An Open Letter To All Oud Lovers: My Journey With Agar Aura Gen 3 Oils (long)

Rasoul S · Nov 24, 2017

All,
i hope you will find quiet time to read the very through (looooooong) and comprehensive blog post that Taha of Agar Aura shared on his site the other day: http://blog.agaraura.com/gen3-a-comprehensive-guide/

R.S as mentioned in Taha’s article is me.

While I consider myself an open-minded, curious, adventurist and never judge a book by its cover and always try to give the benefit of the doubt kind of guy, I have to say i was pissed off at myself and also at Taha for having taken a plunge of buying multiple Gen 3 oils in full size from him without having asked for samples first. stupid me. punishment i received was well deserving, until...(more on this below)

allow me to explain by taking you thru my experiences.

Prior to these gen 3 oils (kiyosumi, kanzen, kekasihku, ayu, au luong, lavanya,...) i had exposure to some 70-80 oils from many different distillers/merchants up and down the price point and from each and every corner of agarwood growing region. literally. none and i mean none including the brilliant Ensar Senkoh series oils (closest to gen 3 oils) behaved the way Taha's oils did.

I would read Taha's descriptors of his oils and then i would try them and shake my head in disbelief of where does this guy get the nerve to describe all these notes that are not only not shy or coy in the given oils, but completely absent. In the meantime, he was telling me my nose and brain is fatigued and how I need to wait till I am ready for them, blah blah. what a scam artist. desperate moves of a fool that will get exposed. How the hell does he think he will get away with this in the world of online forums and close-knit community that oud lovers have formed. he was guilty before trial in my eyes. i had given up hope (not entirely but 90%) after i re-tried the above gen 3 oils again and again and again and to my surprise saw little to no development in them. they remained one dimensional, monolithic, subdued, uninspiring and meh. i left them and stopped checking in on them every other day. i came back in two weeks or later and out of nowhere fireworks! holly molly!!! what the hell is going on??? did my wife started mixing oils to mess with me? is like literally an alarm went off and these oils woke up from hibernation.

not all and not at the same time but kekasihku and kiyosumi in particular went from being totally dumb to magical display of most amazing performance. others like ayu or au luong and kanzen that were very one dimensional to me started to show all sorts of other notes. what beautiful layers too!

i shouldn’t have been too surprised b/c this phenomenon exists in the world of single malts and wine (my profession). To a total newbie, all red wines smell the same and taste more or less the same. it is thru repeated and systematic exposure and patiently trying to go behind the first notes one perceives that these elixir's open themselves up to the beholder. But i didn't expect this in oud, b/c as mentioned none of the other 70-80 samples from many different merchant/distillers and from $200-$2500 price points behaved this way.

but hey, these oils have a mind of their own. they do what they do and for the few patient, curious and true dedicated students amongst us, they promise the most satisfying experience once we crack them. words don’t fit. i cant explain the joys i receive now from most (still not all) of these gen 3 oils. I openly told Taha and i tell you that I still favor some of the gen 4 over gen 3, but not all. At their best the gen 3 oils do something to me that is indescribable. They are the equivalent of the most perfect piece of sushi nigiri.

Fast forward now and I have my largest transaction and order of oud oil to date awaiting delivery. Blind purchases. I trust this man and these oils and I am confident I will have a rocky relationship with many of them at first, feel frustrated again and have ups and downs with them but eventually we will live happily ever after together…

none of this takes anything away from all the other styles of oud(h) out there made by many different artisans. in fact, if forced to live with gen 3 oils all my life, i would be very very sad. the mood, the mind the heart wants a loud oil at times. some times these oils are too squeaky clean and avant garde and the heart wants something more rustic. something not as perfectly put together like a doll. i crave all sorts of different oils. the wood notes themselves are beautiful in many oils and i wish some of these gen 3 would have that, but then again they woudlnt be gen 3. the dry down of these oils is the same as the opening. having and wanting drama and development on the skin is part of the pleasure of many other oils. at the end, i am happy to live in a time that offers us such huge range of offerings crafted from this very special gift of nature to us.

may you enjoy your oud(h) journey as much as i have been enjoying it to date. keep an open mind and an open heart and enjoy the ride.

peace and love to all.

