bhanny

Oud Fan
Precisely!



I'd suggest 5 testers.
One idea is not just an opt in, but actual selection of candidates by the community.
Another idea I had when I first imagined this, is having secret candidates. You get selected, receive an invitation and opt in or out,
but are not allowed to tell anyone else you have been approached or are participating until results are posted.



That would depend on the extent of your collection and what knowledge any participant has of the content of your collection.
Another of my original thoughts was to have a neutral referee send out samples.
1. The referee receives oils from sources A, B, C...
2. The referee decides which oils will be part of the trial. Not every oil from the initial pool will be used.
3. Each participant receives oils with a different numbering. i.e For Participant1 Borneo 50k will be sample no.1, while for Participant2 it will be sample no.3.
4. Results are posted directly to the forum on agreed date by participants, or to another neutral participant.
5. The referee collates the results.


@Mod
Perhaps move related posts to a new dedicated thread,
if this gathers steam.
(I hope)
Cool idea!
 

MzM

Oud King
Great Idea, it would be an experiment to try out perhaps at the Oud fayre. Each vendor can supply 3 or 4 samples labeled 1 to 4 or a third party person could take samples from each vendor and label them without letting anyone know. Then through the course of the weekend visitors can try the oils and give them a numerical rating...? something along these lines would be very interesting
This is a great idea.
 

Rai Munir

Musk Man
Dear powdernose, thumb up!

'Virgin nose' suggestion is more than appreciable. This is the best way to avoid the pitfalls that an 'experienced nose' is generally willingly prone to jump into.

I second each post including the one with rules and regulations by respected powdernose.
 
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Ashfaque

Jonoon al Oud
I like the blind test proposal from @Faizal_p

It removes any potential biasedness towards any vendor - be it positive or negative. I've done something similar in experimental / information economics - sometimes they produce very important and revealing information. Looking forward to the experiment.

If I may, I think it will be better to have some ground rules (std practice) before and during application of any oil - for e.g., washing hands and drying them first, not using any other oils, not rubbing the skin area where the oil is applied, no re-application, not trying to find out the vendor's identity by comparing things from his own stash, etc. Experienced users will not do those things, but for novices it is worth mentioning. The co-ordinators and experts can decide what goes into the list of standard practices. The results will then be even more robust.
 

powdernose

Oud Sprite
If I may, I think it will be better to have some ground rules (std practice) before and during application of any oil - for e.g., washing hands and drying them first, not using any other oils, not rubbing the skin area where the oil is applied, no re-application, not trying to find out the vendor's identity by comparing things from his own stash, etc. Experienced users will not do those things, but for novices it is worth mentioning. The co-ordinators and experts can decide what goes into the list of standard practices. The results will then be even more robust.

Definitely,
as well as a standard format for formulating results.

Seeking to identify a blind sample by hunting for an identical in your own stash is obviously poor practice!
In fact any attempt to identify any sample, by any means, would be foul play. I'd say anyone who can't resist that basic temptation is a bad candidate and should exclude themselves.

Other points you raise seem far less important, but some basic rules could help.

As for novices, my idea was to have a single novice, mostly as means of an equaliser.
I don't think any novice would have any particular difficulty in completing the exercise. No need for 'training'.
 

powdernose

Oud Sprite
Regarding a standard format for reporting results,
I thought I'd draft a Result Sheet for blind testing, as a starting idea, as a springboard.

attached is a screenshot of the draft excel sheet
 

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Ouddict

Ouddict Co-Founder & Tech Support
Loving the ideas @powdernose. Just one point I’d like to make. One thing I have found in my experience is that sometimes one smells an unbranded Oud in isolation - almost akin to a blind test. Immediately an Oud from one of the well known established vendors comes to mind and you think, damn this is so good, so much cheaper and smells like Oud X from Vendor Y.

A few days later you decided to compare the Ouds side by side (a few days as I’m too busy with a 100 other things :D).

As you make the comparison, you immediately realise that your olfactory member must be pretty rubbish as Oud X from Vendor Y is far far better than this other oil that evoked memories of Oud X only a couple of days ago. However, side by side it’s a totally different experience and there is little to no similarity.

