When kyara is found, is it often clustered in a patch of trees?
I'm guessing that would have been the case many decades ago, however since a few years now the only kyara that's ever found (if any is found at all) is under the ground.... Most kinam we find nowadays is by unearthing trees that were moribund and eventually collapsed, eventually ending up buried under the ground. Imagine how old that wood is, just lying there under the earth for decades, possibly even centuries, until it is found!
Perhaps it is the trees response to a very specific insult?
That's what I think. Different triggers lead to different types of resin. It's one thing if the tree is just eaten through by ants, as was the case with many fine trees we got back in the day from the legendary region of Nha Trang in Vietnam. But interestingly, the Nha Trang agarwood was not all kyara. I met with a scientist who speculated you need a different type of trigger – a chemical rather than a physical one – in order to induce Kinam: Such as the sulfur contained in the bullets that were shot into practically every single tree standing in Vietnam during the Vietnam War....
We might then ask, what about Kinam that was formed centuries ago? – Perhaps the trees were drinking some crude oil of sorts via the roots, directly from the soil? There is tons of crude oil under the ground in Brunei, and this is the last Kinam spot on the map. I've handled and smelled agarwood bangles made from Brunei Kinam, and it is AMAZING.
Any traditional Kodo practitioner reading this would be frowning at this point. That's okay. I should actually include some sort of disclaimer right about here that I do not subscribe to the Japanese school of Kinam exclusively myself, given the exposure I've had to the Chinese sifus – not to mention one of them being our chief distiller with whom we've been working since the birth of Oriscent. And I say as a way of responding to allegations made elsewhere that 'Kyara' and 'Kinam' are mere marketing terms.
The people we've studied and worked with live and breathe Kinam. They eat and drink it the way we do tea and coffee. They carve it. They heat it (all day long on the low heat electric heaters which never get unplugged, and anytime you want a fresh whiff you don't need to put new kinam on the plate, you just draw the heater to your nose and inhale). They've even
distilled it. I'm not kidding. So for someone who has never seen or smelled or handled kinam in their lives to say 'That's just marketing' is just a tad uncouth.
Back to the picture, what does the raw, unheated material smell like in your hand? Does it have a "mossy" type feel to it?
Since this was unearthed White Kinam, the texture is a bit rough, as with any dead wood that's taken out of the ground. If you carve a thin slice off with a knife though, you see shiny glossy, quite dark looking resin immediately underneath the surface. This particular piece didn't have a scent unheated. The green one whose picture I couldn't find smelled like I would imagine the Hereafter to smell like..... It was also quite greasy, oily, waxy, your fingers sticking to it as they would on a spot where there had been adhesive that was removed.
I handled Vietnamese Kinam bangles of the highest caliber also, and the texture was incredibly greasy. If not for the lack of a few hundred K on hand at the time, I would be wearing them now
I have some actual kyara chips on the way here soon so I'm sure my questions will increase tenfold after trying them. Then again..maybe everything will just make sense then
That's amazing! Let us all know how your first experience with Kinam goes. And no worries about the questions!
Taha once told me, once you smell and taste Kyara, you will never ever forget it. How true it was! Among all the wood chip I have in my collection, nothing is more precious than my Shoyeido Kyara wood chip. So precious that I will only burn a tiny sliver of it on very special occasion. Mine was very pliable and soft at room temperature with a very heavenly scent.
Oops! It took me a good while to submit all of the above, and it looks like you beat me to it!
Welcome, welcome!
I really regret not getting any white Kyara while I was at Shanghai! What is the difference in the scent profile between white and green Kyara? I smelt the white Kyara and it has a bit of spicy note beneath the bittersweetness, unlike my Shoyeido Kyara.
What a pity! Well I'm sure you can always pick some up on your next visit! Let me know when you plan to go and I may just tag along with you, can?
I'd compare white and green kyara like white and green peppercorns. The white is equally spicy but drier in tone, whereas the green is more lush and zesty. These things are entirely subjective, but nothing I've ever smelled matches that singular slither of Baieido green kyara I was sent by Dave Oller way back. Then again, apart from this singular encounter with white kinam, all the specimens I've sampled have been either green, black, red or purple. My second favorite, after green kinam, would have to be purple kinam. It is incredible!