Meetups

#1
Peace and blessings to all.

My name is Ammar. I am a 27 year old third-year medical student here in Houston, TX. As someone who is relatively new to oud, I am so glad I found Gaharu and all of you. I reached out to @MzM15 and @Sami after learning that they also live in Houston. MzM and I have met two times already, and Sami is going to join us next time, God-willing. It's hard to find people here in The States that are into oud, let alone in your city. Anyways, I just wanted to introduce myself and and share a few photos from our meets. If any one of you is ever in Houston, my home is your home, God-willing. Who else amongst y'all (had to throw in the Texan-ness) are friends in real life?







 

kesiro

Well-Known Member
#3
Hey Ammar! Welcome to you and it is great you found this place. There are actually quite a few of us here in the states into Oud, as well as in the healthcare field. There are some very knowledgeable and experience Oud lovers here, not to mention the finest distillers and producers on the planet who have graciously given us and oudication.
Please share some thoughts and experiences!

Best regards,
Phil

PS: you have got yourself quite a nice collection!
 

Simla House

Well-Known Member
#7
Oudfest Northwest 3.0
Amazing triple bill of Guallam Solide, Nha Trang Ltd, and the unreleased Borneo Diesel; all from Ensar. All three were almost too much to take into one sitting. Seriously. It was the rarest of treats for me, so again, massive shukran, pranaam, mam’noon and gracias to you, @Rasoul S sir.
We also had a FaceTime chat with @kesiro about oudiness and such. Was nice to put a face and voice to another friend at Gaharu. I continued my efforts to bring Rasoul over to the “barn-side of the moon”, and entice him to sample some more hindi style ouds. He was pleasantly surprised with both Ouds Musa and Hud, with the latter coming out on top. To my surprise, he had never experienced either OM5 or OM4, so it was my pleasure to share those with him. The evening was rounded out by some diving into the Japanese incense stash, where @rasoul found some favourites in Fu-in Sandal, and a couple of Seijudo and Yamadamatsu beauties. Also making an appearance was @tyson ‘s heavy duty sandalwood and sandal oil. Both bringing me back to sandalwoods I experienced in India many years ago. Lots of discussion of around all things swipe-able, heatable, and burnable. Meeting brother Rasoul and having another oudhead in the neighbourhood is really making me reconsider moving overseas
 
#8
Oudfest Northwest 3.0
Amazing triple bill of Guallam Solide, Nha Trang Ltd, and the unreleased Borneo Diesel; all from Ensar. All three were almost too much to take into one sitting. Seriously. It was the rarest of treats for me, so again, massive shukran, pranaam, mam’noon and gracias to you, @Rasoul S sir.
We also had a FaceTime chat with @kesiro about oudiness and such. Was nice to put a face and voice to another friend at Gaharu. I continued my efforts to bring Rasoul over to the “barn-side of the moon”, and entice him to sample some more hindi style ouds. He was pleasantly surprised with both Ouds Musa and Hud, with the latter coming out on top. To my surprise, he had never experienced either OM5 or OM4, so it was my pleasure to share those with him. The evening was rounded out by some diving into the Japanese incense stash, where @rasoul found some favourites in Fu-in Sandal, and a couple of Seijudo and Yamadamatsu beauties. Also making an appearance was @tyson ‘s heavy duty sandalwood and sandal oil. Both bringing me back to sandalwoods I experienced in India many years ago. Lots of discussion of around all things swipe-able, heatable, and burnable. Meeting brother Rasoul and having another oudhead in the neighbourhood is really making me reconsider moving overseas
Where are the pics Dear Simla?
 

kesiro

Well-Known Member
#9
Oudfest Northwest 3.0
Amazing triple bill of Guallam Solide, Nha Trang Ltd, and the unreleased Borneo Diesel; all from Ensar. All three were almost too much to take into one sitting. Seriously. It was the rarest of treats for me, so again, massive shukran, pranaam, mam’noon and gracias to you, @Rasoul S sir.
We also had a FaceTime chat with @kesiro about oudiness and such. Was nice to put a face and voice to another friend at Gaharu. I continued my efforts to bring Rasoul over to the “barn-side of the moon”, and entice him to sample some more hindi style ouds. He was pleasantly surprised with both Ouds Musa and Hud, with the latter coming out on top. To my surprise, he had never experienced either OM5 or OM4, so it was my pleasure to share those with him. The evening was rounded out by some diving into the Japanese incense stash, where @rasoul found some favourites in Fu-in Sandal, and a couple of Seijudo and Yamadamatsu beauties. Also making an appearance was @tyson ‘s heavy duty sandalwood and sandal oil. Both bringing me back to sandalwoods I experienced in India many years ago. Lots of discussion of around all things swipe-able, heatable, and burnable. Meeting brother Rasoul and having another oudhead in the neighbourhood is really making me reconsider moving overseas
We are going to Rasoul ever to the dark side (Hindi barn) at some point. I would bet that he would have preferred the Hud. It is a deep and smooth masterpiece. The Musa is a monster and definitely for the more experienced Hindi oud aficionados, IMO. Man I wish I could have hung out with you guys. Too bad we are all spread out like this.
 

