Sumatora 1996 - I've come to regard this wood as "advanced study" in agarwood - this is a powerful, stern, uncompromising old jungle wood that presents with bitter, deep dark mysterious woodiness.. The opening is spectacular, mind-spinning, exquisitely enjoyable, with a certain delectable sweetness - then settles into a very dark and unsweetened nutty plum green earth type aroma (or something vaguely like that) - it's the dense, bitter qualities that make this something people new to agarwood may not enjoy as much.. Similar to how novice alcohol drinkers will prefer a cheap fruity mixed drink over a 50 year aged Isle of Islay scotch - or the way new tea drinkers will prefer a cheap sweetened black tea from lowland plantations like Lipton over an aged raw and wild puerh from the Yunnan mountains.. Initially I loved the opening of this wood, but then found the scent progression rather unpleasant - more recent encounters with it have found me appreciating the woody and nutty qualities and the bitterness..
There is no doubt that this wood has tremendous potency and is chock-full of that ancient mysterious quality that is absent in farm raised woods and ouds.. The sort of thing you'll smell in Kyara Sayang, Oud Royale 1985, or Port Moresby but never in a young plantation Thai oil..