Ensar Oud · Nov 25, 2017

Rasoul S said:

You said it, brother. Taha deserves a lot of respect for developing an aesthetic that is uniquely and unmistakably his. If every symphony sounded like the Fifth, music wouldn't be art anymore. It'd be mere entertainment, cheap Hollywood recipe for adrenaline.

There are dark forces out there that are keen to stir bad blood between me and Taha, but I don't think they will ever succeed for the simple reason that art thrives on art. Or rather, an aesthetic evolves by being passed from one artist to another, back and forth, sort of like the ping pong of Monet and Manet.

Out of all the players in artisanal oud (there's really only three; everyone else is just following along for the surf while the tide is high), Taha took the Oriscent aesthetic and truly tried to crack the code. I've seriously not seen anyone else get as close as Taha has to crafting a genuine Oriscent oil. As is the nature of true art, while he was busy doing that he "accidentally" found his own "voice" and started singing in Gen3. A new aesthetic was born.

For me, uniquely, it was like reading "Oriscent" in Finnish. Someone had taken my work and "translated" it into their own tongue, native to them, foreign to me. But I could recognize the pattern of the brushstrokes. It all rang eerily close to home. Clearly not my aesthetic, but my aesthetic taken to a foreign land, translated into the local tongue, and used by their gentlefolk.

The next evolutionary "sea change" came when Taha explained the inner workings of Gen3 during our recent get-togethers. He even introduced me to his distiller and basically said, "Minun talosi sinun talosi."

What happened next is that I took his Finnish rendition of my own story and retold it back again, this time in crystal clear Czech. The Senkoh Series was born. So you can basically say the Senkoh Series is Ensar's tribute to Tahaism (which was in turn Taha's tribute to Oriscent). The Aeneid, translated back into the language of the Iliad.

Take Taha out of the picture, and you have no modern day Ensar Oud (i.e. the latest "Senkoh" phase). Remove Oriscent, and you have no Taha (i.e. the Gen3 philosophy of classical music, as embodied in the collected works of Rachmaninoff).

Taha needs to smell what I am distilling now if his style is to go somewhere new. I need to smell what he's got up his sleeve if I am to take that and add a new flair to the Sultan Series....

That's how art works. As for the smells of the open fish market, you'll see me pinching my nose as I walk past, and I wager a similar reaction from Taha.

I said all of the above as a way of giving credit where credit is due, and also to clarify to whoever would "divorce" the two houses that art simply doesn't work like that. Imperialism may, but that is a topic for another occasion.

Now, go and get yourself a bottle of Kanzen. And watch out for Kanbojia Senkoh!

kooolaid79 · Nov 25, 2017

Ensar said:

You said it, brother. Taha deserves a lot of respect for developing an aesthetic that is uniquely and unmistakably his. If every symphony sounded like the Fifth, music wouldn't be art anymore. It'd be mere entertainment, cheap Hollywood recipe for adrenaline.

There are dark forces out there that are keen to stir bad blood between me and Taha, but I don't think they will ever succeed for the simple reason that art thrives on art. Or rather, an aesthetic evolves by being passed from one artist to another, back and forth, sort of like the ping pong of Monet and Manet.

Out of all the players in artisanal oud (there's really only three; everyone else is just following along for the surf while the tide is high), Taha took the Oriscent aesthetic and truly tried to crack the code. I've seriously not seen anyone else get as close as Taha has to crafting a genuine Oriscent oil. As is the nature of true art, while he was busy doing that he "accidentally" found his own "voice" and started singing in Gen3. A new aesthetic was born.

For me, uniquely, it was like reading "Oriscent" in Finnish. Someone had taken my work and "translated" it into their own tongue, native to them, foreign to me. But I could recognize the pattern of the brushstrokes. It all rang eerily close to home. Clearly not my aesthetic, but my aesthetic taken to a foreign land, translated into the local tongue, and used by their gentlefolk.

