Woodland Note
True Ouddict
Tariq Cambodi 2008 (Al Hashimi)
So, 2 days ago I decided to try one of that precious oils. It has medium dark amber color. And its storage container is a high-recovery vial. All washed and prepared I opened the little bag with the 5 vials. I could perceive some oud scent from the bag but it was just a very little, many would probably say they smell nothing. I chosen it a bit randomly. I placed it on a paper tissue. I had prepared some clean (one time use only) plastic stick with sharpened pointy end prior to that.
I opened the vial, dipped the pointy end of the stick and swiped. And here we go...
(I could not also resist the temptation of smelling it straight from the vial, but I try it from a distance to not put my head directly above it, to not cause any dust dropping into a vial.)
A quicky graphical impression I made using Al Hashimi logo concept:
Opening... just wow... WOW...
It’s like 15 minutes now. (Due to unpredicted circumstances I have to write this again, I already was writing for a few minutes and 2 minutes after the application, but it’s gone.) So, what I felt immediately after applying was incredible and no words can reflect that. There is something hindi I smell too, some notes I have found in Habzoud Mukhmil, but it’s different, no fecal to me at all. But definitely something that only Mukhmil has from the four of oud oils I tried before.
So strong!!! Maybe because I applied much more than the last time or maybe because... there is some hindi notes here, yes, there is something similar I smelled in Mukhmil, but it's almost no fecal, if at all. I'm not going to wash myself this time. No... There is something already very beautiful here too. However, in the 5’th minute I felt like opening a window a bit, because it's warm here and this is so strong... so overwhelming, like I would dive into a huge lake of something... So what I smell exactly... it gives me this cherry/sweet cherry tree resins texture I talked about before. This mind associations... When you take that fresh resin out of a tree, it’s not hardened yet... and you put it close to your nose and then to your mouth.
I'm smelling in it hmm... something alike sheep skin, but it’s... no, it’s no longer that...
I’m thinking that maybe this oil is more “well rounded” as some say due to it’s age, the vial label says 2008. I believe Mukhmil was more freshly distilled (5 years aged).
By the way, I no longer read the descriptions of those oils on vendor sites or the reviews. I will just follow my nose and enjoy the journey without any pre-suggestions. I would be even cool with not knowing the name and the origin.
Anyway, going back to the scent, while it’s more soft thing than Mukhmil, totally acceptable straight away as it is to my European nose, it’s more sharp too in some aspect... On the other hand it’s less intensive, that might be either good or bad thing, depends on the point of view.
Oh my, I just took another deep sniff, and it makes me touched a bit. It’s surely something that not many scents or things can do to me... When I’m smelling it, I know it’s not created by a human. I know it’s natural, unlike any synthetic perfumes. I mean all ouds give this impression in some way, but this one... it’s just that... it's so complex yet it is a one, it is a whole and it feels... alive...
Once again excerpt from a conversation with my friend:
"There is something that was present in a hindi oil
but it’s nothing fecal
and almost no animalic
it smells like...
well
no words I find
suitable
to describe it
I don’t know
maybe it’s a bit music affecting my perception
but I’m imagining some ancient temple
in some hidden world
in the heart of jungle
yeah
it’s beautiful
in its way"
What I’m thinking now is that I really need to find a way to make the scent spread in just a little in the room air, and not sniff it concentrated from my arm or other body parts. The skin is making those scent distorted for me, and it fades way too quickly for me. Maybe just a few hours. Much faster than what I read other people have. I of course applied it on freshly washed body (I took a shower an hour ago, and I additionally washed my arm just before applying the oil). I’m not sweating (it’s 24°C in my room at the moment) and I did not touched it.
Ok back to the scent. I think this one really has meditative qualities. And although there is something hindi to it I love it. It’ sending pleasant shivers down my spine... it’s that amazing...
PS I opened the window after 5 first minutes a little, because it felt so overwhelming in the opening stage. Like I would dive into a sea of... something. I picture myself diving into a pile, a tone pile of flowers. Well, it could be some flowers actually, I have not smelled any flowers that smell like this, but some flowers have scents that we are not immediately associating with flowers when we think about “floral” scent in general.
