SOTD

[Simla House]

China Sayang (EO) this morning.

I’d say if I was to slot Hainan 05 and Sayang in for frigid weather time slots, this one would obviously be the evening oil for myself. Either for a dimly lit room and a lamp focused on a favourite book, or for respected gatherings. The wood used was beautiful. I’m glad I have a bit left for the future. Yesterday’s Hainan brightened my whole day.


@Rasoul S , no doubt your three top-shelf regional/Sultan choices are killers.
Borneos!!
Vietnamese!!
Sultans!
Triple grand slam!

 

[Simla House]

Agar Aura~Philippinas 1

Picture looking into a huge funnel, so big in fact that you can’t see the exit. Along the entrance’s outer rim lie the thick incensey, intense oudiness that you get from the finest Malay oils, but with no jungle, dampness or murky notes. Along the interior of the funnel are yellow, green, blue and purple notes that have no end, a kaleidoscopic prism. The center is open, expansive and has the crystal clear, clean clarity that is the signature of many of Taha’s oils. The oils projection will fill the elevator that you and your workmates share, and it’s evident that they all notice your scent. Picture that, and you get to scratch the surface of this oils quality. Intense serenity!

Trying this oil was unique and beautiful experience. Hope to one day study it further.

 

[Simla House]

Post Thai lunch second swipe of Sayang!!!
Never mind what I said before about it being an exclusive evening affair! Afternoon sunshine powerhouse! Wooo-hooo!!

 

[kooolaid79]

As the cold breeze hits Southern California, I have had experience with different Ouds reacting differently mostly Hindi. Today I decided to go with China Sayang. This oud never seizes to amaze me. The Aquilaria sinensis are a rare type of breed and maybe when the connection is made via cold weather, the even more mighty force comes out from this Oudh. The moment you walk outside and you can still smell this beautiful Oudh, you know this is a beast which crushes all other aromas out of the sky.

 

[kesiro]

Sultan Abdus Selam. What a magical oud this is. I don’t know how or why but this oil takes whatever mood I am in and makes it way better. The oceanic blue green notes are beautiful but this oil is most therapeutic in its effect for me.

 

[Rasoul S]

Sultan Abdus Selam. What a magical oud this is. I don’t know how or why but this oil takes whatever mood I am in and makes it way better. The oceanic blue green notes are beautiful but this oil is most therapeutic in its effect for me.

in the scale of sultan oils it may be a lesser one but its a case of less is more for me. i n fact is not really less, its just very poised and its layers tightly knit together and nuances showing themselves as just that: nuance.

 

[Rasoul S]

sotn last night as promised was philipina no 1.

first off i find many of taha's gen 3 oils to not stick around on the skin for too long. some disappear or greatly get reduced in projection a couple hours or so in while others if they go longer rarely if ever make it to the next day if applied the evening before. philipina is not one of these. it does the sprint and marathon together.

i tried to see the oil as a whole ala @PEARL write up but my brain isnt quite working that way at the moment. the scene that kept coming back to my mind's eye was that of an oasis. i kept getting these unique notes here and there but when i go back to smelling deeper to try and figure it out they would be gone to come back only when they like to come back. oasis cause of this disappearing hide adn seek play but also oasis for just how beautiful this oil is.

is important to note that this oil truly 100% smells like the wood (cummingiana) on very low heat. it is remarkable. despite the oleresin notes thru adn thru the dry down has woody notes. not any wood but a very very very sick and old heart wood oud. a very oudy oud.

overall the colours i see are shades of green, orange, deep yellow. i see hints of malay oils like ayu and purple kinam here. a stretch comparison but one that got registered with me a few times, so i thought is worthy of sharing. that aside the rest of the notes are utterly unique and ones that i havent seen anywhere. i need more time more wears with this oil.

