SOTD

Hi eddyeyboub - yes that's a pretty good comparison - Berkilau-->Purple Kinam - when I first smelled Berkilau it reminded me a bit both of Oud Sultani and Purple Kinam.. With experience though the differences between those 3 oils are fairly dramatic - each are quite unique in their own way..

Btw what is the correct pronounciation of "kinam?" Do I have it right as "key-nahm" with the emphasis/inflection on the "key" half of the word?

SOTD: TWIS Expeditions

Review to follow at bedtime

I believe Kinam is pronounced with a hard i, like the i in sinner or dinner. Not sure how Ensar pronounces Kynam though. I say that with a long i like in kite.

Hi 5Meo, and thanks for your comment on PK, that just means I need to get it sooner than I thought.

I really am not sure on the pronunciation of Kinam tbh, as well as Kyara. I read an write those more often than I pronounce them

Oud Yaqub is one of my favourites, and holds a special place for me. Maybe because it was one of my first ouds. OY and Basic Kinam in fact are quite close in scent, to my beginner nose couldn't differentiate with wild, and I would even dare say (don't go made everyone) that they have strong ressemblance aspects of Kinam Rouge.

I remember I watched a video of the harvest of Oud Yaqoub, amazing ... There was a mention of future distillation from sister trees? I believe 60yo cultivated crassness. I wonder if BK was one of those distillations, or there are more goodies to come.

So I had to hit some good Sinensis today. This morning I went with Royal Chen Xiang by Taha and a sample of a new Burmese, Konbaung by IO. RCX is my reference Burmese now, just obtained some from a friend and its beautiful. Green, bittersweet, some carrot seed or even orris root, a hint of kinam. As for Konbaung, Oudamberlove gave an outstanding review, I have little to add. I agree its sweeter and fruitier, maybe some kinam. Nice.

Tonight, after bath time with the boys, I hit up Yunnan 2003, Yunnan Exclusive and Lao Chen Xiang. Man. Some heavenly oils there. The two Yunnans are similar, yet not mutually exclusive. Both have that highly addictive orange blossom on ambergris on leather for me. I love these man. Taha's Lao Chen Xiang. Opens with some slightly different fruit, citrus and cherry, a bit of animal as well. Divine.

EO Xen Ji
You could call this one "Zen" Ji as far as I'm concerned. When it was released, it had already been aged a few years, now I notice that just another year of aging has made XJ more serious. With the crests of the fruitiness shorn, XJ swells with more oudiness and resin, covered in a thin blanket of foggy smoke.

Oud Dhul Q for me again. I think I will be wearing this a lot more than usual. Love the agarwood chips and the sweet dry down later.

All of those 60-year-old trees you see in the Oud Yaqoub video were sold to a Chinese buyer the following year after our distillation. We had the farmer promise they'd save them for future projects with us, but I guess money spoke louder than words. Basic Kinam was from similar wood, harvested from much younger trees (20-30 years would be my best guess), distilled same style, sans soak.

Agarwood is in many respects like clay. The distiller is like a potter. Depending on the level of skill and know-how, he can shape that clay into whatever object he likes. A potter's skill will show no matter what type of clay he's working with, and a general 'signature' will imbue everything he touches.

When comparing oils from vastly different locales, whatever similarities in style you pick up are due to the potter's hands. Any differences are due to the clay he's working with. Taxonomy would classify both Thailand and Vietnam as predominantly crassna, so no variance there.

I can give you another way of looking at it. Take a thin layer of filo dough, lay it out, sprinkle it with crushed walnuts and pour some syrup on top. Now take fifty layers and layer them atop each-other, putting crushed walnuts and syrup on the works. In 2D they might look similar, and a bite might hint at a vague resemblance in flavor, but the depth and richness and nuancedness will surely be different when you bite into proper baklava.

That's how I'd compare Oud Yaqoub to Kinam Rouge. The parameters might have been similar (by accident, not design) but the repleteness of that redness of Rouge is layers above Yaqoub's 'techniqued' complexity and layeredness.