So... I could use here some more descriptive words, like a gum, lemon cake, cherry resin, chamomile, tanacetum, a girl’s hair... but it is not really any of those, neither a mix of them. No. It’s unique scent, unlike any other we find elsewhere but in oud. So, if someone who has never tried oud is reading this, know that you will never know unless you try it, there is no other way. One must smell oud to know how it smells.
PS When it’s fading it reminds me some qualities of other Habzoud oils, Zamarad and Dukhan, still something hindi here though... So I would say it has some of the both of these worlds. But again, this is unique fragrance and each one of them is different.
I would say that this might be now my 2nd favorite. 2nd because I would still not use it for creation of my perfect perfume that I would wear, but if it was only for my own pleasure in privacy of my room I’m hesitating.
Edit: Maybe I was wrong about this thing about not using it in a perfume. I just did the first and successful dilution experiment. I poured around 0,25ml of 95% very quality grade ethanol to an empty clean vial and I dipped in it the plastic stick tip that still had some visible oil residue on it, some micro amount and I stirred for like a minute and yes!. It obviously worked as excepted. It smells like... a beautiful mysterious perfume now. The scent is hmm... more sharp now, cooled (though I’m not sniffing it from the skin but from the plastic stick, so this adds to the “cooled” aspect too). There is still present note that many would call animalic.
Hmm... if I dressed this oil a little with a vetiver... O_O ... oh dear...
This is exceeding what a perfume is to me. This is something way more. This is transcendental experience.
It’s half past 2 am, and it’s been 3 hours of the amazing fragrant adventures with ambient music and the mesmerizing cambodi oil. The scent on the plastic stick is still strong, the scent on my forearm almost faded away, it is still present but I need to move my nose up my forearm to find the place, so it’s not that strong any more. As I said earlier, oud oils are fading quite fast on my skin. But it’s time to sleep now anyway.
If anyone is interested to know what music was accompanying the fragrance adventure ->
PS I tried it along some vetiver later. And it’s just... amazing... magnificent. I think it’s my number 1 now.
So, 2 days ago I decided to try one of that precious oils. It has medium dark amber color. And its storage container is a high-recovery vial. All washed and prepared I opened the little bag with the 5 vials. I could perceive some oud scent from the bag but it was just a very little, many would probably say they smell nothing. I chosen it a bit randomly. I placed it on a paper tissue. I had prepared some clean (one time use only) plastic stick with sharpened pointy end prior to that.
I opened the vial, dipped the pointy end of the stick and swiped. And here we go...
(I could not also resist the temptation of smelling it straight from the vial, but I try it from a distance to not put my head directly above it, to not cause any dust dropping into a vial.)
A quicky graphical impression I made using Al Hashimi logo concept:
Opening... just wow... WOW...
It’s like 15 minutes now. (Due to unpredicted circumstances I have to write this again, I already was writing for a few minutes and 2 minutes after the application, but it’s gone.) So, what I felt immediately after applying was incredible and no words can reflect that. There is something hindi I smell too, some notes I have found in Habzoud Mukhmil, but it’s different, no fecal to me at all. But definitely something that only Mukhmil has from the four of oud oils I tried before.
So strong!!! Maybe because I applied much more than the last time or maybe because... there is some hindi notes here, yes, there is something similar I smelled in Mukhmil, but it's almost no fecal, if at all. I'm not going to wash myself this time. No... There is something already very beautiful here too. However, in the 5’th minute I felt like opening a window a bit, because it's warm here and this is so strong... so overwhelming, like I would dive into a huge lake of something... So what I smell exactly... it gives me this cherry/sweet cherry tree resins texture I talked about before. This mind associations... When you take that fresh resin out of a tree, it’s not hardened yet... and you put it close to your nose and then to your mouth.
I'm smelling in it hmm... something alike sheep skin, but it’s... no, it’s no longer that...
I’m thinking that maybe this oil is more “well rounded” as some say due to it’s age, the vial label says 2008. I believe Mukhmil was more freshly distilled (5 years aged).
