2018 is about to say goodbye, but leaving me with a lot of Musk and Oud oils to remember. I feel indebted to all respectable distillers, distiller vendors, and vendors. Their untiring efforts made it possible to enrich fragrant treasure.
I am deeply thankful to all the vendors and all the members who contributed to Oud legacy. Putting aside differences of opinion over the qualitative aspect of oils and over the supremacy of creative skills of the vendors, respect and love for oils and vendors had always been there, and would always be there.
Here I am to share end of year findings of mine that I noted throughout my voyage into Oscent.
It is just mine, and I confess I am a limited being with limited olfactory sense. I acquired from all except Al Hashimi, directly or indirectly.
1. Ensar Oud: A lot of oils released this year, including Oud and Musk. Rather Musk based oils had been fervently marketed. The unique trait of EO in my view has always been it never releases oils without proper curing and aging. This is why its majority of oils are flawless.
A long range of spectacular Oud oils is there to mention. Midori Qi, Surirankeh Senkoh and Sumbawa Oud and many more were there to love. Yes, these oils compelled me to love them. I couldn’t withstand their pull.
2. Al Shareef Oudh: I tried maximum itr from ASO, and a few Oud oils as well. To be honest, Yaqoot touched my heart at maximum. It is gorgeous. Turath II is also a quality Musk based oil. The Musk Invisible Fire is very much there. Qandhar and Al Ruba’aiee remained my inspiration.
3. Agar Aura: The only brand that remained true to its signature. Clean and smooth aroma that I experienced in AA’s oils was nowhere in any other oil from any other brand. Ayu, Hindustan 1, Kuzen remained my love sort of oils. And it is enough to make me love AA's Oud.
4. Imperial Oud: A lot of Chinese Oud oils. Just imagine: Hainan Imperiale, Yunan Imperiale, Fragrant Harbour Supreme, Hainan Vintage, Fragrant Harbour, etc. The oils that made me experience a new Oudy dimension was Ceylon Royale. Shah Jahan was an excellent one.
Mysore Santal 2002, I wish I could acquire the whole batch. I am thinking on it to stop buying Oud anymore, at least for a year, and buy Mysore Santal 2002. I have consumed at least 65 ml plus Mysore Santal 2002 in fourteen months.
So far as IO’s attars go, Mysuru Amber is excellent, Mysore bil Misk is very good.
The oil L’Oriental/ Al Mashriq that I have tried and is still with me, is the best Musk attar by any vendor. It will be released; otherwise, I would have not mentioned it here.
5. Habzoud: Excellent! No more words needed at all. At the moment, no such claims that I or the team distilled this bla bla oil after spending days and night without having proper rest. Borneo and Shams were great oils. But Qamar… got eclipsed. I am sure if I had not tried Shams Ceylon Oud, I would have missed Ceylon Oud, or at least a superb Ceylon Oud.
One riddle that my friend and I could not resolve: Why the brand name is Habzoud, and not Habz Oud?
6. Royal Bengal Oud: Ish rocks! The best thing I tried from him is Santal wood shavings. Beautiful. The Oud oils he offers are good and very good.
7. Rising Phoenix Perfumes: Though I have tried a few Oud oils and a few attars yet, but I found maximum variety available to all sorts of customers. No doubt, extremely neglected and underrated brand it is. I don’t why. But I am amazed how JK manages acquiring hell variety of things. RPP’s Hindi oil (I forgot the name) was an excellent oil for a traditional Oud lover. I found Kalanam Islay a must for me. The way Assam Organic is no more organic, but better than a lot of wild oils, Kalanam Islay is not a cultivated oil for me, but wild. Shaikh al Khalifa Attar is one of the best Rose based attars.
8. La Maison Khenata: Slow and steady wins the race. No big claims from this brand, though some oils deserve to come forward. Malay Cola and traditional Hindi Oud attracted me a lot. I being a Musk oriented person know the worth of Malay Cola. I feel the brand has a lot more fragrances to deal in. Noir Velours I wore many times, and each time I enjoyed its Hindi tone. I wish it were rather smooth. But Malay Cola is the oil with different taste.
Ambergris is the niche product of this brand, I suppose.
9. Mellifluence and Elixir Attar: Both the brands have to work harder to become artisans, if they want to. Both the brands are working to excel.
I acquired the sample pack (that had at least thirteen oils including Al Gha'aliya) from Elixir Attar, and at least ten to fifteen oils (1 ml each) from Mellifluence. The attars were pleasant enough. May they flourish more and more.
10. Tyson: The day Tyson distilled Oud (and most probably he will be the first distiller-vendor, beyond any doubt), I will be the first customer to tender my request for a bottle. He said what he actually did, and he wrote what he honestly felt about the oils he offered. THE ONLY VENDOR who criticized his own oils. Otherwise, I haven’t found even a single vendor saying his this or that oil is average.
Santal oil had been the prominent feature of the brand, and it truly deserves to be prominent. Snow White to Aluhalaza, it is an upward journey. Aluhalaza is the pinnacle indeed. Moreover, two beautiful attars Euphoria and Holy moved me, though they drastically share the essential nuances. Frank Vanilla is good. But Palo Santo and Santal is more than interesting infusion for me. And Frankincense oil is beautiful, and worth macerating Musk in it.
I have Tyson’s Oud Santal Frangipani blend. As it is just with me, so no more words. But I must say Tyson has to distill Oud. And if possible, which is near to impossible, share the cost price of the Oud oil. Anyway, Tyson is the vendor of the year for me. Not only his oils speak, but he himself honestly and cruelly speaks about his oils as well.
11. Sultan Pasha: In the world of attar making, this brand is superior to all. No doubt it has something unique. Ensar Rose is horribly stunning. Some attars are genuinely great. I will try to acquire a few more attars to try to have rather comprehensive opinion because I feel there are at least more than 100 oils.
This year I could find only Ceylon Ouds whom I found ‘Oud as such’. Luxury has no price. Oud Suriranka Senkoh, Oud Shams, and Ceylon Royale and Ayu would remain with me for years. Musk dominated the minds. Pure Musk is to be tried at least once in life to instill a fragrant soul into life.
Edit: Well, with an open heart, I edited the whole post for the sake of this small community.