few impressions on IO oils

Rasoul S

Well-Known Member
#1
some general notes first:
purchase, communication, shipping, etc. has all been seamless with them. Faizal has been great to deal with and i can strongly recommend them and my entire experience with dealing with IO has been positive.

I am pleased by the entire line up of @imperialoud oils. Not one dud. Also I am very intrigued and I have to acknowledge that based on my somewhat limited oud oil experience, these oils in my humble opinion can be considered textbook oils and great flag bearers of their respective origins and styles. typicity (typical-ness) is what we call this in the world of wine and it has huge value to me.

Fragrant Harbour Supreme:
from IO: Hydro distilled, 5 day soak using a mixture of Guangzhou plantation and Hainan wild wood. SS pot with Glass condensor/ collector.

TN: Classic Chinese herbal dispensary scent. Myriad of bitter herbs, ginseng on the opening. Bamboo shoots with touch of geosmin/petrichor scent once the oil settles.
No sweetness, no florals, no animal, no funk, no camphor, no smoke. Clean, bitter, medicinal, vibrant and refreshing. Perfect daytime scent and one I crave on warmer days.

Final thoughts: medium complexity. textbook Chinese oil that is more outward. outstanding quality-price ratio (QPR) for an everyday wear. Is a nice balance of hedonistic and intellectual oil.

only negative: for my nose and after i have gotten to know this oil better, my only minor complaint is the bitter ginseng note is so present that makes it a bit hard to delve deeper and let one peak at what is beneath the surface. this ntoe only applies when smelling from the applicator/vial. once on the skin, the transformation is quicker...


Kedah thaqeel:
from IO: Wild north malay wood, Soaked 7 days, SS pot and Glass collection.

TN: Deep oudy, soradaki way of burning agarwood scent. Thick lush dark green jungle scent, mud (clean kind) touch camphor leading to that cooling sensation. Ample nutmeg and warm spices. When the oil settles, mild dark honey sweetness emerges, wood, more nutmeg and cooked/dried fruits like prune/tamarind and touch more smoke and top soil notes linger.
No floral, no animal.

Final thoughts: medium+ complexity. A very nice oud with deep inward quality, spices, dried dark fruit and green jungle and soil notes.


Koh Kong kambodi imperial:
from IO: Our Kambodi Imperiale has been cooked in a full copper setup, pot and condenser which has yielded an extremely floral sweet oil. Although this is also testament to the grade of wood used.

TN: Different beast all together. Refined, delicate, layered, sweet, white and yellow floral, pretty, light coloured honey (acacia) and mango and papaya notes. When the oil settles, more delicate honeyed wood notes, more mango and delicate frangipani and jasmine/gardenia notes linger
No funk, no leather, no animal, no camphor, no bitter notes.

Final thoughts: Medium+ complexity. A great outward, pretty, feminine (not for women per se), floral and delicate oud. A walk in the botanical gardens during spring and early summer captured in a bottle. Lovely stuff. Less intellectual, more hedonistic oil.


Kon baung burma:
TN: Heritage house, antique store, old mahogany wood notes, mild bitter notes, Chinese green tea (lung ching, bilouchun), subdued Chinese herbal medicine notes. After the oil settles, dry powdery notes dominate. Almost sandal wood like but not in scent, rather more in texture. Light fermented oolong (tieguanyen) lingers.
No animal, no floral, no sweetness.

Final thoughts: high- complexity. A polite, well put together oil. Very nuanced and one that in quite inward and begs the wearer to keep going back to discover more. A highly intellectual oil. While it is not a scent I want to wear regularly, I am sure ill be going to the vial regularly to exercise my senses and please my left brain. A very fine Special occasion oil.


Viet zephyr:
for me at this stage of my oud appreciation, Vietnamese oils are in a class of their own. Not Chinese nor Indian in style. Yet almost has a bit of both in its DNA. not borneo, not indonasia, yet nuances of both.

TN: young oil. in is infancy. still rambunctious but oh So complex. i am not a gambling man, but i like to put my money on an extra bottle or two of this oil and let it mature for a few years or more. A bit intense right now but a bit of everything in there. Some animal, some sweets, some bitter citrus and bitter roots (orris?) and greens, some sour, some zest, some fruit. Oh boy I can write forever. The beauty of this oil is all these scents are perfectly married together and not one dominates like lets say their kambodi does with its sweet, floral, fruit notes or a Hainan oil does with its linear numbing bitterness (while is awesome). Definitely mildly medicinal and reminding one of chinese oils, definitely some laos/hindi funk/animal but very subdued. More like a clean horse rather than goat barn. Manuka honey, geosmin/rain and forest floor scent. I have to come back again and again and again to this oil. One for the library and one to compare so many other oils with.

Final thoughts: high complexity. the strongest QPR oil in their portfolio in my humble opinion. Both intellectual and hedonistic.


Sri pada ceylon:
My first encounter with sri lankan oil and I like it (so much so that i purchased the bigger brother of SP from IO, and of course suriranka senkoh from EO and boy am i ever glad i did...).

TN: Delicious notes. Fruits (mango/papaya), green resinous balsam notes. Some cool menthol. After the oil settles I pick up some suggestions of persian saffron, hints of turmeric, sandal wood, dried green mango, barely ripe papaya, (wonder what gcms testing will tell and if some of the aromatic compounds found in mysore santal is also in this oil). stay tuned in for that.

Final thoughts: medium to medium+ complexity. I have a very strong feeling that 2-3 years of aging will do this oil wonders. One can tell it is being a naughty energetic rambunctious teenager at the moment. Not as nuanced, subtle and intellectual as viet zephyr or kon baung burma, but still a medium+ compelx oil that has all the stuffing. It just needs time to come together and settle more. super delicious. In some ways I get the same feeling (although completely different profile) as with a kambodi oil. Is a happy oil that feels summer, sunshine, birds chirping and singing, waterfall dancing all captured in a bottle.

i have a few more samples coming my way from them next week. ill be sure to post notes on those as well.

hope these notes are of some help to some of you and at the very least another reference point.