I have enjoyed and still enjoy some of the imperial oud offerings, al hashimi, and of course al shareef oud. I have tried random bits and pieces from Russian Adam too but to my regret never enough to warrant speaking out on them.

here I go with my most memorables oils of last ~12 months release in order of most memorable first:

Ensar oud sultan salahudin
Ensar oud sri serene
Ensar oud WLK (laos)
Ensar oud chiem po (cambodi)

agar aura malaya
Ahr aura royal maluku seram
Agar aura royal jerai
Agar aura hulubalang

imperial oud hainan ultima
Imperial oud nha trang ultima

al shareef oud jannat (papuan)

al hashimi adan original (filipino)

I’ll give it more thought and edit if I missed something and try to condense the list soon.
 

Rasoul S

Well-Known Member
#5
Thats a good shout, maybe get a poll going.
I vote tigerwood royale.
Interested to see what other people vote for as I’m wanting to pickup a few more oils soon.
TWR is an epic oil. One that I have an unopened vial for my little boy. Even better and I mean 1+1=7!!! Is a dot of oud ahmad dabbed and then twr swiped over it. Holly mother of god. To date the single greatest one two punch.
I digress. Twr is technically not a new release but I k ow for newer to oud friends, is hard to know.
 

Rasoul S

Well-Known Member
#6
Oh yes. Royal sumatra. The ultra zesty cola nut heavy mind bend of an oil. Lasts longer than most typical agar aura oils too.

On similar note I find his high sumatra: suka cita to be amongst strongest $700-800 quality price ratio oils.
 

Rasoul S

Well-Known Member
#8
OOHHH that's a tough one. I really enjoy this cigar by selected tobacco by the name of Atabey but besides that I have to say Tyson and his special perfume/socotra elongotta attar that he did. Really does something for my brain when i deep breath on it that i find very awesome. I like the dry down on it the most you could say but the opening really does hit the brain if you go deep or at least for me it does.
How about for your self Rasoul ?
you convinced me. have a small bit coming my way. hopefully tyson can get it to me before holidays...

that aside i have been on a big incense and wood kick that probably started just under a year ago. i made some oil buys during this period but mostly sample size or bottle bought and shared 3 ways or so with fellow oud lovers. i feel i am just starting to get back to favouring oils again. been on a big anything malay/malacensis kick. from agar aura's malaya, hulubalang, royal jerai to ensar's purple kinam, original sultani, kannan koh, kynam emerald and of course my ahmad and twr combo. little to no walla, vietnam or hindi. mostly archipelago green oils and malay oils.
 

Rasoul S

Well-Known Member
#9
Haha too funny Rasoul i hope you enjoy it. My favorite part of the oil is the dry down but i would be interested to hear if you have any of the same sensations i receive in the back of my brain as well upon the open of it.

Nice. i see you have been crafting as well. Always a therapeutic time grinding and blending.

What a line up of Malaysian oils you have going. Do you feel you are gravitated more to the malay green oils in winter or has this been a summer time craving as well? Surprised to see you departing from Vietnam eh?
Brother john is not by choice. I have to refrain and ration the vietnamese. I love them too much and the offerings are scarce and prices Uber high. If funds were ever flowing, I would swipe Vietnam day in day out.
With the malays, despite my seasonality approach to food drinks and even oud, I have been enjoying them anywhere everywhere.
Have a new found love for maroke too. Not all. Xll is glorious to my nose these days. Aroke roshi after few minutes on skin is also a fave
 

Rasoul S

Well-Known Member
#10
BWahaha my long lost brother i hear you. If i had the funding and Ensar wanted to part with it i would happily buy 3g of KynamNo1!!!!!
that ain't gonna happen, but a raid of his stash ( i actually think ensar will not only let us, but be happy and encourage us to try and wear em all) in istanbul is the way to go. leets win that lotto ticket and fly first class to isanbul.
 

Rasoul S

Well-Known Member
#11
ok folks lets keep this thread going. let's get your big list then shorter list to reach consensus.

here is what i would write down as my list today if forced to pick 3 per vendor.

note: havent looked at my OG post to remind myself what i said before, but i suspect most if it will be the same:

Ensar oud:
in order:
sultan salahudin
sri serene
WLK (laos)
honourable mentions: Ensar oud chiem po (cambodi), oud royale 2004, ertugrul, kampong seila.


Agar aura:
in order:
malaya
royal sumatra
royal maluku seram
honourable mentions: Agar aura royal jerai, hulubalang, kirana.


