Last time Ensar visited, perhaps the most 'satisfying' thing he left me with was the realization that his eyes light up for the same ouds that mine do. Yesterday, he additionally told me that his reactions to the top top
top ouds is pretty much the same as mine as well. And not just that, but the inner battle he fights (and for all the same reasons) is the same too, when he thinks about having to part with them.
So what's so satisfying about this? It demonstrated that his nose fully operates in the Z axis. More on that further down below.
My biggest complaint, which I'm sure is abundantly clear to all by now, is that some folks cannot distinguish between truly high grade vs very nice (but) lesser grade well-made ouds.
But its also totally understandable, if you think about why that's the case.
Now, the following might sound a bit racist, but firstly keep in mind that I am only relaying this, and secondly my own wife is Caucasian.
So here, in Asia, a lot of people say that Caucasians all 'look the same'. Ironically, many say the same about Asians in North America.
Think about it.. If you had never encountered a person of the
other race in your life ever before, and then you were blind-folded and dropped in that country where you see for them for the first time - wouldn't you feel the same way?
What was the first oud
ever that totally changed the entire oud paradigm? In my opinion, it was Borneo 3000.
Clean, sweet, no funk, with hints of florals and fruits - for many (including myself) it was the first oud that was an absolute, utter departure from "Oud" as we knew it.
"Clean, sweet, no funk, with hints of florals and fruits". Tell me now, can't that description now be used for countless (almost ALL) Borneo ouds since then?
...most of which don't hold a matchstick, let alone a candle, to Borneo 3000.
The problem is, the
clean oud and
totally awesome oud phenomena happened simultaneously, embodied by Oriscent. Since then,
most oud distillations (at least the ones that online oud enthusiasts have gotten) have been clean oils. Do a quick cleaning of the apparatus, give the fungus a miss, and use rudimentarily decent apparatus. Voila, you have a clean oud.
Asians... Caucasians..
Can you see what I'm getting at?
For some, the nose (sight) does not venture too far past the overall basic flavor (generic facial features) of the oud (race).
If you're of that race though, you can errm.. easily tell the difference between beauty pageant material and a gorgon.
And so, getting back to the point after this long detour, what I'm trying to say is that I found it utterly satisfying to look at Ensar sniffing countless oils and see his eyes only light up every time it was a super high grade oud.
For
truly high grade oud, I always get a mental image of that thing you see at carnivals.. you know, you grab a mallet and hit it as hard as you can, and if you hit hard enough this thing shoots up and hits a bell at the top,
DING!
Truly high grade oud, no matter how it was made, no matter the style, no matter how great (or not) the apparatus was.... hits that bell every time.
A while ago, I had coined the terms 'vertical' and 'horizontal' complexity to try to simplify some of the basic things one can look for in an oud to measure it up. The problem is, the
third plane is actually the most important. If horizontal and vertical satisfaction can be mapped on the X and Y axes, we're talking about the Z axis.
That's where the bell is.
And it doesn't matter
how the oil was made, on that plane you cannot use clever tricks to make an oil interesting (apparatus and techniques). The wood does the talking.
As I was sniffing Nha Trang LTD late last night, totally blissing out obviously, I mentioned to Ensar that my concern is that perhaps some might find this oud to be monotonous. The most beautiful aroma in the world, undoubtedly, but monotonous. Its actually anything
but. However, its entire scent development unravels in the Z axis. It smells like a million bucks (priceless actually, especially if you consider its replacement value, but my guess for the selling price like I told Ensar was $10,000 per bottle) but THIS oud, to me, is the ultimate litmus test. If you think its a flat (albeit sublimely beautiful) oud, your nose needs some schooling. If you feel like you're drowning (in an infinite Z-axis depth, like NOTHING ELSE that I for one have ever encountered), you got yourself a solid schnoz.
Barnyard ouds are an entirely different can of worms, maybe another post (3 times as long) will address that. Its more complicated because fermentation and rot simulate boosts in X and Y axis complexity, and so its additionally harder to get to the Z axis.