Oud Oil Reviews - MAIN THREAD

[Oud Learner]

@John
I am not too sure myself since I have no visibility of the Chinese market. But based on what I read, the Chinese has progressed tremendously in their appreciation and knowledge of all agarwood related matters, inclusive of Kyara as well. Don't be surprised that some of them may have a higher criterion than the Japanese when appraising the Kyara.

@bhanny
I do not have much experience myself either. But would like to spend the second year of my Oud journey dedicated to Kyara study.

Personally I believe Kyara is and should only be from Vietnam of Crassna species. Why? Well...it has always been like this for the past thousand year; highly sought after and traded for through the age of time.

Think about it, in the distant past where one can easily find super king grade woods everywhere, why is Vietnamese Kyara still the most precious of them all? It is not as if non-Vietnamese Kyara is only found recently. Anyway just my 2cent worth.

 

[RobertOne]

...and hence, my all-time absolute favorite oud.

I can perhaps see why, Taha.

It's obviously medicine, art, and statement.

 

[bhanny]

Which one are you wearing from the Koh Kong experiment and have you tried Kambodi X ?

Hey. Sorry. It is Adam/Feel Oud. Good stuff!

 

[RobertOne]

Robert,

What region is the Kyara LTD 2012 from? From your description of the scent profile i could guess Cambodia?

I have absolutely not the foggiest idea, John.

I think so far I have not tried a cam-bo-di but this may be it, may not...

All I can really tell you is that it's different from every other Oud I have grokked so far, and I am an EO ultimate Oud samples veteran.

Most ouds are easy to get after an hour or two, even the very finest of them, for example, here is what I think of Purple Kinam at the moment.

However, Kyara LTD 2012 is much harder to visualise or immediately get. I think it's what he calls nu-perfumery.

It stretched my mind a little in order to understand it which is always a good thing.

 

[Adam]

as for the thick and feculent topic of Kyara… I can only add my few rubles… however, bear in mind that ruble is a very weak currency and one must never count on it… =)
we discussed it a bit with Taha and it finally became "clear" to me that the pure Kyara scent can come ONLY from Vietnam.
however, many other regions may offer agarwood with that very same Kyara note and extra addition which is a regional scent profile in the background… lets say you have your Brunei kyara so you will have the Kyara note in there plus the typical Brunei scent added.
as for the statement that it was around for thousand years and still Vietnamese Kyara is the most praised one … I can reply by saying that it is because it has a “classical", “pure" Kyara scent. the jungle of Borneo/Sabah/Brunei was almost untouched, not that long ago it is started here. I recall my friend was saying that just around 5 years ago he was buying plenty of arm size sinking pieces that are no longer available now… and no one really care for that Kyara note here… so perhaps soon we will see plenty of “new generation” Kyara from different regions once the “classical” Vietnamese one will be all gone to ashhh…

 

[Adam]

Not quite sure…
If we accept that Vietnamese Kyara has the Kyara note in its “purest” and “single” form then… NO. =)
If one would argue that Vietnamese Kyara has the Kyara note plus the typical Vietnamese background then… YES.

 

[PEARL]

I view kyara/kinam as a grade of agarwood with particular physical and chemical attributes rather than any particular species.

 

[Ensar Oud]

I agree with you. Certain species are more likely to yield Kinam than others though.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[PEARL]

@Ensar I was thinking about that when I posted. I'm studying more when it comes to regional micro-climate, fauna, flora, fungi and the robustness of certain species over another and my gut tells me that Aquilaria Sinensis, Aquilaria Crassna, Aquilaria Malaccensis and lastly Aquilaria Agallocha would be the most prevalent species with the potential to produce grades of wood approaching and reaching the grade of kyara/kinam.

 

[RobertOne]

@Ensar I was thinking about that when I posted. I'm studying more when it comes to regional micro-climate, fauna, flora, fungi and the robustness of certain species over another and my gut tells me that Aquilaria Sinensis, Aquilaria Crassna, Aquilaria Malaccensis and lastly Aquilaria Agallocha would be the most prevalent species with the potential to produce grades of wood approaching and reaching the grade of kyara/kinam.

PEARL,

Which biochemical factors are you guessing are responsible?

Or is it that the species with the most amount of parasites is likely to have the most bioactive resinous secretion?

Interested in hearing your thoughts.

 

[PEARL]

@RobertOne I'm wondering if you mean to produce agarwood in general or to make agarwood reach the grade of kyara/Kinam.

