London Oudfest with Ensar (October 2016)
Greetings of peace to all.
I thought it would be of general interest for me to report back with my impressions from London Oudfest, with the encouragement of Ensar. It has been just over a week since the event now so the lessons I learned have had a chance to marinate.
Firstly, just a brief note about my background so as to make clear my inexperience - I am only a few months into my oud journey, and also a young man. So far I have enjoyed every step of it and I am hopeful that it can be a journey of many years, God willing. I also have oils from most of the vendors who are usually mentioned within these circles, mostly from Ensar and Imperial Oud, but also Al Shareef Oudh, Feel-Oud and AgarAura.
Mainly I attended Oudfest with the aim of learning a little more about the art of oud appreciation as well as the purchase of an oil. I ended up getting a very extensive education, not to mention having conversations about topics outside of oud which were also of great value. On the first day, I met both Ensar and Thomas Kruger at a hotel in London, and I was asked about which aspects of oud I appreciated and what I would like to know in general. Ensar was very generous in giving me swipes of his finest oils, including the Cambodian oil from 1976, many of the Sultan series and several of the aged wild and organic oils, including Hainan 2005 and Jing Shen Lu. Throughout the session, Ensar would offer certain suggestions about the character of the oils and predominant notes in the scent profile - this was to help direct my appreciation, and it certainly had that effect. One of the consequences is that now I feel a lot more confident in swiping and smelling, having seen how it was done by Ensar himself. As for the oils, the '76 oil was supremely suave, Oud Ahmad was very potent and musky as described, Sultan Sufyan reminded me in its effect of OR1985 (although its scent profile was rather different and very beautiful indeed - perhaps my favourite of the Sultan Series oils that I smelled). Hainan 2005 was one of my favourites: very raw, ringing and attractive. Jing Shen Lu was truly superb as well, and I actually would put it very high up the list.
Many of the questions I wanted to ask were quite esoteric in scope, seeing that my primary motive for using oud is as a spiritual aid and remembrance of the Higher Reality. In this respect, I was provided with a very profound meditation on the reason for the effect for oud: Ensar pointed out that oud is produced out of an existential threat - one which by definition puts the tree in contact with some aspect of another reality, which we might call the afterlife. This is as opposed to most smells which are produced out of a desire to reproduce - florals, musk and so on. Forgive me if that is not very articulate...perhaps Ensar can expand on it. Anyway, this thought has stayed with me and impressed many of the people I have relayed it to. Certainly the effect of the oils, which is of a transcendent nature (as opposed to sensual), seems to confirm this hypothesis in at least one way.
At the end of the session, having purchased a bottle of the incomparably primordial Assam Organic, I mentioned a certain oil which I had and asked for his thoughts on oils of that region in general. He agreed for me to bring it along with any other oils which I found interesting the next day, so that I could hear his views on them. So began day 2...
The next day I met them at 11.30am, this time walking in to some beautiful wood being gently heated on an electric burner. I brought several oils with me from various vendors (Ensar had told me to feel free to bring in anything I found interesting).
What followed was an extended deconstruction of the various oils as well as a ranking of their quality. Some of the oils I thought of very highly he put near the bottom, and some near the top. It seems to me that he was ranking the oils with a mind partly to the quality of materials and partly to the quality of artisanal distillation. One thing which he noted was that some of the oils lacked body. A point which I confirmed when I went back home and did some extensive smelling of my own. This quality of body, or roundedness does mark some of the Ensar oils in quite distinctive way. The lack thereof is sometimes a deliberate effort on the part of distillers, and I believe it has its own merits, however I have a personal preference for the more rounded fragrances. When I compared Assam Organic to one of the other Hindis which I had taken to Ensar, it was immediately obvious to me that Assam Organic was much more impressive in that regard (this may have had something to do with the greater maturity of Ensar's oil). I also feel that the oils which he marked as superior had more development in a nonlinear way.
Also worthy of note was the fact that both of them often questioned the origin of the wood when I had mentioned what the distillers had mentioned - they evinced their questions by contrasting the various oils which I had brought with their own oils from those same regions. This was highly informative as well, as I was able to compare and contrast the scent profiles. Being no expert myself, I simply listened and took note. Even so, my instinct is to side with what the distillers have mentioned, mainly on the principle of 'benefit of the doubt'.
At the end of this highly informative session, we had a long discussion about subjects outside of oud. I felt immensely grateful to Thomas and Ensar for having the patience and generosity to sit with me for that as well, since we discussed it right up to the moment when their next client was due at 1pm, despite my not having an appointment and the whole session being a favour on their part.
Now, so many days later, I feel much more confident in my evaluation of oils, much happier taking bigger swipes and deeper breaths, and so much more appreciative of the oils themselves. Assam Organic is truly what I love in oud: primordiality, awe, transcendence and silence of mind are the effects of its application. I would highly recommend Oudfest for whoever has the chance, it enhances the oud experience at many different levels.
My deepest gratitude goes to Ensar and Thomas for their time. They were also kind enough to give me two different woods as a parting gift which I have been burning today. My lasting impression from Oudfest was of a collection of sublime oils, and two very generous brothers. I felt honoured from start to finish.
