SOTD

kesiro

kesiro

Well-Known Member
#141
#141
kooolaid79 said:
Today I put on EO Oud Mustafa 5. I first smelled this Oud back in July when I was attending a prayer in the month of Ramadan. Until this point, my Oud passion had gone dormant for about 6 years. I would look in my glass shelf charishing some of the early Oriscent Oud's I got (Borneo 3000, Borneo 4000, Royal Kinaam, Asaam Kinaam, Purple Papua, and Malay Royale)

The Oud Mustafa 5 was that torch which lit the passion again and as soon as my friend put on a swipe of this, I started sniffing for the next 2 hours. I remember, I was at a late night dinner with my brothers and friends and I spoke who is interested in ordering some Oud from Ensar and the next thing I know, I am chatting with Ensar after 5 years. We ordered 8 bottles in that sitting and I got the Mustafa 5.

A very unique Oud which is so beautiful with a long silage. This Oud will always be close to my heart because it awoke my passion again (which I think i need to put back to sleep :) ) and I got a few more Ouds after that purchase like the Borneo 2000, Kaliman Kala, Satori Kensho, Aroha Kyaku, Oud Yusuf, Jing Shen Lu, Tigerwood95, and Saumanasa.
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The Mostafa No. 5 is something really special IMO. The drydown of sweet woods is one of the finest I have experienced, regardless of price. If somehow I could only have one oil, it would be No. 5.
 
m.arif

m.arif

Active Member
#145
#145
kooolaid79 said:
I have a Oud fund which I have been storing for a while so it didn't really make a big hole :D
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It must be of equal or greater importance than your retirement fund ! :D Just kidding. It's thanks to you guys that others get to read many different views of the oils. Keep the fund big ! :p
 
m.arif

m.arif

Active Member
#146
#146
@Ensar About oud mustafa no.5, since it's the talk of the 'town' right now, what were the raw materials like? I'm assuming natural infection (no inoculants whatsoever), trees aging more than 20 years, and infection of 5 years or more?
 
Ensar Oud

Ensar Oud

Well-Known Member
#148
#148
m.arif said:
@Ensar About oud mustafa no.5, since it's the talk of the 'town' right now, what were the raw materials like? I'm assuming natural infection (no inoculants whatsoever), trees aging more than 20 years, and infection of 5 years or more?
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Short answer: I don't know.

Long answer: Oud Mostafa No 5 was procured from an ooold Cambodian artisan whose work I have tremendous respect for. Like Oud Yusuf and Assam Organic, I didn't distill the oil with my own hands. But the artisan and I see eye to eye on most aspects of distillation, and it is a lot more exciting for me to collaborate with such an old timer – every now and then – than to source the raw materials from him and distill my own oil. (It's not like I was distilling the next Vietnam Kinam, anyway...)

Longer answer: Inoculants have a smell. The age of trees, too, has a 'smell'. The age of the infection, too, 'smells' a certain way. I am certain no inoculants were used, because I trust this craftsman, and most importantly I don't smell any inoculants. To me, the trees 'smell' like they were between 15-20 years (closer to 15), and the infection 'smells' like it was between 2-3 years.

Bottom line: The age of the trees, the age of the infection, the 'blackness' of the raw materials mean very little to me. (Although the absence of inoculants means a great deal.) What I care about is the finished work. The end result. The question I ask is: Was the distiller able to take the raw materials and create something far beyond the average potential of such raw materials? In the case of Mostafa No 5, the answer was a resounding: YES!

Talking of the 'innate potential' of raw materials.... Someone showed up with a bunch of oils at the London OudFest from several online vendors. He was keen to get my opinion of them, so we started testing them one by one. At first, my first pick would have been a Sri Lankan oil which was distilled from high grade and costly raw materials. As we went through the samples back and forth, we ended up with four 'groups' of samples: the very low quality ones, the average ones, the good, and the very good ones.

Up to a certain point, the only 'very good' sample we had was this Sri Lankan oil; everything else was in the other categories. As the scents started to develop, I had to quickly put Adam's 'Old School Hindi' in the 'very good' pile, slightly ahead of the Sri Lankan oil even, although it was obviously distilled from cultivated raw materials, while the Sri Lankan was high grade wild. – The reason for this, as I explained to my guest, was because I clearly saw what Adam had done with that cultivated wood. He'd taken something of inherently low, or at best 'average' potential, and crafted something remarkable out of it. Whereas the Sri Lankan oil was a simple realization of that wood's potential. No matter how you distilled it, it would smell 'nice'.

Another guest showed up with samples of a purportedly wild Cambodian and an 'ultra aged' Kalimantan oil. The second I smelled the dipstick of the Cambodi bottle, I perched my lips, looked at Kruger and exclaimed: 'Tiem!' I couldn't help but point out the obvious. This oil was distilled from cultivated, inoculated, and very likely Thai agarwood. The 'inoculant note' in the scent was a dead giveaway. A dirty yellowness a the core that I can't help but point out the way I would DOP. Kruger took a whiff of it too (he's worked a lot more with cultivated wood than I have), and the verdict was unanimous: the oil was inoculated.