I'll start at the beginning with my own theories, cultivated vs wild agarwood. Many believe that cultivated woods are inferior to wild based on resin formation and quality(dynamics of scent profile). My theory is that it's based on time and diversity of offense. The goal of cultivation is the faster production of agarwood. One thing we know from humans is that those most susceptible to assault are the very young and the old. With the inoculation of those young trees we have to ask is there young, likely underdeveloped immune system even capable of mounting a sufficient attack and produce the right amount and quality of correct defense mechanisms; in this case agarwood(sesquiterpenes, monoterpenes, oxygenated compounds, resins, etc). And then we have to ask are we giving that tree enough time to mount that offense before harvesting.

As a simple example let's look at a man boring holes in a tree vs an insect. With a man bored hole there is physical assault and possibly chemical assault if the nail is left in place, that the tree responds to. With an insect there is physical assault and whatever that insect took in with it, i.e. chemical messengers to other insects, pheromones, allomones, parasites, fungus and bacteria that may be on the insect, waste products, etc. all of which the tree may respond to uniquely or in different ways; in this case producing compounds associated with agarwood production. All going back to time and diversity of assault.

Same with the different grades going all the way up to kyara/Kinam. One thing we know is that kyara/Kinam is very old so there has been much diversity of assault and repeated assault all on a tree that has had time to fully mature and be strong enough to mount repeated immune responses over a long time before succumbing. And then there's theory on what happens after the tree dies and falls; fiber breakdown, resin compaction, weathering, etc.

 

[RobertOne]

@RobertOne I'm wondering if you mean to produce agarwood in general or to make agarwood reach the grade of kyara/Kinam.

I'll start at the beginning with my own theories, cultivated vs wild agarwood. Many believe that cultivated woods are inferior to wild based on resin formation and quality(dynamics of scent profile). My theory is that it's based on time and diversity of offense. The goal of cultivation is the faster production of agarwood. One thing we know from humans is that those most susceptible to assault are the very young and the old. With the inoculation of those young trees we have to ask is there young, likely underdeveloped immune system even capable of mounting a sufficient attack and produce the right amount and quality of correct defense mechanisms; in this case agarwood(sesquiterpenes, monoterpenes, oxygenated compounds, resins, etc). And then we have to ask are we giving that tree enough time to mount that offense before harvesting.

As a simple example let's look at a man boring holes in a tree vs an insect. With a man bored hole there is physical assault and possibly chemical assault if the nail is left in place, that the tree responds to. With an insect there is physical assault and whatever that insect took in with it, i.e. chemical messengers to other insects, pheromones, allomones, parasites, fungus and bacteria that may be on the insect, waste products, etc. all of which the tree may respond to uniquely or in different ways; in this case producing compounds associated with agarwood production. All going back to time and diversity of assault.

Same with the different grades going all the way up to kyara/Kinam. One thing we know is that kyara/Kinam is very old so there has been much diversity of assault and repeated assault all on a tree that has had time to fully mature and be strong enough to mount repeated immune responses over a long time before succumbing. And then there's theory on what happens after the tree dies and falls; fiber breakdown, resin compaction, weathering, etc.

Apologies for being vague, the question was pointed towards KyKi formation and indeed better quality resin formation overall.

I might have an eye to buying one or a couple of acres of inexpensive inland SE Florida (köppen rainforest to monsoon classification) for cultivation in the distant future.

I'm hoping the climate will be similar enough there to permit their growth there to the tune of 75 mature trees per acre, and the rest of perhaps 25 trees per acre will be mixed native species to allow for a degree of biodiversity and mixed use.

Your very detailed answer (thank you) also gives me hope that this might be extremely successful.

A. Sinensis, Crassna et.al is of course not native to the colonies with no natural immunity to much of what is there so it's going to get a very hard time indeed from all the parasitic life there.

Bad for Mr. Tree, good for resin formation and great for me in about 40 years and onwards.

Edit: I think this needs to be moved to the cultivation thread!

 

[5MeO]

RobertOne, dear good sir, my excellent friend-in-oud and ambassador of all things proper and righteous - I don't mean to distract you from your happy visions of owning a kyara plantation, but in the other thread you tantalized us with a Royal Kinam 2010 review - said to be in the "usual place".. Now, far be it from me to accuse you of shnookering us all on this matter, but I don't see any such review..

 

[RobertOne]

RobertOne, dear good sir, my excellent friend-in-oud and ambassador of all things proper and righteous - I don't mean to distract you from your happy visions of owning a kyara plantation, but in the other thread you tantalized us with a Royal Kinam 2010 review - said to be in the "usual place".. Now, far be it from me to accuse you of shnookering us all on this matter, but I don't see any such review..