Simla House

Well-Known Member
#11
We are going to Rasoul ever to the dark side (Hindi barn) at some point. I would bet that he would have preferred the Hud. It is a deep and smooth masterpiece. The Musa is a monster and definitely for the more experienced Hindi oud aficionados, IMO. Man I wish I could have hung out with you guys. Too bad we are all spread out like this.
Both Hud and Musa are beautiful, indeed.
I was going to ask you about Royal Bhutan last night, but was pretty buzzed from the Nha Trang.
I'll definitely drop you a line when I roll through your neck of the woods again, but it was a pleasure to have you beam into my living room last night.
We both heard Rasoul explain his aversion to Hindi style oud last night, but I'm convinced with a bit re-programming and positive associations with the barn in all it's glory, we can talk him off the ledge. I'll take it upon myself to be the "oud whisperer" until we can all meet-up from some group therapy :D
 

Simla House

Well-Known Member
#13
Where are the pics Dear Simla?
You can ask @Rasoul S if he can upload a screen capture of his expression during the unwrapping of Nha Trang.
He requested it be documented for the archives, and for his health insurance provider incase he fell over.
Once that vial was open, I can attest that time and space stood still, and the need for cellphones and cameras fell by the wayside.
I'll make sure during the next get together that we do a better job ;)
 

kesiro

Well-Known Member
#14
Both Hud and Musa are beautiful, indeed.
I was going to ask you about Royal Bhutan last night, but was pretty buzzed from the Nha Trang.
I'll definitely drop you a line when I roll through your neck of the woods again, but it was a pleasure to have you beam into my living room last night.
We both heard Rasoul explain his aversion to Hindi style oud last night, but I'm convinced with a bit re-programming and positive associations with the barn in all it's glory, we can talk him off the ledge. I'll take it upon myself to be the "oud whisperer" until we can all meet-up from some group therapy :D
Absolutely right! I think maybe a group "intervention" is called for.
Oh man, Royal Bhutan is just such a special Oud. If I did not get hit up with some of these recent crazy unexpected expenses (non-oud related I'm afraid, too much stuff breaking around the house and worse), I would have a full bottle of this in my mitts right now. The "Royal" in it's name is completely apropos. Velvely smooth with bite. Creamy yet nose tingly at the same time. Almost a schizophrenic quality making it probably the single best Hindi I have experienced. From the very first sniff, I knew this was special. And I was cursing under my breath as I knew this was one I could not be without.

Thanks for letting me into your small oudfest last night. Please come on by when you are in my neighborhood!
 

Rasoul S

Well-Known Member
#15
Oudfest Northwest 3.0
Amazing triple bill of Guallam Solide, Nha Trang Ltd, and the unreleased Borneo Diesel; all from Ensar. All three were almost too much to take into one sitting. Seriously. It was the rarest of treats for me, so again, massive shukran, pranaam, mam’noon and gracias to you, @Rasoul S sir.
We also had a FaceTime chat with @kesiro about oudiness and such. Was nice to put a face and voice to another friend at Gaharu. I continued my efforts to bring Rasoul over to the “barn-side of the moon”, and entice him to sample some more hindi style ouds. He was pleasantly surprised with both Ouds Musa and Hud, with the latter coming out on top. To my surprise, he had never experienced either OM5 or OM4, so it was my pleasure to share those with him. The evening was rounded out by some diving into the Japanese incense stash, where @rasoul found some favourites in Fu-in Sandal, and a couple of Seijudo and Yamadamatsu beauties. Also making an appearance was @tyson ‘s heavy duty sandalwood and sandal oil. Both bringing me back to sandalwoods I experienced in India many years ago. Lots of discussion of around all things swipe-able, heatable, and burnable. Meeting brother Rasoul and having another oudhead in the neighbourhood is really making me reconsider moving overseas
you said it brother. blessing to have another crazy likeminded friend so close. my drive back was not even 5 minutes!

lets host fellow oudheads in vancouver this spring/summer. june is always a great time