To me, this is a problem with blind testing, unless a good representative sample of other Ouds are also on hand.
 
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powdernose

Oud Sprite
That is a good point.
It has probably happened to all of us. However, the more you go through this process, the more you strengthen your oud experience.
At least I think so.
Someone who has gone through this process over and over again should be more experienced than someone who has not.

Also, if I may counter, you are referring to smelling an oil once in isolation and making associations.
What I'm recommending is intensely testing a cluster of samples. So no oil is ever in total isolation, and you'd be smelling the oils many times before writing any assessment.

No testing method can be perfect :)

Loving the ideas @powdernose. Just one point I’d like to make. One thing I have found in my experience is that sometimes one smells an unbranded Oud in isolation - almost akin to a blind test. Immediately an Oud from one of the well known established vendors comes to mind and you think, damn this is so good, so much cheaper and smells like Oud X from Vendor Y.

A few days later you decided to compare the Ouds side by side (a few days as I’m too busy with a 100 other things :D).

As you make the comparison, you immediately realise that your olfactory member must be pretty rubbish as Oud X from Vendor Y is far far better than this other oil that evoked memories of Oud X only a couple of days ago. However, side by side it’s a totally different experience and there is little to no similarity.
 

Ouddict

Ouddict Co-Founder & Tech Support
Also, if I may counter, you are referring to smelling an oil once in isolation and making associations.
What I'm recommending is intensely testing a cluster of samples. So no oil is ever in total isolation, and you'd be smelling the oils many times before writing any assessment.

No testing method can be perfect :)

Ah yes... testing a cluster makes sense
 

Woodland Note

True Ouddict
Too bad that dogs can’t speak human language, they have much better sense of smell than we do.
It would be interesting to hear their opinion.


Would the estimated age of oud find a place in this result sheet table as well? I read here and there that aging process makes oud oils scent more rounded and smooth.
 

powdernose

Oud Sprite
Would the estimated age of oud find a place in this result sheet table as well? I read here and there that aging process makes oud oils scent more rounded and smooth.

It could sure, I think one should be open to both additions and subtractions.

In my own view though I would not add an age estimation.
I think it is too much to ask of the poor nose.
I can't see any appreciable benefit to adding it either.
 

Rai Munir

Musk Man
Too bad that dogs can’t speak human language, they have much better sense of smell than we do.
It would be interesting to hear their opinion.


Would the estimated age of oud find a place in this result sheet table as well? I read here and there that aging process makes oud oils scent more rounded and smooth.
But they don't have for fragrances. Cats have extreme sensitivity for some fragrances, for example raw Musk Root. They virtually get hypnotized.
 

Hamza H

Resident Artisan
The wonders of agarwood - anti-cancer properties of Aquilaria Malaccensis oil:

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2211601X11002884

It's narrated in one of our Hadith books as well of Oudh containing cures.

Narrated Um Qais : that she took to Allah's Apostle one of her sons whose palate and tonsils she had pressed because he had throat trouble. The Prophet said, "Why do you pain your children by getting the palate pressed like that? Use the Ud Al-Hindi (certain Indian incense) for it cures seven diseases one of which is pleurisy."
 

Faizal_p

Sulaym.co.uk
It's narrated in one of our Hadith books as well of Oudh containing cures.

Narrated Um Qais : that she took to Allah's Apostle one of her sons whose palate and tonsils she had pressed because he had throat trouble. The Prophet said, "Why do you pain your children by getting the palate pressed like that? Use the Ud Al-Hindi (certain Indian incense) for it cures seven diseases one of which is pleurisy."

This is not the agarwood wood but Indian costus: https://www.amazon.co.uk/SunnaHealing-UK-Indian-Costus-Powder/dp/B01MRVRX1E
 

Ouddict

Ouddict Co-Founder & Tech Support
Is it called scent of heaven??? It's super old if that's the one. Do you have the link?

That’s what it is called... but I wasn’t watching it, my wife was. I overheard some story about a Thai ranger being shot and killed and I can’t remember if the other one had this scene...
 
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