Quite right, my ethnophiliac companion upon the trail of aloe-lignin bliss and combobulation!

Forsooth, the darling little angels this morrow were of such a troublesome humor that only now have I been able to partake in the good humors of the aetherial drops of happiness and fortitude against all things pertaining to the water closet. Review forthwith!

 

[RobertOne]

EO: Royal Kinam 2010

Initial application:

Delicious earth.

If anyone has read Stephen Donaldson the aroma is what I somehow imagined the smell of hurtloam to be.

Brown, a deep fertile and revivifying soil, not clay or mud but the most well kept and wonderful sandy loam possible. A breeze dusted with cocoa powder. A slight tang of ripe cheese.

5 minutes.

Now comes forth a sweet-sour note, this Oud is absolutely making a sea-change. The loam remains but the elevation is approaching fast.

Tobacco has grown from the loam, hints of menthol, pink peppercorn steak marinade with a pinch of ras el hanout, the variety in Morocco that contains fresh damask rose petals.

10 minutes:

All of the above still holds, yet now the 'kinamity' has solidified each disparate note. It's difficult to not cup my hand over my mouth and nose to drink in the scent.

15 minutes.

This is a chameleons' Oud.

Greens now arise from the browns, a warm musky green, if you can imagine such a thing. There is also a Kyara like note that gently breezes out as if to insouciantly remind you to pay close attention.

30 minutes.

On the SOTD thread recently there is a discussion debating the relative merits of Hainan '05 and China Sayang. This now smells what I imagine them to be roughly like. Is this A. Sinensis?

45 Minutes > 1 Hour

No other Oud has completely changed it's character so completely in my limited experience. Trying to pick out individual notes is very hard due to the kinamic density but I will try.

Sweet-sour-bitter Oud Kinam lift, barely there loam, delicious and pungent spicy florality, heady tobacco, opium laced.

Traces of neroli, cherry, camphor and Kyara.

At the moment, if Purple Kinam would have been worn by Augustus, this would or should have been worn by Empress Wu Zetian and the Quianlong Emperor.

Wearing this I just close my eyes for a second, deeply inhale and I can imagine myself inside the walls of the forbidden city a thousand years ago. The ornate silks, artworks, calligraphy, exquisite porcelain and delicately carved jade of that period would seem to be expressed in scent by this.

Note to Ensar, you should, imho, abandon the name, Royal Kinam (mk.2) 2012. If it is Chinese, call it Imperial Kinam.

2 hours.

Largely as above, however yet denser in Kinamic character and so intense that I can literally taste incense and rose upon my tongue.

It's extremely difficult to believe this is one Oud and not a perfume. To the folks with disposable income, fair warning, if you try this I seriously doubt you will stop at just one bottle, price be damned.

4 hours.

The scent marches on, except with a little more incense now permiating upwards.

It just struck me that this would be the non plus ultra in Oud Cuisine. A drop of this in a bowl of warm cremé anglaise with some toasted brioche spread with butter and honey would be the ultimate treat, the custard perfumed with this.

I have to confess, this is one of the very few Ouds that I would trade a bottle of Aroha Kyaku for, and if anyone has read my reviews, that's saying something.

All objectivity aside, I love this Oud.

Now, in terms of it's sublime effect on the mind I would say that this treasure is deeply relaxing to the point of languidity.

 

[Ensar Oud]

Now, in terms of it's sublime effect on the mind I would say that this treasure is deeply relaxing to the point of languidity.

As you wrote that, I was on a 14-hour flight from NY to Tokyo. Something about being stuck on an airplane seat for such a long stretch while you're propelled at several hundred miles an hour over the Arctic Ocean in the dead of night makes you feel a bit… ill at ease…
One of the great Vietnamese oils went on my right hand (nope, not the Nha Trang) and at that moment, when the therapeutic effect was what was sought, all of the charms of the Vietnamese could do nothing for me. I just kept swiping more Royal Kinam on my left wrist to overpower the mis-swipe of the Vietnam. I literally emptied my vial of the RK, slathering it on my wrist then applying on my neck and inhaling non-stop. I got every single swipe out of the vial, to the point that I had to discard it (in my empty plastic water bottle).
– That, and a good .75mg Royal Xanax, and I managed to get a good 5 hours snooze!

