SOTD
- Thread starter Kruger
- Start date
Adam's Feel Sandal for me today.
Its a beast of a santal, and I'm very impressed by it. I know he decided to implement some clever tricks, but the oil doesn't smell like a 'tricks' kind of oil. Smells very classic Mysorean sandalwood (well, more Tamil, and its actually Bengali!), like a very nicely aged one. But emphasis on 'nicely' because its very strong, I'd say as strong as Santal Royale (I have both on right now).
So its strong but it has the smoothness and balance of a nicely matured sandalwood oil. Like all actually GOOD sandalwood oils I've tried (which are very few), it smells bright/shimmery/'white' (and I recall Ensar mentioned something to that effect in the Mysore 84 description), instead of blunt and flat. The attention grabber is certainly the top notes layer but the Feel-Oud style soaking 'tricks', in my opinion, added some extra layers of depth which is nice. Good job on designing this distillation Adam!
Also tried his Dr. Hindi yesterday.
Again, quite surprised. Dr. Hindi smells different from the usual 'good barnyard' type Hindis, its somehow closer to the Ajmal type. In fact, it smells almost identical to one of the Ajmal oils which I have. I can't remember which one exactly, and I would have gladly done a side-by-side to identify it, but sadly I have a reaction to all but 3 Ajmal oils.
But its the type of Hindi which is pretty much devoid of fruity highlights, devoid of fecal notes as well, but has a very healthy barn. Like fully cured and aged leather, or suede. Very classic "à la Arabe" Hindi, and again (like the sandalwood oil), I'm surprised by how aged and matured this smells.
Has anyone else tried either of these oils? I'd be curious to hear your thoughts
Its a beast of a santal, and I'm very impressed by it. I know he decided to implement some clever tricks, but the oil doesn't smell like a 'tricks' kind of oil. Smells very classic Mysorean sandalwood (well, more Tamil, and its actually Bengali!), like a very nicely aged one. But emphasis on 'nicely' because its very strong, I'd say as strong as Santal Royale (I have both on right now).
So its strong but it has the smoothness and balance of a nicely matured sandalwood oil. Like all actually GOOD sandalwood oils I've tried (which are very few), it smells bright/shimmery/'white' (and I recall Ensar mentioned something to that effect in the Mysore 84 description), instead of blunt and flat. The attention grabber is certainly the top notes layer but the Feel-Oud style soaking 'tricks', in my opinion, added some extra layers of depth which is nice. Good job on designing this distillation Adam!
Also tried his Dr. Hindi yesterday.
Again, quite surprised. Dr. Hindi smells different from the usual 'good barnyard' type Hindis, its somehow closer to the Ajmal type. In fact, it smells almost identical to one of the Ajmal oils which I have. I can't remember which one exactly, and I would have gladly done a side-by-side to identify it, but sadly I have a reaction to all but 3 Ajmal oils.
But its the type of Hindi which is pretty much devoid of fruity highlights, devoid of fecal notes as well, but has a very healthy barn. Like fully cured and aged leather, or suede. Very classic "à la Arabe" Hindi, and again (like the sandalwood oil), I'm surprised by how aged and matured this smells.
Has anyone else tried either of these oils? I'd be curious to hear your thoughts
le
I have some Dr. Hindi on the way, will post a review as soon as I get it and oh, I ordered Endamage with some of JK's remaining samples and lots of TWIS samples too so brace yourself for my review, I have deliberately not googled it's description and squinted hard on the order pager to have an unbiased experience.
I have some Dr. Hindi on the way, will post a review as soon as I get it and oh, I ordered Endamage with some of JK's remaining samples and lots of TWIS samples too so brace yourself for my review, I have deliberately not googled it's description and squinted hard on the order pager to have an unbiased experience.
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Yes indeed - Oud Ahmad immediately went right up near the top of my list after the first wear.. It's a "red" oud for me, in terms of the sense of color the oud brings to my mind, whereas Oud Sultani is more gold and purple for me.. Oud Ahmad is like looking at a beautiful cut red gemstone, and seeing that inside the gemstone is another gemstone, and then another inside that.. There is the most wonderful combination of rich clean woodiness, camphor, musk, and decadent floral sweetness (and in that aspect it shares a good bit in common with Oud Sultani, though the sweet floral aspect isn't right up front like Oud Sultani).. The scent is incredibly smooth and well-integrated, while at the same time presenting various sides of itself.. Many times we think of or describe ouds as "royale" in some way, and for me no oud I've tried evokes that sense of royalty, grace, and dignity more than does Oud Ahmad..
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<---- Drooling.Lao Chen Xiang (AA) - I've become a huge fan of these recent genre of Indian and Laotian ouds Taha has been making - the animalic yet "zero barnyard" style - wonderful earthy notes yet very distinct from the earthy quality of a Hindi or Malyasian, for instance.. Like an earthy animalic smell infused with some sort of strange flower.. This oil here is bursting with richness and complexity, and the faint animalics that don't fit into the usual barnyard type of scent.. Totally delightful.. I've now tried the sister distillation Mai Wan Lao and that one is epic also..
I have samples of both and really really enjoy them as well. I also love the non-fermented animalic notes in both. I also get a bit of fruit in them, not sweet mind you, but more dry. LCX is a bit lighter overall, more citric centered for me. MWL is a bit heavier, though not overly heavy, and the fruit a bit deeper. Cherry, maybe peach or apricot, a little osmanthus flower for good measure. Good stuff.