Oud Oil Reviews - MAIN THREAD
- Thread starter bhanny
- Start date
- Tags artisanal oud oil reviews oud oil
Someone had mentioned it might be nice to have a separate thread for reviews, so here it is. I personally am not the best at picking out specific notes, but I try to whenever I feel confident to do so. But oud is something that is so experiential and spiritual for me that I much more often use those experiences as my reviews. I hope that is okay, but I appreciate reading those reviews from others just as much as I do those defining very specific notes and scent development. Both types are very helpful and beneficial and fun to read for me. I hope it empowers the newer guys/gals to talk about some of the oils they enjoy or conversely don't enjoy.
Oud Nuh - EO (Oud Isa - EO)
What a Hindi. Nuh starts sweet, honeyed, mildly barn and with a little "Borneo-ish" ethereal airiness. I get what Ensar is talking about in the legends section thinking some Borneo wood was mixed in with the Indian wood. But in this case that "Borneo" lays on top of that deliciously sweet honeyed Hindi backbone. It is striking and lovely. It is as sweet and smooth as any Hindi I know outside its predecessor, Oud Isa, which just about as soft and sweet as they come. The sweetness in both Nuh and Isa is both berried and honeyed. The barn is never too much, for me, always just right. Overall I prefer Nuh, however, if you can get your hands on either I'd highly recommend both.
What a Hindi. Nuh starts sweet, honeyed, mildly barn and with a little "Borneo-ish" ethereal airiness. I get what Ensar is talking about in the legends section thinking some Borneo wood was mixed in with the Indian wood. But in this case that "Borneo" lays on top of that deliciously sweet honeyed Hindi backbone. It is striking and lovely. It is as sweet and smooth as any Hindi I know outside its predecessor, Oud Isa, which just about as soft and sweet as they come. The sweetness in both Nuh and Isa is both berried and honeyed. The barn is never too much, for me, always just right. Overall I prefer Nuh, however, if you can get your hands on either I'd highly recommend both.
Jing Shen Lu
Ensar a question regarding your last Organic release : Jing Shen Lu...as I am a little bit disturbed I confess.
You have made a really huge and strong statement about it in your website, Best Organic Oud ever and better than Thai Encens ! Impossible !
Thai Encens was so precious for Oud and for you that it was on sale privately only ( I know 3 people who have it no more) and for $1500 if I do remember well a long time ago....
So How can it be possible to produce an Organic better than Thai Encens ? Could you please clarify ? Thanks
Ensar a question regarding your last Organic release : Jing Shen Lu...as I am a little bit disturbed I confess.
You have made a really huge and strong statement about it in your website, Best Organic Oud ever and better than Thai Encens ! Impossible !
Thai Encens was so precious for Oud and for you that it was on sale privately only ( I know 3 people who have it no more) and for $1500 if I do remember well a long time ago....
So How can it be possible to produce an Organic better than Thai Encens ? Could you please clarify ? Thanks
Hi @Fra881,
Borneo 3000 was the first oil in this series, and it was named after the price the wood went for back in 2004. For $3,000 you could get sinking grade wood in those days, and the dust from this wood is what was used to craft the original Borneo 3000....
With the popularity of the 3000, people started wondering when a 'Borneo 4000' would become available.... At that point, it stopped being a reference to the value of the wood and turned into a 'series' code used to name the oils sharing certain characteristics: the most notable of which being the place of origin for the raw materials, namely Malinau.
Borneo 5000 is the only departure from the series in this regard, in that it contains raw materials harvested all over Borneo, but especially in Brunei and Malinau. The distillation style is also a total departure in the 5000.
Borneo 3000 was the first oil in this series, and it was named after the price the wood went for back in 2004. For $3,000 you could get sinking grade wood in those days, and the dust from this wood is what was used to craft the original Borneo 3000....
With the popularity of the 3000, people started wondering when a 'Borneo 4000' would become available.... At that point, it stopped being a reference to the value of the wood and turned into a 'series' code used to name the oils sharing certain characteristics: the most notable of which being the place of origin for the raw materials, namely Malinau.
Borneo 5000 is the only departure from the series in this regard, in that it contains raw materials harvested all over Borneo, but especially in Brunei and Malinau. The distillation style is also a total departure in the 5000.
Ahlan @firdaous! 
I guess part of the answer to this lies in the discussion we had about Oud Mostafa No 5, and raw materials' innate potential.... Remember the Sri Lankan oil that smelled very nice but a little boring, and the cultivated Hindi that smelled like a finely crafted perfume? The same idea applies here....
