SOTD

[Oudamberlove]

Morning swipe
People’s Sultan
I call it “The Exotic Sultan”

It’s too easy to recognize the Trat and immediately dismiss this oil as a typical sweet Trat oil. But that won’t do for an oudhead like me. With a clear mind and a fresh nose (and I do mean fresh because yesterday’s Wallas just knocked me out), People’s Sultan displays such an exotic profile, one that would mesmerize a newb.


Noon swipe
Ayu

Afternoon swipe
OR85 (Octane Racing)
This oil is certainly not for beginners ,
but a wonderful treat for seasoned noses and collectors.
Starts strong like a distillation from crude oil, but settles to a heavy dose of resin-full oudiness.

 

[saint458]

philipina 1. a complete perfume and a complete oud. taha's oils have at times been incorrectly seen/experienced, by myself included. they have such ethereal and elegant opening with such pristine and vaporous feather weight top note that carries on for a long time that we (i) miss seeing the base. in this oil however, there is a very solid base and a very oudy oud incense base.

i hope taha can do another batch and hopefully price will be lower or at least the same as last batch. i love to see all oud lovers have a small bit of this oil in their collection. no oud lover in my humble opinion wants to be without this oil.

so goooood

Taha has Pilipinas 2 already in reserve for aging which is the smokier version of P1. Price would be definitely lower than P1. Both came from same quality wood but distillation techniques are different.

 

[5MeO]

Lovely description Larry K!

Oudamberlove - OR1985, what an oil! This one is consistently near the top of my favorites list.. Incredibly rich base with incredibly soaring top notes.. Hah, incredibly twice in the same sentence!!

SOTD for me is Qi Nam Thai (Ensar) - this is like, the greatest of the fruity type ouds, and on the darker fruit side of that spectrum. Thailand oud is known for its fruit and floral notes, but the cheap plantation type wood sometimes leaves me a bit less than enamored, being sort of simple and lacking the depth of wild wood.. Qi Nam Thai is like a royale version of this basic fruity profile, with a plush, savory, and diffusive quality that some of Ensar's kinam/kyara-style ouds have.. "Powdery" might be the right term - that experience where the scent seems to blanket one's olfactory palette with a creamy and velvety quality (those who have Nha Trang LTD, Borneo Diesel, Brunei Kinam, or Kyara LTD will know exactly what I mean).. Lovely notes of exotic herbs and spices in this oil also..

 

[Oudamberlove]

Earlier...
Sasong Sungsud
I love the tobacco
I wonder what oud is the tobacco king??

Tonight...
FO Kaosan
Khao Yai Mountain / Southern Thai co-distillation
It hasn’t changed much these past few years.
High grade oil yumminess.

 

[m.arif]

Taha has Pilipinas 2 already in reserve for aging which is the smokier version of P1. Price would be definitely lower than P1. Both came from same quality wood but distillation techniques are different.

I think it was, P2 from same batch as P1 but lesser quality, in addition to the tweaked smokiness.

 

[Rasoul S]

Newly Aquierd via respectable member on the forum: Oud royal no 5
A dense thick slightly sticky beast of a maroke. No petrol or mud tones though. None. A hint of something caramelized and sweet. Brittle of maple syrup. Mildly smoky. Pain grille. At times applewood smoked bacon greets the nose but before it goes off on a tangent, getting bizarre and becoming offensive, it luckily doesn’t. Masterfully created oil or an oil that comes across as masterfully created. I say this cause I am not sure if this is an Ensar Oud find or if it is part of the man’s very own very early days in the Oud biz distillation side or...

Either way is a lovely oil and I am very happy to have it in my rotation. I think I will like playing with this oil too. Layering with or as well as Sumba, gp and even kinamantan. I wouldn’t dare port moresbey but that kind of oil. And I think I one seeing what this oil will do if layered with Yusuf or jsl or haroon?

 

[5MeO]

Assamugo Senkoh (EO) - a sibling to the wildly popular Chugoku Senkoh, and it will take some time before I understand the differences between them - the AS seems perhaps more plush, maybe richer, than the CS.. The challenge in describing the differences is partly that CS and AS are such a unique type scent, and this scent doesn't fall into common categories like "floral" or "fruity" or "green." One thing I love about these "zero barn" Hindi/Indian type ouds is that they are sort of this neutral oud resin smell, but upon closer examination all manner of other notes unfurl out of that neutral smell.. This is to say, there are notes that fall into the more common categories but they are more muted and sort of "disguised" in this unique neutral oud resin smell.. One of my favorite styles of oud, and AS is just a stunning example of it - addictive indeed!

