Oud chips from FeelOud LTD

[Thomas S.]

Hi All,

recently I ordered some oud chips from FeelOud. Upon receiving the package I tried them, and I liked them very much. I had ordered some chips from Vietnam and from Thailand / Trat.

I only burned small pieces of each so I can only share my first impressions here.
The Trat chips are really very nice, and reminded me a lot of the Chanthaburi chips that i had bought from Ensar Oud about a year ago. They are spicy and green, and creamy and sweet at the same time. Very suited for meditation or relaxation, but they could also set the right mood for socializing.
The Vienamese chips are sweetish-woody and reminded me of high quality chips from Baieido.

Both kinds are actually a better quality than, for example, the ones I bought from Oudimentary (but that may vary with each batch) and yet, they are not as high-class as the chips from Ensar or AgarAura.
The Trat chips are dark and very slim but more than a finger´s length. The Vietnamese chips are of a lighter color and come in smaller pieces. You can see them in the picture I included here. The upper one which is darker is from Trat, the lighter colored chip is Vietnamese.

FeelOud owner Adam has kindly enclosed two samples of his recent distillations, Sumatrix and Kalimantonio and also some chips from which the Sumatrix was distilled. Thank you, Adam!
I smelled the oils only from the opened vials, and the Kalimantonio made a strong impression because it reminds me a bit of AgarAura´s Pulau Maluku. It has some Borneo notes along with the jungly Papuan notes. I will need to spend some time with both of them, and will share my impressions later.

All in all I can say that beginners and experienced oudheads alike can find some nice chips at FeelOud. The pricing is reasonable, service was very good and delivery was fast. I am looking forward to see what Adam will offer in the future.

Thomas S.

 

[the alaskan]

looking forward to your reviews. I love Pulau Maluku!

 

[M E J]

Hi all
I'm getting a delivery of chips from feeloud in a couple of days will let u no how I'm getting on

 

[alcadya]

Somebody knows where is Adam?, I was a long time away from the foro and now i do not see any of his posts.

 

[Tarik]

Hi ,Thomas
Could you tell us what you think of "Sumatrix"and "Kalimantonio"

Merci

 

[the alaskan]

I believe he was banned.

 

[the alaskan]

Well Ive had time to try the sumatrix oil. its a most unusual oud and more like a fine mens cologne but with a vaporyness to it. It may be green in color but has a more blue smell. Its the cleanest oud Ive ever tried and has no inscenecy, rubbed wood, phase(like clothes with oud oil on them smell after being washed). Its invigorating, stimulating and even though im not into mint theres a bit of a mintyness hiding out that I can handle. Its a public/office friendly oud and lasts for about 6hours on my skin. Im sure people will mistake this for an actual perfume/cologne on whoever is wearing it. It is similar to, al mouhit al azraq but, it is its own creature. It was especially hard for me to pull individual notes from the oil. i got more impressions when smelling, rather than individual notes.

 

[alcadya]

I believe he was banned.

Do you have any idea about why? I ask it because being banned seems to me a serious staff.

 

[alcadya]

I have ordered some Wild vietnamite agarwood. Have anyone tried?
This one is what you order Thomas? It seems to have a good price, is it really from will harvested aquilaria?

 

[M E J]

I ordered some sumatrix chips from feeloud and they are like the sumatrix oil, they are of good quality and I am enjoying them very much so, great price and the qualitys there too,

 

[alcadya]

Both kinds are actually a better quality than, for example, the ones I bought from Oudimentary
Thomas S.

Hi Tomas, which ones from oudimentary are you comparing these with?
I bougth Hindi assam from Oudimentary a few months ago and it was nice. Do you think this two you refered fron Feeloud are better quality?

Kindest regards.

 

[Tarik]

hi
thank you for your opinion,the alaskan

 

[Thomas S.]

Hi again, alcadya,

I had bought some Burmi Shan wood from oudimentary. It was quite nice, but not agarwoody enough for my taste.
I also have some Assam chips from Oudimentary, and I like it quite a lot (this is why I said it varies with each batch).
Matter of fact, I have an order from Oudimentary being shipped to me as I write this

About the Feeloud chips and oils: after spending some time with them I have some questions for the owner of FeelOud (Adam).
Once I get his replies, I will post here again.
Stay tuned!

Kind regards,
Thomas S.

 

[alcadya]

Looking forward to hearing from you about it.

I've just received an order from Feeloud, some Indonesian Will wood (I said Vietnamite in a previous post but it was a mistake). It smell very different from the Oudimentary Hindi Assam, obviously it's from diferent place and it's wild. The main difference I have found is that Assam is has more clear smell, more subtle, more delicate while the indonesian wild is more raw, a bit stronger and earthy. Both are delicious for me.

Adam also had the kindness to send me some samples with my order, very interesting oils. Thanks Adam!