The next evolutionary "sea change" came when Taha explained the inner workings of Gen3 during our recent get-togethers. He even introduced me to his distiller and basically said, "Minun talosi sinun talosi."

What happened next is that I took his Finnish rendition of my own story and retold it back again, this time in crystal clear Czech. The Senkoh Series was born. So you can basically say the Senkoh Series is Ensar's tribute to Tahaism (which was in turn Taha's tribute to Oriscent). The Aeneid, translated back into the language of the Iliad.

Take Taha out of the picture, and you have no modern day Ensar Oud (i.e. the latest "Senkoh" phase). Remove Oriscent, and you have no Taha (i.e. the Gen3 philosophy of classical music, as embodied in the collected works of Rachmaninoff).

Taha needs to smell what I am distilling now if his style is to go somewhere new. I need to smell what he's got up his sleeve if I am to take that and add a new flair to the Sultan Series....

That's how art works. As for the smells of the open fish market, you'll see me pinching my nose as I walk past, and I wager a similar reaction from Taha.

I said all of the above as a way of giving credit where credit is due, and also to clarify to whoever would "divorce" the two houses that art simply doesn't work like that. Imperialism may, but that is a topic for another occasion.

Now, go and get yourself a bottle of Kanzen. And watch out for Kanbojia Senkoh!

Oh no another Senkoh! Holy moly it sounds like a Cambodian. Dr @kesiro

Rasoul S · Nov 25, 2017

@Ensar thats how it’s supposed to be. Healthy friendly competition. Artist wins. Patrons win.

PEARL · Nov 25, 2017

@Ensar sadiqi it is interesting to have discussion with ones whose psyche, thought process and reasoning is capable of spanning the gap between the grossly simple and highly intellectual, the mundane and phenomenal and the earthly and ethereal. We're essentially saying the same thing but here's how I see it...

When I watched the video of you and Sidi Taha what I saw was the culmination and unique interplay of two men who lack the oxymoronic combination of megalomania coupled with an inferiority complex that so many seem to have; namely, those that would seek bad blood between you two. As you stated, "art thrives on art", I say that what we're witnessing is the respectful and perfectly played sportsmanship that leads to the progression of art. Case in point, when I learned to play chess I did so with guys that would check mate me in 4-5 moves, well before we began to engage or so I thought. 4-5 moves became 6-7, which in turn became 9-10. As I got better they put me under the gun and brought in the time clock, I'd use the 5-7 minutes or whatever we were playing before they'd use 30 seconds. Frustrated and angry I managed to retain the concept of sportsmanship and my game eventually became just as ferociously relentless as theirs. Had I let anger cause me to leave the table or only play those I could easily conquer I'd have never gotten better. It's that same sportsmanship that made the legendary attacking midfielder Pelé say, "he could do more with the ball...he was one of the best midfielders we've had in football...when you saw him with the ball at his feet you knew his head was complete" of Real Madrid, French legendary powerhouse Zinedine "Zizou" Zidane. Just imagine had they ever taken the pitch together in opposition, man they'd have tried to kill each other but they'd also have brought out the absolute best in each other and traded jerseys at the end; win, lose or draw.

Sit, stand, walk, fall by the wayside or get ran over. One can raise up the Ballon d'or, Super Ballon d'or or the golden World Cup while some rather attempt to institute some moronically correct sentiment where every kid who plays gets the same trophy or every oil smells the same. That's not an oud democracy, that's oud communism.

You and Sidi Taha are on the pitch while a certain concession of bystanders mock. It's the same bizarre combination of megalomania and an inferiority complex I spoke of earlier that has made them mock your concepts and character. To say things can't be done when they can't do them. To mock your success and customers and have said in the past silly a$$ things like, "they must be under the magical spell of a Harry Potter type character and are incapable of thinking for themselves" or "they write good reviews only because they spent x amount of pesos"; adult, supposed intelligent people have actually said asinine, or better yet, asitwenty stuff like this!!! When it comes to the oils some have said that they are a transmogrification of the "traditional" and they are not oud at all, as they engage in floccinaucinihilipilification; which is clearly an exhibition of their inability to distinguish what oud is.