To me, Yaqoub is brownish, Basic Kinam greenish, Kinam Rouge reddish. That is highly subjective though, as all things olfactory, and I've seldom seen two people smell the same color save perhaps in Purple Kinam…

Mmm..Kinam Rouge. Definitely reddish to me Ensar. The most beautiful red.

The Artisan/distiller/master can see these unique differences in color and quality. We are truly honored and lucky to have the likes of Sidi Ensar, Sidi Taha, and Sidi Adam to show, guide, and explain to us all these fine minimal details.

I just uncapped my vial of Feel-Oud's Wahid "2nd pull". One of the best genie-in-the-bottle oud
I will never swipe that oil, only whiffs allowed so those few drops will never end. Thank you Adam

I have tried blending oils, and you don't always get what you're after. That's why hats-off to the obssessive distiller who blended my evening swipe.
For the floral fruity style Cambodi, with a little prefermentation oooomph, Koh Kong 76 is near perfect

Wahid sounds so amazing. Awesome. I'm sure Koh Kong 76 is. Love Kambodi 1976. Totally agree on the blending comment, incredibly challenging to get it right.

Today for me? Kinam Rouge of course. Seriously one of the most amazing oil's around. For me it was love at first sniff. But for those of you who have read Dr Pecks "The Road Less Travelled" realize the problems with love at first sniff. It's shallow and brief and based on raw emotion. The real work began as the beautiful KR and I truly started to know each other. She's complex and mysterious. She doesn't like to reveal herself every time, at least not fully, but man when she does..

TWIS: Anointment.

@Ensar thanks for the info. A bit sad news for those trees ... I like the filo pasty comparison I haven't done a side by side comparison of OY, BK and KR, which is the only way I can make a difference, they seem to be on the same "genre" of oud to my amateur nose at least. This is not to bring KR down (which don't need praise from me), rather to show that cultivated can be that amazing, to make me want to buy the only back up bottle I have in my collection.

Scent Of The Night: EO Bois De Borneo, haven't worn a borneo in a while, and realised that something very strange with Sri Lankan oud is that its closer to Borneo than anything else I tried.

SOTD:
- FO Si Lani: smoke bomb, not a fan of smoky ouds tbh, but if you like sri lankan oud and smoke, you might like this one
- Then FO Super Global KL oud: amazing work from brother Adam
- Then AA King Koh Kong
- And finally some taif rose

Robert sent me around 10 samples (all Ensar's oils), so I started sniffing them one by one. When I got to KRouge, Bam! Cherry Tobacco Oudy Bomb!
I haven't swiped KR in a month, and that vial was near empty, it goes to show that KR is a concentrated oil packed with goodies. That's why not everything is revealed in a single swipe (too much, too soon)

At some point in time Insha'Allah in the near future, I will be interested in getting some authentic Taif Rose, where did you get yours?

The one I was wearing today from a saudi company http://sokkat-alteeb.com
Below is the video where they go on a journey to ge the oil, quite amazing. Unfortunately not subtitled, but they explain the traditional process etc. Still very enjoyable to just watch in my opinion.
Btw, I couldn't order from the web site, maybe you will be able to. If not, I have a contact that works for the company that I passed my order through.

Oh also: Ensar, Taha and Adam sampled this oil, and none of them liked I love it haha. Adam mentioned it was too spicy, a bit like clove, but to me I don't mind that at all. Its not the best rose otto in the world, but very happy to have found what seems to be a genuine taif rose.

I have another one from Al Shareef Oud, not sure if its still available ...

I think I bought the last Taef rose from Al Shareef because after I received it I went to the site and it was no longer an option to purchase. I also had a question, I think read on this site that Taef rose oil should not be clear(possibly from Brother Ensar), however this rose oil is clear. I am not questioning Br Jawad as I trust him completely, I'm just asking if there are exceptions to authentic Taef rose oil not being clear. Thank you

TWIS: The Black Pearl