Taha
Oud Fan
My burn of the day.... Sirsak agarwood, one of those very unusual species that most folks have never smelled before (and I myself only smelled it for the first time this year). Its found in Papua and surrounding scattered islands like Biak, as well as the islands of the Moluccas Straits.
Very odd specie. The tree collects a massive mound of sticky mulch of dead leaves around the base of the tree, but the bark is close to Filipino Aquilaria, but the fruit is almost identical to Indian Malaccensis, but the leaf is like the soursop tree (hence the name Sirsak = Bahasa for soursop).
And the aroma and appearance of the resinated pieces... very close to high-mountain Malaysian Candan (Hirta) of east peninsular Malaysia. Its even got the same knotty appearance.
I'm sure those of you who've tried Candan before (e.g. my final two BKS batches of Malaysian wood some years ago) would mistake this for Candan. I know I would have.
Edit: well I couldn't resist, so out came another very unusual variety of agarwood... Beringin.
And not just any Beringin, but the equivalent of Vietnamese Quang Nam red soil agarwood. Notice the glittering resin crystals.
This is the only sub-category of agarwood I've smelled that actually smells too oudy to the extent of smelling bad, if you heat too much of it, or at too high a temperature, and IF the grade is too high (ironic right?)
A tiny speck on low heat will make your room smell like you heated Filipino agarwood slathered with orris butter. Delicious. But a thicker piece, especially on high heat, has the same effect as eating very very over-salted food.
Very high medicinal value, esteemed in the Chinese and Japanese markets. This is a medicine I only appreciate in small dosages.
Very odd specie. The tree collects a massive mound of sticky mulch of dead leaves around the base of the tree, but the bark is close to Filipino Aquilaria, but the fruit is almost identical to Indian Malaccensis, but the leaf is like the soursop tree (hence the name Sirsak = Bahasa for soursop).
And the aroma and appearance of the resinated pieces... very close to high-mountain Malaysian Candan (Hirta) of east peninsular Malaysia. Its even got the same knotty appearance.
I'm sure those of you who've tried Candan before (e.g. my final two BKS batches of Malaysian wood some years ago) would mistake this for Candan. I know I would have.
Edit: well I couldn't resist, so out came another very unusual variety of agarwood... Beringin.
And not just any Beringin, but the equivalent of Vietnamese Quang Nam red soil agarwood. Notice the glittering resin crystals.
A tiny speck on low heat will make your room smell like you heated Filipino agarwood slathered with orris butter. Delicious. But a thicker piece, especially on high heat, has the same effect as eating very very over-salted food.
Very high medicinal value, esteemed in the Chinese and Japanese markets. This is a medicine I only appreciate in small dosages.
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