Art thrives on art and the best bring out the best in others.

Oudamberlove · Nov 25, 2017

I googled floccinaucinihilipilification, and this is what I found.

Thank you M2 with tuned exhaust Pearl
Nice post.
I never appreciated how some people assume that I can't think for myself, or that I'm under a spell. Well, in reality, I don't really need to think. I'll let my nose do the thinking

In the descriptions of the oils Taha released, going back a few years even, Taha always referred to Ensar as an Esteemed Colleague, and treated him likewise. Taha may be a Student of Oud, but I call him the Professor.

PEARL · Dec 2, 2017

Rasoul S said:

@Rasoul S As salaamu alaykum, If it's juiced from agarwood it is oud. I look at pure agarwood oil on a continuum from the first truly avant-garde, inventive and experimental oil that was made at a time when people were used to heating agarwood or possibly being part of ittar up until now. On that continuum I'm sure there were distillers bad, good, better and best. There were distillers who supplied locally and some who supplied the affluent and noble. There were some that likely tried different materials, processes, methods, etc. in creating their own signature to bring, compete and differentiate themselves in the market. In more recent times, there were some who rose to prominence, in the region of high agarwood consumption, above others like the Ajmals and ASAQs. There is so little written history of oud oil, fortunately some of todays vendors are kind enough to share their knowledge, methods, tweaks, findings, etc. with consumers and other vendors alike; if not for that many(most) including myself would have absolutely no idea of how they made them, "traditional" or "modern" or whatever else one wants to call it based on the oil itself.

Also on that continuum you have to consider the user perspective. Take music for example, older men in my family would and do call my children's Davido, PSquare or D’Banj noise and not music compared to their Fela Kuti and Chief Osita Osadebe; it doesn’t make it so but I do get that they come from a different era or perhaps what I’ll call a different style. It’s no different from when somebody says some old-timer was shown an oil and said that it wasn’t, it’s really just not from his time or what he’s used to, but it’s still oud if juiced from agarwood.

When it comes to oud oils IMO you have long and short term “aging”. Many of the Hindi oils I own have been long term true aging, Oud Nuh 2009, Yunus 2007. These oils are immediately apparent, they’re silky smooth, I would love to have smelled them fresh to see the progression. Then you have newer oils that smell new, with those oils I think they actually lose something in the short term “aging” process. They lose what some call still notes aka notes imparted by the distillation apparatus itself and they lose some of their lack of cohesiveness becoming smoother. Some new oils lack those still notes but will still benefit from true aging. In my experience these oils will typically get 10-15% better in 6-12 months and after that true aging happens over a much longer time span.

Some of Taha’s newer oils like Chamkeila, Shano Shokat, Lalitya and Mahabali do behave differently. Those oils arrived with no still notes that I could detect and already had a good amount of smoothness. Where they behave differently is instead of losing anything, over 4-6 months their magnitude amplified, projecting more and having better longevity. I went from getting 4-5hrs with those oils to a solid 8-9hrs where I wondered how I got the oil in my nose. Notes amplified with brilliant clarity and Taha’s cleanliness. I can’t explain why but I do think these oils are more base note intensive and will still benefit positively with more aging.

Oudamberlove · Dec 2, 2017

PEARL said:

@Rasoul S As salaamu alaykum, If it's juiced from agarwood it is oud. I look at pure agarwood oil on a continuum from the first truly avant-garde, inventive and experimental oil that was made at a time when people were used to heating agarwood or possibly being part of ittar up until now. On that continuum I'm sure there were distillers bad, good, better and best. There were distillers who supplied locally and some who supplied the affluent and noble. There were some that likely tried different materials, processes, methods, etc. in creating their own signature to bring, compete and differentiate themselves in the market. In more recent times, there were some who rose to prominence, in the region of high agarwood consumption, above others like the Ajmals and ASAQs. There is so little written history of oud oil, fortunately some of todays vendors are kind enough to share their knowledge, methods, tweaks, findings, etc. with consumers and other vendors alike; if not for that many(most) including myself would have absolutely no idea of how they made them, "traditional" or "modern" or whatever else one wants to call it based on the oil itself.