 

[RobertOne]

As you wrote that, I was on a 14-hour flight from NY to Tokyo. Something about being stuck on an airplane seat for such a long stretch while you're propelled at several hundred miles an hour over the Arctic Ocean in the dead of night makes you feel a bit… ill at ease…
One of the great Vietnamese oils went on my right hand (nope, not the Nha Trang) and at that moment, when the therapeutic effect was what was sought, all of the charms of the Vietnamese could do nothing for me. I just kept swiping more Royal Kinam on my left wrist to overpower the mis-swipe of the Vietnam. I literally emptied my vial of the RK, slathering it on my wrist then applying on my neck and inhaling non-stop. I got every single swipe out of the vial, to the point that I had to discard it (in my empty plastic water bottle).
– That, and a good .75mg Royal Xanax, and I managed to get a good 5 hours snooze!

Oh my sainted aunt!

I don't want to teach my bearded, fragrant grandmother how to suck eggs but..

The most bang for my buck* way to apply Oud is right and tight under my nose where my fur meets my skin. Then I cup my hand over the area like an oxygen mask and approximate hyperventilation.

Bliss usually follows in seconds.

* Yes, I am a cheapskate

Edit:

I do realise that some of the islamic faith may disapprove of this advice as perfume in your faith should be worn as prayer and to delight others however in this case Ensar was using Oud as medicine and not as perfume, therefore surely that would be exempt from the above rules.

 

[kooolaid79]

As you wrote that, I was on a 14-hour flight from NY to Tokyo. Something about being stuck on an airplane seat for such a long stretch while you're propelled at several hundred miles an hour over the Arctic Ocean in the dead of night makes you feel a bit… ill at ease…
One of the great Vietnamese oils went on my right hand (nope, not the Nha Trang) and at that moment, when the therapeutic effect was what was sought, all of the charms of the Vietnamese could do nothing for me. I just kept swiping more Royal Kinam on my left wrist to overpower the mis-swipe of the Vietnam. I literally emptied my vial of the RK, slathering it on my wrist then applying on my neck and inhaling non-stop. I got every single swipe out of the vial, to the point that I had to discard it (in my empty plastic water bottle).
– That, and a good .75mg Royal Xanax, and I managed to get a good 5 hours snooze!

What a awesome lullaby! You inhaled yourself to sleep with the Royal Kinam? What more can you ask. The true wonders of one of the most beautiful Ouds anyone will ever come across and for it to put the Maestro to sleep. Wow just wow

 

[5MeO]

Well I'll be a monkey's uncle! RobertOne you've really outdone yourself with that review - perhaps inspiring even the great oudacious wizard himself Ensar to indulge in a most zealous way of the nectar that is Royal Kinam v.2.. Good lord what have I read - bless me and hope I can get to sleep tonight - and in fact, a bit of RK v.2 might be just the thing..

I had a bit the other night - and gave a couple dear friends just the tiniest dot of it on their noses - we had enjoyed a fine dinner together at my place and were lounging around chatting - they were open to smelling a highly vaunted oud, and have experienced other such treasures from me on occasion - well, you should have seen their reaction to the RK - completely dazzled - conversation shifted to all manner of exclaiming the awesomeness of the scent experience, and little else, for quite some time.. I was very proud, I have to say...

 

[RobertOne]

Well I'll be a monkey's uncle! RobertOne you've really outdone yourself with that review - perhaps inspiring even the great oudacious wizard himself Ensar to indulge in a most zealous way of the nectar that is Royal Kinam v.2.. Good lord what have I read - bless me and hope I can get to sleep tonight - and in fact, a bit of RK v.2 might be just the thing..

I had a bit the other night - and gave a couple dear friends just the tiniest dot of it on their noses - we had enjoyed a fine dinner together at my place and were lounging around chatting - they were open to smelling a highly vaunted oud, and have experienced other such treasures from me on occasion - well, you should have seen their reaction to the RK - completely dazzled - conversation shifted to all manner of exclaiming the awesomeness of the scent experience, and little else, for quite some time.. I was very proud, I have to say...

Thank you for the compliment my starving student but

That.

Oud.

Made it very easy for me.

I think it's easily in the top 5 most beautiful things that I have ever smelled in my life.

I am dreading to find out what the dollar price is because I will (after certain previous arrangements are settled) have to pay it.

How sad I am too old to sell myself on a street corner. Well.... I could but the challenge would be dragging home all those one cent coins in a bag. hopefully no one asks for change or i'm carrying a even larger bag of Mexican copper around too.

As for our moderati, perhaps we should ask them if anyone needs a kidney.

But in all seriousness, it's spectacular.

I will top up the vial with argan oil and that of the Kynam to prevent oxidation so I have something to save for a special occasion or very bad marital dispute.

Edit- no more oud reviews for two weeks!

I will be reviewing scents from TWIS & Rising Phoenix in the mukallat section.