By the way, I no longer read the descriptions of those oils on vendor sites or the reviews. I will just follow my nose and enjoy the journey without any pre-suggestions. I would be even cool with not knowing the name and the origin.
Anyway, going back to the scent, while it’s more soft thing than Mukhmil, totally acceptable straight away as it is to my European nose, it’s more sharp too in some aspect... On the other hand it’s less intensive, that might be either good or bad thing, depends on the point of view.
Oh my, I just took another deep sniff, and it makes me touched a bit. It’s surely something that not many scents or things can do to me... When I’m smelling it, I know it’s not created by a human. I know it’s natural, unlike any synthetic perfumes. I mean all ouds give this impression in some way, but this one... it’s just that... it's so complex yet it is a one, it is a whole and it feels... alive...
Once again excerpt from a conversation with my friend:
"There is something that was present in a hindi oil
but it’s nothing fecal
and almost no animalic
it smells like...
well
no words I find
suitable
to describe it
I don’t know
maybe it’s a bit music affecting my perception
but I’m imagining some ancient temple
in some hidden world
in the heart of jungle
yeah
it’s beautiful
in its way"
What I’m thinking now is that I really need to find a way to make the scent spread in just a little in the room air, and not sniff it concentrated from my arm or other body parts. The skin is making those scent distorted for me, and it fades way too quickly for me. Maybe just a few hours. Much faster than what I read other people have. I of course applied it on freshly washed body (I took a shower an hour ago, and I additionally washed my arm just before applying the oil). I’m not sweating (it’s 24°C in my room at the moment) and I did not touched it.
Ok back to the scent. I think this one really has meditative qualities. And although there is something hindi to it I love it. It’ sending pleasant shivers down my spine... it’s that amazing...
PS I opened the window after 5 first minutes a little, because it felt so overwhelming in the opening stage. Like I would dive into a sea of... something. I picture myself diving into a pile, a tone pile of flowers. Well, it could be some flowers actually, I have not smelled any flowers that smell like this, but some flowers have scents that we are not immediately associating with flowers when we think about “floral” scent in general.
So... I could use here some more descriptive words, like a gum, lemon cake, cherry resin, chamomile, tanacetum, a girl’s hair... but it is not really any of those, neither a mix of them. No. It’s unique scent, unlike any other we find elsewhere but in oud. So, if someone who has never tried oud is reading this, know that you will never know unless you try it, there is no other way. One must smell oud to know how it smells.
PS When it’s fading it reminds me some qualities of other Habzoud oils, Zamarad and Dukhan, still something hindi here though... So I would say it has some of the both of these worlds. But again, this is unique fragrance and each one of them is different.
I would say that this might be now my 2nd favorite. 2nd because I would still not use it for creation of my perfect perfume that I would wear, but if it was only for my own pleasure in privacy of my room I’m hesitating.
Edit: Maybe I was wrong about this thing about not using it in a perfume. I just did the first and successful dilution experiment. I poured around 0,25ml of 95% very quality grade ethanol to an empty clean vial and I dipped in it the plastic stick tip that still had some visible oil residue on it, some micro amount and I stirred for like a minute and yes!. It obviously worked as excepted. It smells like... a beautiful mysterious perfume now. The scent is hmm... more sharp now, cooled (though I’m not sniffing it from the skin but from the plastic stick, so this adds to the “cooled” aspect too). There is still present note that many would call animalic.
Hmm... if I dressed this oil a little with a vetiver... O_O ... oh dear...
This is exceeding what a perfume is to me. This is something way more. This is transcendental experience.
It’s half past 2 am, and it’s been 3 hours of the amazing fragrant adventures with ambient music and the mesmerizing cambodi oil. The scent on the plastic stick is still strong, the scent on my forearm almost faded away, it is still present but I need to move my nose up my forearm to find the place, so it’s not that strong any more. As I said earlier, oud oils are fading quite fast on my skin. But it’s time to sleep now anyway.
If anyone is interested to know what music was accompanying the fragrance adventure ->
PS I tried it along some vetiver later. And it’s just... amazing... magnificent. I think it’s my number 1 now.
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