Also on that continuum you have to consider the user perspective. Take music for example, older men in my family would and do call my children's Davido, PSquare or D’Banj noise and not music compared to their Fela Kuti and Chief Osita Osadebe; it doesn’t make it so but I do get that they come from a different era or perhaps what I’ll call a different style. It’s no different from when somebody says some old-timer was shown an oil and said that it wasn’t, it’s really just not from his time or what he’s used to, but it’s still oud if juiced from agarwood.

When it comes to oud oils IMO you have long and short term “aging”. Many of the Hindi oils I own have been long term true aging, Oud Nuh 2009, Yunus 2007. These oils are immediately apparent, they’re silky smooth, I would love to have smelled them fresh to see the progression. Then you have newer oils that smell new, with those oils I think they actually lose something in the short term “aging” process. They lose what some call still notes aka notes imparted by the distillation apparatus itself and they lose some of their lack of cohesiveness becoming smoother. Some new oils lack those still notes but will still benefit from true aging. In my experience these oils will typically get 10-15% better in 6-12 months and after that true aging happens over a much longer time span.

Some of Taha’s newer oils like Chamkeila, Shano Shokat, Lalitya and Mahabali do behave differently. Those oils arrived with no still notes that I could detect and already had a good amount of smoothness. Where they behave differently is instead of losing anything, over 4-6 months their magnitude amplified, projecting more and having better longevity. I went from getting 4-5hrs with those oils to a solid 8-9hrs where I wondered how I got the oil in my nose. Notes amplified with brilliant clarity and Taha’s cleanliness. I can’t explain why but I do think these oils are more base note intensive and will still benefit positively with more aging.

DOUBLE LIKE

FYI "0-60/3.9sec Pearl"
One of your posts convinced me to explore Chamkeila

Still waiting for it...
I'll share what I discover.

Rasoul S · Dec 2, 2017

PEARL said:

@Rasoul S As salaamu alaykum, If it's juiced from agarwood it is oud. I look at pure agarwood oil on a continuum from the first truly avant-garde, inventive and experimental oil that was made at a time when people were used to heating agarwood or possibly being part of ittar up until now. On that continuum I'm sure there were distillers bad, good, better and best. There were distillers who supplied locally and some who supplied the affluent and noble. There were some that likely tried different materials, processes, methods, etc. in creating their own signature to bring, compete and differentiate themselves in the market. In more recent times, there were some who rose to prominence, in the region of high agarwood consumption, above others like the Ajmals and ASAQs. There is so little written history of oud oil, fortunately some of todays vendors are kind enough to share their knowledge, methods, tweaks, findings, etc. with consumers and other vendors alike; if not for that many(most) including myself would have absolutely no idea of how they made them, "traditional" or "modern" or whatever else one wants to call it based on the oil itself.

Also on that continuum you have to consider the user perspective. Take music for example, older men in my family would and do call my children's Davido, PSquare or D’Banj noise and not music compared to their Fela Kuti and Chief Osita Osadebe; it doesn’t make it so but I do get that they come from a different era or perhaps what I’ll call a different style. It’s no different from when somebody says some old-timer was shown an oil and said that it wasn’t, it’s really just not from his time or what he’s used to, but it’s still oud if juiced from agarwood.

When it comes to oud oils IMO you have long and short term “aging”. Many of the Hindi oils I own have been long term true aging, Oud Nuh 2009, Yunus 2007. These oils are immediately apparent, they’re silky smooth, I would love to have smelled them fresh to see the progression. Then you have newer oils that smell new, with those oils I think they actually lose something in the short term “aging” process. They lose what some call still notes aka notes imparted by the distillation apparatus itself and they lose some of their lack of cohesiveness becoming smoother. Some new oils lack those still notes but will still benefit from true aging. In my experience these oils will typically get 10-15% better in 6-12 months and after that true aging happens over a much longer time span.