As for the super aged 'Kalimantan'..... we can leave that discussion for another time :)
 
bhanny

bhanny

Well-Known Member
#149
#149
Sultan Sufyan EO. Thanks to a kind friend for forwarding a sample. It is flat out nice. I like PEARL's very futuristic description, and I can follow exactly what he is talking about with the inverted alien plum theory. It's cool. For me it also starts super woody, a nice, beautiful woodiness. Then that blue-green resinated oudiness creeps in and its really nice and has a good bit of that nose-tingling medicinality I'm so fond of. Another winner by Ensar and another one I will add to my "to get" list.
 
bhanny

bhanny

Well-Known Member
#150
#150
Kynam No1 today. Again. I'm so afraid to run out of this stuff, but I just can't resist it. I'm going to talk about it and it's kin in a separate thread later. It just does something for me only a few others do.
 
kesiro

kesiro

Well-Known Member
#151
#151
Yoshi from Ensar is up today. Such a nice oil. Hints of Assam 3000, but darker. Floral yet very balanced in profile. Wonderful stuff.
 
kooolaid79

kooolaid79

Well-Known Member
#152
#152
kesiro said:
Yoshi from Ensar is up today. Such a nice oil. Hints of Assam 3000, but darker. Floral yet very balanced in profile. Wonderful stuff.
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I applied Yoshi today also. You are right on when you said about a very balanced profile. I got sweet along with the wood. Truly awesome stuff. Did you get a full bottle? I got a sample with one of the orders I did from Br Adam. I asked Ensar briefly about it and he said its from the most prized Indian region Manipur. I am thinking of buying the full bottle but got to kinda control myself.
 
kesiro

kesiro

Well-Known Member
#153
#153
kooolaid79 said:
I applied Yoshi today also. You are right on when you said about a very balanced profile. I got sweet along with the wood. Truly awesome stuff. Did you get a full bottle? I got a sample with one of the orders I did from Br Adam. I asked Ensar briefly about it and he said its from the most prized Indian region Manipur. I am thinking of buying the full bottle but got to kinda control myself.
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LOL, you and I are in the same boat. I got a sample as well and I am literally self counseling to keep from spending more money on a full bottle. I think it is a futile effort though. Yoshi is one of my favorites. After wearing it several times, I just cannot be without it. It is THE perfect everyday scent. Absolutely perfect from initial application all the way through the drydown.

Getting these samples with full bottle orders initially seemed like such a nice little gift but I now see what it is about. HAHA
 
kooolaid79

kooolaid79

Well-Known Member
#154
#154
kesiro said:
LOL, you and I are in the same boat. I got a sample as well and I am literally self counseling to keep from spending more money on a full bottle. I think it is a futile effort though. Yoshi is one of my favorites. After wearing it several times, I just cannot be without it. It is THE perfect everyday scent. Absolutely perfect from initial application all the way through the drydown.

Getting these samples with full bottle orders initially seemed like such a nice little gift but I now see what it is about. HAHA
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Bingo! and no comment on the last sentence :D
 
bhanny

bhanny

Well-Known Member
#155
#155
kooolaid79 said:
Bingo! and no comment on the last sentence :D
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Yeah. I think they were batting like 0.900 with me regarding sample to bottle conversion, except now I actually bought Jing Shen Lu, so I believe that might convert it to a perfect 1.000. :p Seriously though. Not sure I've dealt with a better group of people. And I've received recommendations on oils that at first I may have liked others better, but now are the jewels of my collection and my constant companions. It's like he knew/knows my evolution much greater than I do!
 
bhanny

bhanny

Well-Known Member
#156
#156
Tigerwood 1995 today my friends. Old school, vintage oud. Nicely resinated. Beautiful and smooth. This might be the best value around. Certainly in this genre. Strongly advise to pick this up while available!

Went with Chamkeila last night. Beautiful, complex, no-barn Hindi from Taha.
 
kooolaid79

kooolaid79

Well-Known Member
#158
#158
bhanny said:
Tigerwood 1995 today my friends. Old school, vintage oud. Nicely resinated. Beautiful and smooth. This might be the best value around. Certainly in this genre. Strongly advise to pick this up while available!

Went with Chamkeila last night. Beautiful, complex, no-barn Hindi from Taha.
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I put on tigerwood also. Such a beautiful oud. Perfect in all aspects. They don't have any more for sale. Wish I bought another bottle though.
 
bhanny

bhanny

Well-Known Member
#159
#159
kooolaid79 said:
I put on tigerwood also. Such a beautiful oud. Perfect in all aspects. They don't have any more for sale. Wish I bought another bottle though.
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Me too koolaid79, me too!

Long day today so I'm going with Sultan Mustafa, truly one of the most beautiful oils around. I'm a little lost for words each time I wear it.
 
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