 

[Simla House]

sotn last night as promised was philipina no 1.

first off i find many of taha's gen 3 oils to not stick around on the skin for too long. some disappear or greatly get reduced in projection a couple hours or so in while others if they go longer rarely if ever make it to the next day if applied the evening before. philipina is not one of these. it does the sprint and marathon together.

i tried to see the oil as a whole ala @PEARL write up but my brain isnt quite working that way at the moment. the scene that kept coming back to my mind's eye was that of an oasis. i kept getting these unique notes here and there but when i go back to smelling deeper to try and figure it out they would be gone to come back only when they like to come back. oasis cause of this disappearing hide adn seek play but also oasis for just how beautiful this oil is.

is important to note that this oil truly 100% smells like the wood (cummingiana) on very low heat. it is remarkable. despite the oleresin notes thru adn thru the dry down has woody notes. not any wood but a very very very sick and old heart wood oud. a very oudy oud.

overall the colours i see are shades of green, orange, deep yellow. i see hints of malay oils like ayu and purple kinam here. a stretch comparison but one that got registered with me a few times, so i thought is worthy of sharing. that aside the rest of the notes are utterly unique and ones that i havent seen anywhere. i need more time more wears with this oil.

It’s a beauty.

 

[Simla House]

Today’s rare snowstorm deserves a rare swiping. Maroke Asgon (EO).
Gingery-sweet-cola filaria goodness keeping me company as I whittle away in the window, watching the snow capped fir trees.

 

[kooolaid79]

This morning I put on the ever beautiful Pursat 2005. This Cambodian oil is such that it can be worn at any given time for any given moment. The ethereal are so beautiful that it makes you want to eat your hand. The tobacco and fig/prune notes are vivid and alive but no over powering. A true genuine Oud.
This afternoon just before the Friday prayer, I revisited the Archipelago. Wow its been a long time since I applied this and all that time, it was worth the wait. When you can come back to an Oud after sometime and it surprises you, you know you're in business. This Indonesian/Borneo Oud is a monster hidden in a bottle. Maybe this might be a oil which, you can close the gap between oh yes to a moment of silence. It has a medicinal and meditation power!!

 

[5MeO]

Hainan 2005 - absolutely love this one!

I'm curious, are these animalic/orange peel smelling Chinese oils from this genre (China Sayang, Chinese Exclusive, Yunnan 0'3, Yunnan Exclusive, etc) soaked enough to develop barnyard characteristics? Or are the animalic qualities just the natural smell of the wood? This animalic style of Chinese oud is quite different than the new Royal Kinam, which has a sweet and fruit type quality similar to Kyara LTD and other top shelf Vietnamese oils.. I assume it is either that the type of wood is very different (and I know that with Royal Kinam and Yunnan Kinam actual kinam is used in addition to Chinese agarwood), or that the method of distillation is very different..

 

[Rasoul S]

This morning I put on the ever beautiful Pursat 2005. This Cambodian oil is such that it can be worn at any given time for any given moment. The ethereal are so beautiful that it makes you want to eat your hand. The tobacco and fig/prune notes are vivid and alive but no over powering. A true genuine Oud.
This afternoon just before the Friday prayer, I revisited the Archipelago. Wow its been a long time since I applied this and all that time, it was worth the wait. When you can come back to an Oud after sometime and it surprises you, you know you're in business. This Indonesian/Borneo Oud is a monster hidden in a bottle. Maybe this might be a oil which, you can close the gap between oh yes to a moment of silence. It has a medicinal and meditation power!!

The red profile of pursat is mind boggling. Such unique fingerprint.

 

[Rasoul S]

All this China oil talk and snow and cold made me take the plunge. China sayang.

Initial 10 minutes or so and when indoor is not for me but then when those high pitched burnt bitter orange zest and medicinal bitter root vegetable note calms down the real essence of this oil comes alive. Scent of Hong Kong sinesis chip on slow burner. A menthol honey note. Like pine or alpine forest honey. A hinoki kinda of cooling note. Even cedar atlas but all wrapped around by a pretty and gentle sweetness. Bitter notes are way in the background. Out with the initial opening notes and I can really get used oils like this.