 

[Thomas S.]

My review of Feeloud´s chps:

I have bought a variety of chips from the "Highly Resinated" category on feeloud.com.
Here is a detailed account of my experience with these chips.

On his website, Adam from FeelOud.com advertises the wood in the higher quality sections (which are accordingly named "Resinated wood" or "Highly resinated wood") as "wild wood" and describes them as "most delicious".

With the recent development in agarwood farming and even organic agarwood plantations, we all have understood that the line does not necessarily run between wild and farmed woods. But that the age of infection and the resin formation in the tree (i.e. Sien, Kieah) etc.are the factors which make (or break) good oud wood. We have to keep that in mind.

So now for my review:
First I bought and got the Trat chips. I mentioned them above in another post. I have described them as delicious and "better than, for example, Oudimentary´s wood".
I have to correct my first impression now that I have also bought some Oudimentary Southern Thai chips. Comparing them side by side, as it were, I think the Oudimentary chips (Southern Thai) are of better quality than Feeloud´s Trat chips.
FeelOuds Trat chips have a slightly pungent and "hotter", pepper-ish scent to them. The scent of the Oudimentary chips is softer, sweeter and more rounded -- at least to my nose. But this may be a personal preference. I like my agarwood to create a mood of relaxation, of serenity and I want my room to be perfumed nicely -- and I found the Trat chips from Feeloud did not exactly do that for me.

With the Trat chips I had also ordered a quantity of "Wild Vietnamese Chips" and "Vietnamese Premium" (which was also described as "wild" wood sourced from some distant jungle). Both of these qualities are no longer on the website: they apparently sold out.

About the burning experience of the "Wild Vietnamese" and "Vietnamese Premium"chips:
I think they do not live up to the description. They are nice and creamy; yes -- but only if you treat them with very great care to make them release their aroma. When you put them on the burner of on a coal you see only very tiny amounts of bubbling resin coming to the surface (if at all). Then there will be a release of some agarwoody scent, after which the chip will go up in bitter smelling smoke. So you need to watch the temperature closely And even then, the chips are not exactly what I expect from "wild" or "highly resinated" wood.
They are of no higher quality than the Baieido Kokonoe chips (which are sold as large chunks of about the size of a finger and of the same thickness).
(As an aside: I am very well able to burn agarwood on a coal, doing in koh-do style with a heap of ash over the coal. I also use coals or an electric burner like KyaraZen´s Subitism burner alternatingly).

These two sorts of chips look the same in terms of resin formation (as visible to the naked eye). And as with the Baieido chips, the Vietnamese from FeelOud are only apt for very low heating -- unless you want them to give a burnt smell of firewood (an aromatic firewood, maybe -- but firewood none the less!).
They are, and this is what disappoints me, not the "wild and densely resinated" chips that they were advertized for. If they were one would see lots of bubbling resin when heating them.

Matter of fact, among the "Wild Vietnamese Premium" I found a large chip that has a nail hole in it.
So we might not have wild wood here (or if we have it it was artifically inoculated) and then the people who inoculated it didn´t wait long enough for the resin formation. They apparently wanted to cash in fast.
I feel sorry for the owner of Feeloud.com as it seems the vendors took, in this case, advantage of him.

Last but not least, there´s another sort of wood I got from Adam - the Sumatrix chips.
The Sumatrix chips came, after my initial disappointment, as quite a surprise as they are highly resinated. During the heating process they bubble a lot and become glazed with a resinous glaze that looks like a black lacquer of sorts.

Now you have to like the scent of Sumatran wood. For me, it was the first time I smelled it so I found the scent somewhat strange. It is not as sweet as Thai or Cambodi wood that you will find here, and which I expected.
But we are here to learn ;-).

The scent is slightly Borneo-esque but with more jungly notes and a perfume–like floral sweetness. So if I had to recommend any wood from Feeloud.com I´d say, go for the Sumatrix chips . Different batches may vary and they might not emit the scent you would expect of chips from, say, Thailand or Cambodia.
But they have a strong aroma; and on a burner they almost sweat out the resin inside them. These chips seem to be worth buying.


Kind regards,

Thomas S.

 

[M E J]

Hi Thomas and everybody

Adam from feel oud says on his site that if there is any problem he will refund right away
So Thomas you should get a refund from him

Kind regards

M Javaid

 

[Thomas S.]

Hi All,

that is absolutely true!
Adam has kindly contacted me, and even though I told him I didn´t want a refund (as I will use the wood anyway; in my own incense mixtures, and as samples which I will give to my friends, etc.) he refunded me the amount I had initially paid!
Thanks, Adam!

Hi Thomas and everybody

Adam from feel oud says on his site that if there is any problem he will refund right away
So Thomas you should get a refund from him

Kind regards

M Javaid