SOTD

Rasoul S

Well-Known Member
oud of the night last night was AA kiyusumi: the more stripped down, piercing, higher toned vietnamese release by taha. kenmei goes on mustache but kiyosumi on the wrist. the scent is very similar: condensed milk, vanilla, spearmint, classic vietnam bitterness and a different kind of medicinal than chinese oils. and then on evolution there is the balsam sap note but the energy and radiation is very different than kenmei. overall when i crave that green oil kyara scent or the note of burning some sick kyara based japanese incense upright, this oil scrathes that itch perfectly.

oud of this morning: sri pada IO. a relative great bargain of a sri lankan with deeper, fuller, darker, cinnamon, cardamon, mango peel, thick dark clover honey with mild but noticeable saline oceanic note. is doesnt have any smoky notes. no pot smell. no fishy seaweedy notes. but also absent or very very dialed down is that incense note that is abundant in ORSL. for the price though this oil is wicked.
 
hi larry, i wana go strictly naturals. mostly EO base materials but some have to be co2 extracts or absolutes. aside from alcohol, i am set on not adding anything else. i like the marigold thinking. i doubt spikenard will give me what i want after tinkering a bit with it. black lotus may. blue and pink and red no. ginger lilly might be another one...

but you are right i gotta let the whole thing sit for a while with a daily shake and see how it marries. for now the xll/emerald/green papua are not noticed off vial or even upon application. only very slightly on dry down. it may be that i have to up their contribution but as you said it is best to let the assemblage sit a while and see what happens.

cheers
I agree Rasoul. You’ve got a bunch of winners there already. It’d be a terrible shame to muddy it up at this point. If it’s already 80% there, it’ll grow to 90% in 60 days without doing anything. I counsel caution and patience. Easy to add. Hard to take out.
 
When I got home this afternoon, there waiting for me was my latest shipment from EO. A bottle each of Santal Sultan and Oud Royale Sri Lanka. I’m assuming the reviews on EO’s site labeled Curt and Rasoul are our own dear Gaharumanians, and their reviews are spot on. I agree that ORSL could easily have been from Malinau. (I’m starting to think that latitude of origin is a much more important clue about an oil than longitude.) I’d venture to say ORSL is the less-crazed person’s Borneo 50K. Too bad for me I’m crazed enough to know I’d miss B50K too much to give it up in favor of ORSL. But 2/3 the profile for 1/2 the cost-that’s a strong argument!
 

Rasoul S

Well-Known Member
When I got home this afternoon, there waiting for me was my latest shipment from EO. A bottle each of Santal Sultan and Oud Royale Sri Lanka. I’m assuming the reviews on EO’s site labeled Curt and Rasoul are our own dear Gaharumanians, and their reviews are spot on. I agree that ORSL could easily have been from Malinau. (I’m starting to think that latitude of origin is a much more important clue about an oil than longitude.) I’d venture to say ORSL is the less-crazed person’s Borneo 50K. Too bad for me I’m crazed enough to know I’d miss B50K too much to give it up in favor of ORSL. But 2/3 the profile for 1/2 the cost-that’s a strong argument!
beast of an oil orsl. sure there are some top note similarities to malinau but overall the two are worlds apart. borneo 50k and royal malinau are both airy, lithe, ethereal oils that whisper in your ears while ORSL is a rock concert or opera at the peak of the crescendo when pavarotti's neck veins would stick out to a point of bursting. ORSL is like lookign into the abyss. never ending oil without a bottom. as is the case in almost all things in life, when we start out we need something to hammer us over the head to "get it". once we become more seasoned though nuance, subtley and quietness wins it.
 
beast of an oil orsl. sure there are some top note similarities to malinau but overall the two are worlds apart. borneo 50k and royal malinau are both airy, lithe, ethereal oils that whisper in your ears while ORSL is a rock concert or opera at the peak of the crescendo when pavarotti's neck veins would stick out to a point of bursting. ORSL is like lookign into the abyss. never ending oil without a bottom. as is the case in almost all things in life, when we start out we need something to hammer us over the head to "get it". once we become more seasoned though nuance, subtley and quietness wins it.
You, Mr. Rasoul, are the voice of reason. I can’t argue with anything you say. I, OTOH, jumped to a conclusion on the basis of one application and two hours time. I owe this oil much more consideration.
 

m.arif

Active Member
Agar Aura Unnamed Maluku(sold out)

Superb indonesian, tranquilizing (literally) beauty. This is one of the few ouds that clearly zaps my brain. Though I don't remember the scent notes of Al-Syed Ceylon 1, the maluku early notes strongly reminded me of the ceylon. Again, that was another oud that does something to my brain. In the later stages, the smell is exactly like the ambient aroma of the rae materials when I came over to grind the wood. Spot on. Well, this is sold out now, so congratulations to those who got it.