 

[JohnH]

All this China oil talk and snow and cold made me take the plunge. China sayang.

Initial 10 minutes or so and when indoor is not for me but then when those high pitched burnt bitter orange zest and medicinal bitter root vegetable note calms down the real essence of this oil comes alive. Scent of Hong Kong sinesis chip on slow burner. A menthol honey note. Like pine or alpine forest honey. A hinoki kinda of cooling note. Even cedar atlas but all wrapped around by a pretty and gentle sweetness. Bitter notes are way in the background. Out with the initial opening notes and I can really get used oils like this.

I think most oils take around 10-20 minutes to settle on the skin, some of Chinese ones particularly. I swipe, have a little sniff then leave it for said 10-20 minutes until those sweet, fragrant wafts start reaching my nose without even raising my wrist. After that it's hard to for me to separate nose from wrist!

 

[JohnH]

Hainan 2005 - absolutely love this one!

I'm curious, are these animalic/orange peel smelling Chinese oils from this genre (China Sayang, Chinese Exclusive, Yunnan 0'3, Yunnan Exclusive, etc) soaked enough to develop barnyard characteristics? Or are the animalic qualities just the natural smell of the wood? This animalic style of Chinese oud is quite different than the new Royal Kinam, which has a sweet and fruit type quality similar to Kyara LTD and other top shelf Vietnamese oils.. I assume it is either that the type of wood is very different (and I know that with Royal Kinam and Yunnan Kinam actual kinam is used in addition to Chinese agarwood), or that the method of distillation is very different..

I would think it's to do with the soak. An example would be comparing Al Shareef Ceen and EO Hainan 2005, two oils that I once called unidentical twins. I really like both of these oils and can smell Ceen in H'05 and vice versa but they are really quite different to each other. I guess the reason for this is that the wood for Ceen had minimal soaking, resulting in a more delicate oil when compared to H'05, which likely had a longer soak and is also much older - I could be wrong though! But, I find that the sinensis mid to dry down of the older H'05 just trumps that of Ceen.

 

[JohnH]

Scents of the evening:
AS0 Ceen on the left wrist, EO Hainan 2005 on the right wrist - it's the Winter Oud Olympics!

 

[Rasoul S]

I would think it's to do with the soak. An example would be comparing Al Shareef Ceen and EO Hainan 2005, two oils that I once called unidentical twins. I really like both of these oils and can smell Ceen in H'05 and vice versa but they are really quite different to each other. I guess the reason for this is that the wood for Ceen had minimal soaking, resulting in a more delicate oil when compared to H'05, which likely had a longer soak - I could be wrong though! But, I find that the sinensis mid to dry down of the H'05 just trumps that of Ceen.

I can see that. I also strongly believe hainan 05 had not only older or more resinated wood but something kinamic there that is absent in all other Chinese oils including sayang or yunan or China exclusive...

 

[Simla House]

I can really get used oils like this.

YES!!!
Step forward into the light, my son!!
We shall traverse the Yellow mountains, and take you overland into the Hind!

 

[Simla House]

With sinensis melodies fading away from yesterday, time to use the cross-fader and introduce a tribal backbeat from just over the border. Chuguko Senkoh (EO).
A perfect segue into tonight’s anticipated killer hindi set. The bright, tangy berry glaze that form the top notes evoke a memory of gazing into a frozen pond. Under that crisp frozen top layer, lies the deep soul-note of the oud al-Hind, still fluid underneath. If you hang around long enough in the afternoon sun, comforting vapours of that hindi foundation will start to escape through the thawing ice.(Again, well paired with a top-shelf, lemony Rwandan espresso)

 

[Simla House]

Assamugo Senkoh (EO) this morning.
Dialling up the al-Hind presence even more, the ice is rapidly thawing.
Sublime mid-morning listening.