 

[Oudamberlove]

First swipe....
Maroke Madness,
my own blend consisting of :
EO Maroke Sultan (1 gram)
FO Pa-Papua (1 gram)
EO Maroke Muah ( .70 gram)
EO Oud Royale 5 (.15 gram)

Months old, Maroke Madness is a Filaria concoction that is meant to go overboard for Filaria Love. The result is wonderful profile which is difficult to describe. But what stands-out is the resinousness ....it comes through like a champ, except that Oud Royale 1 has even more resinousness.


Then a few hours later,,,
Funk Master Burmi,
the funk is okay, but not scrumptious like OZ.
Dries down to a Sweet Burmi.
I never tried the original Kyara Ltd., nor the original Oud Mostafa, both Burmese also.
It seems Burmese Agarwood is quite versatile.

 

[Rasoul S]

N

First swipe....
Maroke Madness,
my own blend consisting of :
EO Maroke Sultan (1 gram)
FO Pa-Papua (1 gram)
EO Maroke Muah ( .70 gram)
EO Oud Royale 5 (.15 gram)

Months old, Maroke Madness is a Filaria concoction that is meant to go overboard for Filaria Love. The result is wonderful profile which is difficult to describe. But what stands-out is the resinousness ....it comes through like a champ, except that Oud Royale 1 has even more resinousness.


Then a few hours later,,,
Funk Master Burmi,
the funk is okay, but not scrumptious like OZ.
Dries down to a Sweet Burmi.
I never tried the original Kyara Ltd., nor the original Oud Mostafa, both Burmese also.
It seems Burmese Agarwood is quite versatile.

Nice blend! I can smell it. What do u think of a drop of a higher toned vaporous oil like kinamantan or the sweeter creamier sutera sumba?

 

[Oudamberlove]

N

Nice blend! I can smell it. What do u think of a drop of a higher toned vaporous oil like kinamantan or the sweeter creamier sutera sumba?

Ooooooooooo, top note blending is very difficult.
But I won’t knock it, till I try it
I’ll layer some Celebes with XLL tomorrow and post my findings

My Nite Cap...
Tigerwood 1995 on the left (smooooooooth)
Plai Cheu on the right (Cambodi Candy Shoppe)

 

[Rasoul S]

Kyara Ltd 2.0
Sun moon and stars have lined up for me and this oil tonight. It is firing on all cylinders. A w12 engine on a Bentley. Powerful but poised. Regal. Intense but smooth. Great balanced to it.
On the opening, I see the Hainan notes clearer than before and the narcotic cambodi bitterness. Of course Vietnambittersweet green medicinal did I say bitter and green dragon smoke is the main character in this play. Mind numbing yet mind opening. It induces a state of trance. Special gift of nature handled very well by man to coax all the beauty and genious out.

With time the cambodi like notes strengthen and kyara enju incense notes take over. Deep. Bottom less oil that comes across to me and base yanked to the top note. With distinct notes weaving in and out.

Loving this oil. Wishing all fellow oud lovers the opportunity to score a tiny bit of this oil. It is profound.

 

[Philip]

Greetings to all from the love of my life, my hometown of Grasse, France. This morning, the cool breeze is tinged with burgeoning Orange Blossom and Rose. May is a beautiful month here, and the Rose harvest season is upon us! Lily of the Valley is also ubiquitous as the May 1st national holiday is around the corner. How wondrous and fragrant are those tiny white bells.

Quite à propos, my SOTD is my first wear of Sultan Red Rose. Per EO custom, quality is not spared here. To my nose, genuine Musk is very, very present much to my delight, both in the opening and heart. Musk is the first component that struck me. A luscious Rose comes to give it elegance, seemingly complememted by saffron and jasmine - is that what I am picking up on? A Rose centered bouquet of florals. Sultan Red Rose is Arabesque and it’s a delight.

For those looking for a comparison with EO SRA - I find Red Rose Attar to be more intriguing - the incredible depth on the Musk gives this blend a wonderfully dark, sensual aspect. You almost can’t really compare the two because Red Rose Attar is a composition, while SRA was a nod and a tribute to the traditional sandal-rose accord.

 

[Kruger]

@Ensar by the way, if you'll allow a follow-up on Chinese agarwood since we are on the topic (or anyone else who can chime in for that matter...)
EO releases are all Hainan or Yunnan, or a blend of both. 2 out 3 current IO releases are from Hainan, with the third unspecified. Is Chinese agarwood mostly confined to that geographical area - the border along the Myanmar, Laos, Vietnam axis? Or has agarwood in other Chinese provinces simply been depleted?

The original Royal Kinam was from Hong Kong, which along with Hainan and Yunnan are the three major regions Chinese oud originates from. Hainan and Hong Kong are done for, wild-wise. While you'll find nurseries in Guandong and Hainan, we haven't seen anything come out of Yunnan in more than a decade.