Some of Taha’s newer oils like Chamkeila, Shano Shokat, Lalitya and Mahabali do behave differently. Those oils arrived with no still notes that I could detect and already had a good amount of smoothness. Where they behave differently is instead of losing anything, over 4-6 months their magnitude amplified, projecting more and having better longevity. I went from getting 4-5hrs with those oils to a solid 8-9hrs where I wondered how I got the oil in my nose. Notes amplified with brilliant clarity and Taha’s cleanliness. I can’t explain why but I do think these oils are more base note intensive and will still benefit positively with more aging.

@PEARL,
Above highlight in black really speaks to me. your point third paragraph is literally a copy of a big debate in wine. Agability of modern va old school albeit faulty (dirty, unhygienic....)

Lastly are you saying gen 3 oils benefit from short term aging or long term too? Do you think these genre of oils will be as long lived as old timers?i am here to say I have my suspicions about the long term agability of thee oils. I have a hunch and for now a limited and not yet generalizable data set is my first possible evidence. More on this in due time. I could be totally wrong and I am fine either way. I am after truth and the science behind it.

kesiro · Dec 2, 2017

Rasoul S said:

Hey Rasoul! I think the oils which are Gen3 and from Ensar, the senkoh oils, which are supposed to be primarily distilled resin, are unlikely to change with age, other than if allowed to oxidize. The Gen 4, which have some other components, will. At least that is my understanding. The real experts, i.e. Ensar and Taha can correct me if I am wrong.

PEARL · Dec 3, 2017

@Rasoul S my own experience is anecdotal but it does begin to follow the scientific method in that I come up with a theory, observe the phenomenon, question it and then try to formulate an hypothesis as it relates to what I’ve learned.

Short-term aging~I’ve gotten several oils fresh out of the pot with minimal curing. Some still cloudy, those I had to cure myself by leaving uncapped with gauze covering the opening and leaving in the sun until they cleared. The artisan’s oils haven’t come like that as they cure their oils properly. Unscrupulous vendors may uncap, sun or lamp an oil for extended time beyond curing to try to mimic true aging, to smoothen faults in the oil. I’ve gotten some new oils that were cured properly but I could detect the “still” notes from the apparatus. IMO the "still" notes are lighter, more volatile molecules that burn off rather quickly; it's those oils that I say go through and benefit from short term aging. In that, my usage of short term aging can be looked at as the period beginning once the oil is properly cured and ending when any errant "still" notes diminish. Taha's oil don't benefit from short term aging as they are already cured properly with no errant "still" notes.

Aging~IMO begins after the oil is cured and loses any errant "still" notes. For simplicity I relate the notes in an oil to colors on a palette, say red, yellow and blue. Initially those notes can be perceived more separately and as the oil ages red and yellow make orange; yellow and blue make green; blue and orange along with red and green make shades of brown, etc. The notes marry and become cohesive as the oil ages, giving the oil smoother transitions from top to bottom. I suspect that this may happen on a molecular level and at any rate it surely happens on a perceptual level. Taha's oils, or any oil for the matter, can IMO benefit from aging. IMO an oil is in a constant state of flux, within limits of course, which could possibly explain why we perceive different things in an oil on different wearings especially when we don't wear an oil for a while and then wear it again. The Sadiqi Taha oils I mentioned in last post, both 3rd & 4th gen, are cured, crystal clear, no errant still notes and are peculiar in that there's an amplification of notes, projection and longevity; it's as if they need a few months from new to open up and blossom. That's what I've found to be a signature with his newer oils.

@kesiro 3rd, 4th and senkoh oils are IMO heart and even more base note intensive, this observation is based on the behavior of the oils. The base notes have different weights but all are heavy, less volatile and burn off slowly resulting in a less vertically complex oil. Consider when @kooolaid79 told us how he swiped Chugoku on his cousin and hours later he remarked how it still smelled the same. Also consider an oil with an even distribution of top, heart and base notes, over time the various top notes will burn off first, then heart and then base notes; that's what we'd consider to be more vertically complex. Being as such I feel those oils will benefit from aging but due to the heavier molecular weight nature of those notes will age more slowly. IMO those oils will actually be more robust and age retardant making aging less apparent; fountain of youth oils.