In Thai Encens, you have very high grade organic raw materials (100% seah, to be precise) distilled straight up, in just any old pot, with just any condenser, soaked in the local groundwater of the distillery.....
In Jing Shen Lu, you've got carefully selected kyen, distilled in the same pot as Sultan Ahmet – right after distilling Sultan Ahmet – in exactly the same style as Sultan Ahmet..... Get my drift?
What you're getting is a blueprint of Sultan Ahmet, captured in the perfect medium, with even a tinge of the original masterpiece of the Sultan Series (Taha said it, not I!). That distillation was studied and planned extremely carefully, from the wood, to the soaking drum, to the water, to the pot – to the Sultan Ahmet residue that was carefully left inside the pot (as opposed to cleaning it with alcohol or boiling sandalwood to remove the scent).
I guess part of the answer to this lies in the discussion we had about Oud Mostafa No 5, and raw materials' innate potential.... Remember the Sri Lankan oil that smelled very nice but a little boring, and the cultivated Hindi that smelled like a finely crafted perfume? The same idea applies here....
In Thai Encens, you have very high grade organic raw materials (100% seah, to be precise) distilled straight up, in just any old pot, with just any condenser, soaked in the local groundwater of the distillery.....
In Jing Shen Lu, you've got carefully selected kyen, distilled in the same pot as Sultan Ahmet – right after distilling Sultan Ahmet – in exactly the same style as Sultan Ahmet..... Get my drift?
What you're getting is a blueprint of Sultan Ahmet, captured in the perfect medium, with even a tinge of the original masterpiece of the Sultan Series (Taha said it, not I!). That distillation was studied and planned extremely carefully, from the wood, to the soaking drum, to the water, to the pot – to the Sultan Ahmet residue that was carefully left inside the pot (as opposed to cleaning it with alcohol or boiling sandalwood to remove the scent).
@Ensar interesting! It's such a pleasure to have a direct communication with you guys here.
I don't know but in case you are willing to share this I ask: how was the 5000 distillation setup and why did you depart so much from the other borneos? (just experimenting new smell profiles or a way to exploit a very peculiar batch of wood or....)
I don't know but in case you are willing to share this I ask: how was the 5000 distillation setup and why did you depart so much from the other borneos? (just experimenting new smell profiles or a way to exploit a very peculiar batch of wood or....)
@OudLearner: your question regarding the comparison bof Borneo 2000 to Borneo 5000 - it is that they don´t compare! ;-)
Just kidding: the two oils are typical Borneo oils in that they both have the characteristic sweet vanillic woodiness. However, the 2000 is much deeper / darker in its scent profile. It reminds me of wet earth and myrrh, whereas the 5000 is all about lotus and florals and sweetness.
The Borneo 5000 really compares to the original Borneo 3000, minus its slight barnyardy element (the 3000 had this minimal dose of horse stable animalic sweetness to it).
Both are totally worth having in your collection. Only thing is the 5000 is (IMHO, or: to my nose) closer to the 3000 than to any other Borneo I had the pleasure of smelling.
Just kidding: the two oils are typical Borneo oils in that they both have the characteristic sweet vanillic woodiness. However, the 2000 is much deeper / darker in its scent profile. It reminds me of wet earth and myrrh, whereas the 5000 is all about lotus and florals and sweetness.
The Borneo 5000 really compares to the original Borneo 3000, minus its slight barnyardy element (the 3000 had this minimal dose of horse stable animalic sweetness to it).
Both are totally worth having in your collection. Only thing is the 5000 is (IMHO, or: to my nose) closer to the 3000 than to any other Borneo I had the pleasure of smelling.
@firdaous: Recently I received a sample of Jing Shen Lu. Aftrer trying it twice, I ordered a full bottle. The scent profile is close to the Khao Yai Experiment, in that it is green and sweet and slightly citrus-y. And it has the same note that made Crassna Cha so outstanding. I can really recommend it.
It really is amazing. And yes a part of his Sultan series. I had a very very small sample of Sufyan. And it is a very nicely resinated dark oud. Mustafa has a sweetness with some mild fruity element, more berried, due to the Brunei component. So it's definitely a relative, but they differ significantly. From my single testing I agree with Ensar that Sufyan is closer to Sultan Abdul Hamit than Sultan Mustafa. I do like Sufyan though!