Distiller's Survial Guide: Counsels and Maxims

[Ensar Oud]

• The higher the grade of wood, the richer and more 'obvious' the aroma of the oil.
  The lower the grade of wood, the more anemic and difficult to 'get' the oil.
  Never the other way around.

 

[Oudamberlove]

And then, of course, you have house 'secrets' you want to safeguard

“House Secrets” should stay “Secret”
But enquiring ouddies want to know what oils are inside the “Vault of Gems”

 

[Ensar Oud]

enquiring ouddies want to know what oils are inside the “Vault of Gems”

Some of that coming up shortly!

 

[AZsmell]

I want to know who is selling your oils 50% off.

 

[Kswer]

I want to know who is selling your oils 50% off.

This!

 

[Ensar Oud]

• In the scrapyards of truth you never dig in vain. Either you reach deeper today, or you exercise your strength so you can dig deeper tomorrow.

Nietzsche's original, from Human, All Too Human, A Book for Free Spirits:

“In the mountains of truth you never climb in vain. Either you already reach a higher point today, or you exercise your strength so you can climb higher tomorrow.”

Though true, it rings a bit naive in our age of post-truth. I much prefer my version, a Nietzsche-Healy co-distillation!

 

[Ensar Oud]

• The oud community is made up of clicks, groups, and gangs. Above all that is the glory of agarwood.

 

[Philip]

• The oud community is made up of clicks, groups, and gangs. Above all that is the glory of agarwood.

I know precisely where to cast my gaze to find the aforementioned glory, and it gives me peace aplenty.

 

[Shabby]

• The oud community is made up of clicks, groups, and gangs. Above all that is the glory of agarwood.

Ironically I think this is what every clique, group and gang says...

 

[Ensar Oud]

Ironically I think this is what every clique, group and gang says...

Which is why an artist can never be part of a gang or a click. He sticks out like a sore thumb, wherever you put him. Look at my teacher in his hole-in-the-wall distillery off in the weeds by himself, kicking everybody out. The peculiar 'madness' and rebellion required by the creative process and the blind, pathological conformism of gang mentality are like oud oil and water. They can never mix.

 

[Ensar Oud]

• Art is like a slice of life. It eludes classification. It is a vision, a passion engendered in the chest of a wayward soul, and he needs to find a safe place where the brainchild can hatch. Most often away from people and shunning all company.

• The rabble mentality of the marketplace is the opposite. It needs to paint everything either black or white. It needs a hero and a villain. An expensive product and a cheap one. Things must be one-dimensional for a market to make sense of them. Either good or bad. Black or white. Cheap or overpriced. Whatever has more than one dimension, the market either rejects or distorts until it can be seen under a single dimension.

 

[powdernose]

This is why to be fair to you, first and foremost, and everyone else reading this, I'm going to implement a new policy going forward: Document the grade of my oils as much as I can, with as much visual detail as is humanly possible.

I'm actually sorry I haven't been doing that all along. It's just that with this material the possibility of deception is endless. And then, of course, you have house 'secrets' you want to safeguard. That has been the biggest deterrent up to this point. Seeing what we've come to, I will have no choice but to do that from this point onward. Whoever chooses to post pictures of other than the wood they actually distilled, his affair is in the hands of Allah.

Has this started happening?
If so, point me in that direction. If not, let me know when it does.

Thanks