Kinam/Kyara

bhanny

Well-Known Member
#42
Wow.. Epic kyara beads!

Bhanny, I would recommend the Mermade Magickal Arts adjustable electric heater - it's rather essential to be able to control temperature, and different types of agarwood do better at different temps - and you can finish off your roasted pieces at higher heat to get notes that weren't coming through at lower heat.. It's like $60.. Kyara is great and all, but honestly I prefer several other types of non-kyara agarwood to my kyara stash most of the time - there are so many fantastic woods to enjoy..

If you purchase from Mermade I can also highly recommend picking up some of their fine incenses - check the "Incenses from other artisans" category - "Ali's" incense powder has all sorts of amazing things in it, and everything by Urrere Aromatics is amazing - the "Night Flower" blend is agarwood that has been macerated and soaked multiple times in concentrated deer musk, ambergris, and civet, and then laced with floral essences.. His "Ocean of Night" blend is fantastic also..
Why thank you sir! I will check it out.
 

Oudamberlove

Well-Known Member
#48
It's pictures like those that make me glad that I'm into Agarwood and Oud. To most people, it's just a piece of wood:( , when in fact, there's enough aroma in that piece to scent a stadium:)
I believe that any memorable piece of Agarwood deserves a name. My first beautiful piece was named after the person who offered it to me;)
 

bhanny

Well-Known Member
#50
Hey guys, with the recent kyara/kinam discussion on the Reviews thread, I thought we could rekindle this one. I for one have been burning both Hainan Kinam and Vietnamese Kyara recently, and while perhaps some subtle differences, they are different species Sinensis vs Crassna if I'm not mistaken, there is a crystal clear common note pervading the entire time. IMO of course.

Now with the Vietnamese discussion, I suspect both are Sinensis.
 
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#52
I first heard about colors from the Chinese since my entry into the world of Kinam was through them – but I've also met enthusiasts who bought 'color' ranked kyara in Japan from trusted sources such as Yamada Matsu, etc. If you remember ListensClosely from BN, he is as traveled and resourceful a Kodo enthusiast as you can find, and he had a piece of actual purple kinam wood which he brought with him (sourced and graded in Japan from one of the top houses) for the sake of conducting a little experiment. We listened to the notes of those glossy little slivers VERY closely on his low heat electric heater – against a swipe of Purple Kinam....

After a 20-30 minute discussion and super finicky note comparison, ListensClosely drew his own conclusion: "I would have to admit, the naming of this oil is correct, given how the scent profile matches up to actual purple kinam."

People say many sorts of things, it is true, but I have yet to find anyone as passionate about monkoh in the West, or as outspoken and incorruptible a character as ListensClosely. So I knew when he nodded in approval that he meant it, and wasn't just saying it to please me.

You can pick up the different scent 'colors' in the various profiles of the wood when heated, thought the 'look' of the wood also seems to vaguely imply a color, at times more clearly than others. I've seen red oil kyara that was literally red in color. Green oil kyara that was green. Black oil that was black.....

'Green oil kyara' is a term I first heard from adherents to the Japanese school, though colors such as yellow, black and white I have only heard in the China Market.



Not to my knowledge....



Sure has.... If the scent of Vietnamese kyara is superior in the wood vs the oil, the scent of Brunei kinam oil I would have to say is hands-down more beautiful than the scent of heated chips. The only difference of course being that there are no oils in existence that were distilled from 100% Vietnamese kinam, whereas the Brunei variety being a more recent discovery it was possible to distill some oil from very high quality batches that were available for a fairly 'reasonable' price several years ago....
I just wanted to say something about the heating of the purple kyara next to the purple kyara swipe. What if you were to heat a swipe of that purple kyara oil? I have been heating my oils lately as if they are wood slivers and.....WOW!
 
#53
Very informative thread! I wish I wasn't late to the party and had the opportunity to learn about the differences and the personal preference of Ensar regarding Kyara LTD - Kyara LTD 2, Royal Kinam - Royal Kinam 2.0, and Nha Trang LTD - Nha Trang LTD 2. I'd like to hunt down one of each, and I wonder if the first or the second versions are worth pursuing. Thank you!
 
#54
Very informative thread! I wish I wasn't late to the party and had the opportunity to learn about the differences and the personal preference of Ensar regarding Kyara LTD - Kyara LTD 2, Royal Kinam - Royal Kinam 2.0, and Nha Trang LTD - Nha Trang LTD 2. I'd like to hunt down one of each, and I wonder if the first or the second versions are worth pursuing. Thank you!
Nha Trang LTD 2????? There is no Nha Trang LTD 2 is there?