Taha's homemade pure agar Incense sticks (with binder n etc. No other aromatics) .. Namely papua, nha trang, and an unreleased hainan.. Comments : if you love the scent of incense grade agarwood, get them ;)
 

Simla House

Well-Known Member
SOTD: A never to be replicated mix of a dozen oils from everyone’s favourite vendors.
Big respect to @Rasoul S for taking the time to visit with me this morning, and opening my olfactory nerves to the many oils I may have never had the opportunity to try otherwise. Pure ouducation, and lively discussion with a passionate oud fiend.
Thank you, sir.
 

Rasoul S

Well-Known Member
SOTD: A never to be replicated mix of a dozen oils from everyone’s favourite vendors.
Big respect to @Rasoul S for taking the time to visit with me this morning, and opening my olfactory nerves to the many oils I may have never had the opportunity to try otherwise. Pure ouducation, and lively discussion with a passionate oud fiend.
Thank you, sir.
pleasure was all mine :) and ty for the vietnam special K. it showed taha's fanatically obsessive vision to capture only the essence of vietnam agarwood. the same scent present in kanzen, wanmei, kenmei, kiyosumi but then just that. from vial to application to dry down one scent and one scent only: yellow/green kyara oil.
 

Rasoul S

Well-Known Member
You, Mr. Rasoul, are the voice of reason. I can’t argue with anything you say. I, OTOH, jumped to a conclusion on the basis of one application and two hours time. I owe this oil much more consideration.
much too kind sir. just that i have the luxury of quiet evenings and a tired mind and body aching for some meditative work like sitting there quietly for an hour and just observing. ok there may be some ella fitzgerald or some minimal atmospheric electronia playing in the background, but that aside i sit and observe.
 

kesiro

Well-Known Member
The nose is a little under the weather but that in no way means no Oud! It does mean more Hindi though. Something that can cut through some sniffles. Kanglei fits the bill beautifully. Nice clean barn and spices come through nicely!!
 
much too kind sir. just that i have the luxury of quiet evenings and a tired mind and body aching for some meditative work like sitting there quietly for an hour and just observing. ok there may be some ella fitzgerald or some minimal atmospheric electronia playing in the background, but that aside i sit and observe.
If only oud were Ella! Never a wrong note. Never anything jarring or out of place. Always elegant. I wish there was an album Ella and Louis Play Nha Trang.
 

Simla House

Well-Known Member
AA Kanzen for me today. The depth of this surprises me each time I put it on. The power of the Oudh comes to light after sometime and then just kicks off into oleoresin beauty. Truly a magnificent oil by Taha!
Thanks to @Rasoul S , I was able to sample this oil yesterday and really enjoyed it.
12 hours later, it was still singing on my wrist. Congrats to all those that acquired it before it vanished.
 

5MeO

Well-Known Member
Howdy oud freaks!
So many amazing ouds, it's just so wonderful that we get to experience these!

Been exploring the differences between Ensar's exalted Sultan Series.. I am noticing these oils beginning to age a bit - when ouds age, it happens slowly, and I notice that it's sort of like "this smells a little different but I cannot say exactly how." At any rate, Sultan Suleyman is just so decadent - New Guinea and Malaysian agarwood, and the synergy is just remarkable - the scent is so saturated and rich.. With a little age this oud is becoming a powerhouse, an ultra-dense bomb of fragrance..

Sultan Ahmet and Sultan Mustafa - these are very similar, and I gather it was the exact same grade and ratio of New Guinea and Brunei wood for both batches? The difference is copper for Mustafa and steel for Ahmet - The Mustafa is more reddish smelling and the Ahmet more purple, I think.. The Mustafa is a higher noted frutier sort of thing than the deeper lower noted Ahmet.. Both ouds though have soaring top notes and rich midsection and base - so complete, so astounding..

Sultan Abdul Hamit - the dark horse of the super-luxury class of Sultan Series (the ouds that go for ~$2,500/3g).. If you love Aroha Kyaku or Oud Dhul Q you will lose you mind when you smell Sultan Abdul hamit.. That's right folks, rich smoky New Guinea goodness, seamlessly blended with sunshine Borneo qualities.. This oud is a study in complexity and in contrasts, a true masterpiece..

Sultan Beyazi and Sultan Fatih - these are analgous to Ahmet and Mustafa - sisters, both distilled from I believe the same grade of New Guiinea wood - pure high grade wood experience.. Beyazit in copper and Fatih in steel.. This New guinea wood that Ensar used in these oils is so unique, the oils made from it occupy there own unique section of the agarwood oil scent spectrum, and Beyazit and Fatih express that very purely.. Which do I prefer? Tough call.. In fact, it's near impossible to pick a favorite out of any of these top shelf Sultan Series oils.. If I had to right now though it might be Sultan Suleyman..