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Ah ok - do you prefer higher heat or lower heat with sandalwood?

This morning - Ensar's "Olde Tonga" sandalwood- I bought the one that was like 140g - it's about 4" long and about 2" in diameter - a little mini log of sandalwood. VERY happy with the scent profile - I wasn't sure how much of the appeal of these Tongan logs would be their size and decorative...

Yea Sumatora 1996 is a challenging wood for sure.. And people simply have different preferences.. There's some people who, no matter what, will just not like barnyard style ouds for instance, despite being great connoisseurs of other ouds.. I've noticed that some agarwood types lend...

I find descriptions around "sweet" and "bitter" interesting - often kyara and other Vietnamese agarwood I hear described as bitter when I have never found kyara bitter - to the contrary the main thing that stands out to me about it is the sweet, nectar-perfume type quality it has.. Non-kyara...

Sumatora 1996 - I've come to regard this wood as "advanced study" in agarwood - this is a powerful, stern, uncompromising old jungle wood that presents with bitter, deep dark mysterious woodiness.. The opening is spectacular, mind-spinning, exquisitely enjoyable, with a certain delectable...

Bois D'Iris for me too - really nice wood, a profile that reminds a bit of some Sumbawa wood that I have though otherwise a quite distinct scent profile.. I've never smelled Iris (I don't think) so can't offer an opinion about the wood smelling like that or not - but it's got a lovely and...

Oh yea man, Hainan 2005 is unreal - its got that orange animalic twang going and also a big bouquet of ripe fruit and kinamic undertones.. Great scent progression also with the kinamic aspect coming more to the foreground along with an ocean breeze type quality.. Epic epic oil.. Big happy...

Rasoul - I was just in Ixtapa/Zihuatanejo - we flew into there a few weeks ago and then drove about 45 minutes north to a little surfing village called Playa Saladita.. Spent the week surfing and snorkeling and eating fish tacos and so forth - really nice place and an inexpensive vacation - our...

Good to see ya Rasoul! I have a .25ml v-vial of Laosan 1999 but I've never tried Sultan Santal - would have liked to get perhaps a full bottle of each if available. The Laosan 1999 is awesome - not sure if I like that or Santal Royale better, I haven't explored each enough to know.. Sultan...

Haven't been by in awhile - but still an oud man! Enjoying Oud Al Kaabah (Ensar) today - this is a cultivated oil released a few years ago around the time of Oud Yaqoub and Oud Yusuf.. It has aged wonderfully and I'm appreciated a very ripe quality - smells like the wood was soaked until...

Kyara LTD v.2 is certainly a contender for greatest oil of them all.. It is remarkable how potent it is, absolutely bursting with aromatic intensity.. Apparently a small amount of actual kyara was added to the distillation - perhaps it is this that gives it the extra body and richness that...

Purple Kinam (Ensar) - I was heating some actual purple kinam yesterday and recall thinking "wow, this smells like the Purple Kinam oil from Ensar - in his write up on the oil Ensar describes himself heating some purple kinam at an oudfest gathering and people noting that it smelled remarkably...

Midori Qi (Ensar) - intriguing Borneo! I get a certain New Guinea aspect to it a la Archipelago, yet it's got a wonderful Borneo signature with the woody and vanilla going.. Transcendent effects, per the name? Perhaps!

Brought Oud Zachariyya and Oud Nuh to me to work yesterday - thoroughly enjoyed both. Barnyard? Yes, proud and loud barnyard of a refined and delectable character - in reading prior reviews of Oud Nuh I somehow got the impression that it was a lighter, more refined, perhaps less-barnyard type...

Per the Oud Ahmad vs Sultan Ahmet question.. I see the logic in getting Oud Ahmad - and I would agree under the condition that you don't have or aren't able to pick up other Sultan series oils in the same class as Sultan Ahmet (and by this I mean oils like Sultan Mustafa, Sultan Suleyman...

Interesting stuff.. Just FYI I am only interested in agarwood chips for the taste or smell - especially intrigued in the potential to add this to my kombucha tea blends.. For psychoactive properties - there are many finer medicines available it would appear to me, and certainly that aren't a...

Khmer Khlem Chan (AA) - I recall when this oil came out, Taha said it was the last he would do in his old style (pre-gen 3 I believe) - a sort of traditionally distilled Cambodian oil and it sure is wonderful.. This oil has all sorts of character, with a lovely twist to the fruity qualities..

Wow, great posts, thanks

lol I was sort of kidding - something like DCM or ether or toluene etc would extract the fragrant/tasty oils from the wood, but these are toxic industrial solvents..

Today - Yunnan '03 on the right, Chinese Exclusive on the left.. I'll tell y'all what, when one has a crave for Chinese oud nothing else will do! These are like the kombuchas of the oud world - tart and fermented and funky.. The other day I had Oud Zachariyya on the right and China Sayang on...