Taha · Dec 9, 2017

@Rasoul, I'm delighted to read your post.

Recently, I got a taste of my own medicine - pun intended.

I went a little over a WEEK with no oud (for unavoidable reasons, hmm maybe I'll expand later on why), which is the longest I have gone without oud in a very, very long time. I swiped some Au Luong. Ouff. I think my reaction to it was close to what yours had been when you first smelled this oil. Way too overwhelming.
For the first time today, the blasphemous thought of forced-oxiding oud actually crossed my mind.

('course, it was just a fleeting thought, I would never actually kill an oud's energy like that)

I think its easy to get jaded when you get used to ouds like Gen3 and Senkoh oils that, if you're such a person, you can easily forget just how intense the oil actually is because of how used to it you have gotten.
Something similar that comes to mind is working out with heavy weights at the gym. That is, again, something I haven't done in a long time for the same above-mentioned unavoidable reasons. And I'm scared to lift even 60% of what I used to. On the other hand, when you're going to the gym regularly, you can do set after set to the point of complete muscle exhaustion, and yet be fine the next day without being sore all over.
Au Luong does have a Gen4 sister, Camellia, which you've also smelled by now. And I'm sure you didn't find this one overwhelming at all – just like I didn't, after the long hiatus. I have no clue about the science behind it, but its fascinating how auxiliary compounds from the wood can 'cushion' the aroma of the Gen3 portion of the pull, and make it easier to grasp.

Ensar said:

So true! And to be even more specific, it was Borneo 3000. Once I smelled that oil, all those years ago, the tracks of my train were forever changed.
Something most of you may not know, the first time Ensar visited me I showed him a bunch of my (Gen3) oils. At the end of the meet-up, I jokingly (but seriously) said something along the lines of "let's get it on!", i.e. healthy competition. i.e. here, now you've smelled these oils, time for you to one-up me, and then my turn to one-up you.

Not in a cheap-shot competitive sort of way. Competitive, yes, but in a Monet-Manet fashion.
During our next meet-up, Ensar whipped out Chugoku Senkoh. Game on.
Ensar, I don't think you smelled a single one of my hand-made oils when you were here (although, you did end up smelling Ayu later on), and its a pity the hand-made oils which were here with me when you visited weren't really ready*.
So... time for you to try Au Luong, Khmer Special K v2, Hansei and Wanmei. Time for me to try some more of your Senkoh oils. Let the 'battle' continue.

* its hard to understand why Gen3 oils behave the way they do, when they're fresh out of the pot, unless you see one of my distillations in person from beginning to end. @m.arif, I'm sure you can attest to that!

kesiro · Dec 9, 2017

Well, that competition has been extremely beneficial to us all. I see it as not an attempt to respectively take away the other's business, but as a means to produce better and better oils for the benefits of the consumers/oud lovers. The results seem to confirm this observation.

And yes Taha, some of these gen 3 oils are quite unique animals. Not just in their scent profiles, but how they behave. They can coy you, smack you, love you, tease you, or give you the cold shoulder. Hmmmm, not sure where I came up with that analogy.

Rasoul S · Dec 9, 2017

kesiro said:

Well, that competition has been extremely beneficial to us all. I see it as not an attempt to respectively take away the other's business, but as a means to produce better and better oils for the benefits of the consumers/oud lovers. The results seem to confirm this observation.

And yes Taha, some of these gen 3 oils are quite unique animals. Not just in their scent profiles, but how they behave. They can coy you, smack you, love you, tease you, or give you the cold shoulder. Hmmmm, not sure where I came up with that analogy.

what doc said. i have nothing to add nothing to remove.

An Open Letter To All Oud Lovers: My Journey With Agar Aura Gen 3 Oils (long)

Rasoul S

Well-Known Member

Ensar Oud

Well-Known Member

kooolaid79

Well-Known Member

Rasoul S

Well-Known Member

PEARL

Well-Known Member

Oudamberlove

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PEARL

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