Imperial oud:
in order:
hainan ultima
nha trang ultima
cambodi engima
honourable mention: imperial nha trang, sorry i forgot their new burmese, alamgir (gentle to very low barn pretty hindi)

al shareef oud
jannat (papuan)


al hashimi adan original (filipino)


later i may condense list to top 5 and all oud distiler/vendor is included.
 

mikhalil

Active Member
#13
If value is part of the equation, late entry Oud Royale 2004 has to have grabbed the top spot of 2019 for me. They could easily have this oil in their $1,200-1,500/bottle tier and nobody would bat an eyelash. It’s fantastic. I believe it stands alone as the best Papuan I’ve ever smelled.

Chugoku Senkoh would be a close second for me. I love how it’s constantly pulling you in two different directions; the sweet zen of a top notch Chinese oil and the best of a refined top end Hindi, where the barnyard note is there but in the most tasteful, well placed way.

Honorable mention for me would be the first Port Jaya, and this excellent Purple Sumatora I just received yesterday. It’s great now, and I’m tempted to grab a 1gr bottle that I leave sealed for 10 or 15 years because I can definitely detect the OR/ER 1985 profile buried deep down in there, just needs some years under its belt.
 
#14
If value is part of the equation, late entry Oud Royale 2004 has to have grabbed the top spot of 2019 for me. They could easily have this oil in their $1,200-1,500/bottle tier and nobody would bat an eyelash. It’s fantastic. I believe it stands alone as the best Papuan I’ve ever smelled.

Chugoku Senkoh would be a close second for me. I love how it’s constantly pulling you in two different directions; the sweet zen of a top notch Chinese oil and the best of a refined top end Hindi, where the barnyard note is there but in the most tasteful, well placed way.

Honorable mention for me would be the first Port Jaya, and this excellent Purple Sumatora I just received yesterday. It’s great now, and I’m tempted to grab a 1gr bottle that I leave sealed for 10 or 15 years because I can definitely detect the OR/ER 1985 profile buried deep down in there, just needs some years under its belt.
Wait, does ensar offer 1g bottles?! I haven't seen that option anywhere. Do we just email?
 

mikhalil

Active Member
#15
Wait, does ensar offer 1g bottles?! I haven't seen that option anywhere. Do we just email?
Yes sir. Adam has always been very accommodating with whatever quantities and bottle configurations I request. It’s just that the promo pricing won’t always apply to amounts lower than 2.5g.

The (actually .95g) v-vials are nice too because they’re designed for high recovery on the last drops.
 
#16
Yes sir. Adam has always been very accommodating with whatever quantities and bottle configurations I request. It’s just that the promo pricing won’t always apply to amounts lower than 2.5g.

The (actually .95g) v-vials are nice too because they’re designed for high recovery on the last drops.
That's very good to know. There's been a few I've thought I'd like to own, but didn't think I needed a full 2.5 or 3g of. So the possibility of 1g bottles is a game changer!
 
#17
If value is part of the equation, late entry Oud Royale 2004 has to have grabbed the top spot of 2019 for me. They could easily have this oil in their $1,200-1,500/bottle tier and nobody would bat an eyelash. It’s fantastic. I believe it stands alone as the best Papuan I’ve ever smelled.

Chugoku Senkoh would be a close second for me. I love how it’s constantly pulling you in two different directions; the sweet zen of a top notch Chinese oil and the best of a refined top end Hindi, where the barnyard note is there but in the most tasteful, well placed way.

Honorable mention for me would be the first Port Jaya, and this excellent Purple Sumatora I just received yesterday. It’s great now, and I’m tempted to grab a 1gr bottle that I leave sealed for 10 or 15 years because I can definitely detect the OR/ER 1985 profile buried deep down in there, just needs some years under its belt.
I'll second the purple sumatora, I received 2.5g yesterday, and think it's probably the best oil I've tried so far, granted, I'm fairly new to this. But still
 
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mikhalil

Active Member
#18
That's very good to know. There's been a few I've thought I'd like to own, but didn't think I needed a full 2.5 or 3g of. So the possibility of 1g bottles is a game changer!
Yes it's a handy little option. I make it a point to have one of these for any oil I really like. So that when I finish up whatever main bottle I'm working on, I'll have a small amount to keep packed away for special occasions later in life.

Also for the more expensive oils, it's cool to have a little stash to use sparingly when I don't want to drop $1500 on a full bottle.

IMG-9407.jpg
 

mikhalil

Active Member
#20
Just had a thought, would you all consider Encens Royale 85 as an oil from this year? Or did I read somewhere it was a second release? Depending on that answer I would have to reassess my rankings for this year, as ER85 is my #2 all time. Even better than the cousin batch and seemingly more esteemed Oud Royale ‘85 IMO.