 

[Rasoul S]

Greetings to all from the love of my life, my hometown of Grasse, France. This morning, the cool breeze is tinged with burgeoning Orange Blossom and Rose. May is a beautiful month here, and the Rose harvest season is upon us! Lily of the Valley is also ubiquitous as the May 1st national holiday is around the corner. How wondrous and fragrant are those tiny white bells.

Quite à propos, my SOTD is my first wear of Sultan Red Rose. Per EO custom, quality is not spared here. To my nose, genuine Musk is very, very present much to my delight, both in the opening and heart. Musk is the first component that struck me. A luscious Rose comes to give it elegance, seemingly complememted by saffron and jasmine - is that what I am picking up on? A Rose centered bouquet of florals. Sultan Red Rose is Arabesque and it’s a delight.

For those looking for a comparison with EO SRA - I find Red Rose Attar to be more intriguing - the incredible depth on the Musk gives this blend a wonderfully dark, sensual aspect. You almost can’t really compare the two because Red Rose Attar is a composition, while SRA was a nod and a tribute to the traditional sandal-rose accord.

Tripple like. Ty for taking all of us along on your journey thru grasse.

 

[Oudamberlove]

Starting my day with a layering of
EO XLL with IO Celebes.

This is an Insane blend to wrap my head around.
It instantly fills the room as my wife attested.
Jungle within a jungle.
The XLL mutes the fresh-cut woodiness of Celebes.
The two seem to unite instead of battle.
Whereas Sultan Abdüs Selam is Gyrinops/Cumingiana, this blend is Filaria/Cumingiana.

Gotta go for now, but if the drydown reveals more I will post it.

 

[Philip]

The original Royal Kinam was from Hong Kong, which along with Hainan and Yunnan are the three major regions Chinese oud originates from. Hainan and Hong Kong are done for, wild-wise. While you'll find nurseries in Guandong and Hainan, we haven't seen anything come out of Yunnan in more than a decade.

Thank you sir for taking the question. Won’t deny - that’s was very sad and hard to read. We must come to terms with reality.

 

[Oudamberlove]

The drydown of my earlier blend was beautiful. Whatever sweetness that was in Celebes was carried all the way to the end.
I am eager to try Celebes in more layerings/blends.

For this evening......IO Semkhor
This little baby is proving it’s worth,
after aging for a while, the notes are more distinct, making it interesting from first swipe to drydown.

 

[Rasoul S]

Khmer special k
A quiet meditative self reflective oil. Minimal. Painfully so. Until a magical floral-ish like note join the party some 45-60 min after application. There is that bitter buzz of Kinam but otherwise I don’t recognize this oil as the kinams that I have experienced so far. Nonetheless a very desirie subtle note. Further studies required. I am still not confident on exactly how I feel about this oil.

Very calming oil. Medicine first and unique scent next.

 

[Alkhadra]

Newly Aquierd via respectable member on the forum: Oud royal no 5
A dense thick slightly sticky beast of a maroke. No petrol or mud tones though. None. A hint of something caramelized and sweet. Brittle of maple syrup. Mildly smoky. Pain grille. At times applewood smoked bacon greets the nose but before it goes off on a tangent, getting bizarre and becoming offensive, it luckily doesn’t. Masterfully created oil or an oil that comes across as masterfully created. I say this cause I am not sure if this is an Ensar Oud find or if it is part of the man’s very own very early days in the Oud biz distillation side or...

Either way is a lovely oil and I am very happy to have it in my rotation. I think I will like playing with this oil too. Layering with or as well as Sumba, gp and even kinamantan. I wouldn’t dare port moresbey but that kind of oil. And I think I one seeing what this oil will do if layered with Yusuf or jsl or haroon?

Dear Rasoul,

I found OR5 to be quite an interesting oil. Your description always good as always dear Rasoul. Next time you get a chance to swipe it again, see if you can smell a slightly acidic coffee note (think espresso) or something along those lines, I'm no coffee expert. But anyway, smelling that note reminded me of when I was a kid and I'd sip coffee with my family acting all grown-up.

 

[5MeO]

Khmer special k
A quiet meditative self reflective oil. Minimal. Painfully so. Until a magical floral-ish like note join the party some 45-60 min after application. There is that bitter buzz of Kinam but otherwise I don’t recognize this oil as the kinams that I have experienced so far. Nonetheless a very desirie subtle note. Further studies required. I am still not confident on exactly how I feel about this oil.

Very calming oil. Medicine first and unique scent next.

Khmer Special K is quite something - minimalist indeed. I have found that there is a ton of complexity though, and like you say the floral elements emerge after awhile.. Keep studying it, you may find much to appreciate there!
--

Speaking of appreciating a Taha oil - does anyone love Tokusen Tai more than I do? I think not! Certainly in my top-5 favorite Taha oils ever.. Delightfully sweet and delightfully bitter - green florals, resinous vapors, faint spices - superb..