Attar/Mukhallat of the Day

[OudGood]

Turkish rose I bought from Pierre chauvet about 15 years ago. Old rose... is pretty stable actually. Rose oil changes a lot in the first year, then settles into something that is less fresh but kind of just stays the same, which is good.

Turkish rose almost always reminds me of raspberries. I have smelled some small lot Turkish organic rose that was indistinguishable from good Bulgarian but all my “ordinary” Turkish rose oil, from a couple of different sources, has this subtle raspberry note mixed in there. Not sure what to think of it.

Do you like Turkish rose better than Bulgarian?

 

[Mr.P]

Oh no... for 80% of what I have smelled, I was not really impressed. But that small batch organic Turkish was every bit as good as the best Bulgarian I have ever smelled. So I think Turkish rose could be just as good as Bulgarian? Not sure why so much of it smells kind of flat and tinged with raspberry? Maybe I just had bad luck - I’ve probably only smelled a half dozen Turkish rose oils so I have basically no experience.

 

[OudGood]

Oh no... for 80% of what I have smelled, I was not really impressed. But that small batch organic Turkish was every bit as good as the best Bulgarian I have ever smelled. So I think Turkish rose could be just as good as Bulgarian? Not sure why so much of it smells kind of flat and tinged with raspberry? Maybe I just had bad luck - I’ve probably only smelled a half dozen Turkish rose oils so I have basically no experience.

I believe rose was introduced in Turkey by Bulgarian immigrants, so they are same breed of plants however it is clear that climate and soil makes a huge difference. Out of all different types of rose I smelled, I personally liked Bulgarian the most.

 

[Sproaty]

Man Musk by Rising Phoenix, very vintage smelling chypre. Strong and long lasting

 

[Rai Munir]

I believe rose was introduced in Turkey by Bulgarian immigrants, so they are same breed of plants however it is clear that climate and soil makes a huge difference. Out of all different types of rose I smelled, I personally liked Bulgarian the most.

Afghani rose is basically Bulgarian as the project to plant rose had been initiated by the government to counter growing hash.

 

[Al Shareef Oudh]

Afghani rose is basically Bulgarian as the project to plant rose had been initiated by the government to counter growing hash.

This is a common misconception and one that isnt helped by the popular media either. The rose type distilled in Afghanistan is the Damask / Damascena rose which locally is known as the Mohammadi rose. These roses were not imported from Bulgaria rather they would have come centuries before via the Islamic influence.

When the project was initially launched in 2005 the rose and some oils were sent to about 5 different labs around the world including Bulgaria to check the genus of the roses and it was confirmed to be the famous damask rose. Then mass crops were grown off the local plants.

When it came to distillation setup it is a hybrid system the mainly stainless-steel distillation system was designed and built by the Germans. The units have captured the best of the Bulgarian and traditional designs used in Ta’fi, India and Isfahan. Whereas the Bulgarian systems force out both the oils and waxes from the petals by steam, the Nangarhar system behaves more like the Ta’ifi deghs capturing only the oils. That is why more rose petals are required for one litre of Nangarhar rose oil compared to the Bulgarian rose oil. To be precise, 7 tonnes are measured for every litre of Nangarhar rose oil in comparison to just 4 tonnes for Bulgarian steam distilled oils.

While Rose oils share many similarities and the difference is in the detail, there is a big difference between the Afghani and Bulgarian rose in the detail.

The Afghani rose has spicey and woody notes, especially in the dry down, the Bulgarian is powdery, flowery. The Bulgarian is profous in the top the Afghan not so much. The Bulgarian is an instant rose, the Afghan is more gradual.

 

[Rai Munir]

Respected Al Shareef Oudh, in fact you already mentioned it in some of your post, but, with due respect, there is some lacuna. Government and the news agencies of different countries don't endorse it. The rose being distilled at Nangarhar/ Afghanistan is majorly Bulgarian. Second, it doesn't mean there was no rose in Afghanistan before that. The way it doesn't make sense there was no rose in Turkey before the people brought it from Bulgaria. Anyway.

Below is an excerpt from the article "Flower power: Afghanistan's poppy farmers harvest success with rose" published in the Hindustan Times:

"The farmers grow a variety known as Damask roses, which were brought from Bulgaria by the Germans but are endemic to Afghanistan, says Mohammad Akbar Mohmand, the owner of Afghan Rose Ltd."

And many more references are there as well.

I tried to contact the distiller in Nangarhar province, who has an outlet in Jalalabad, and running a brand Orzala nowadays. I succeeded as well. Hope I will be able to get the oils, rose and neroli, from him. He also endorses that there was just poppy fields everywhere. But after the Afghan US war, the government initiated rose cultivation projects to divert the attention of the local people from hashish (poppy, not hashish) to rose.

Yet, your point is noted, and it will further be searched.

Thanks and cheers and peace!

Edit: The red one

 

[Al Shareef Oudh]

Respected Al Shareef Oudh, in fact you already mentioned it in some of your post, but, with due respect, there is some lacuna. Government and the news agencies of different countries don't endorse it. The rose being distilled at Nangarhar/ Afghanistan is majorly Bulgarian. Second, it doesn't mean there was no rose in Afghanistan before that. The way it doesn't make sense there was no rose in Turkey before the people brought it from Bulgaria. Anyway.

Below is an excerpt from the article "Flower power: Afghanistan's poppy farmers harvest success with rose" published in the Hindustan Times:

"The farmers grow a variety known as Damask roses, which were brought from Bulgaria by the Germans but are endemic to Afghanistan, says Mohammad Akbar Mohmand, the owner of Afghan Rose Ltd."

And many more references are there as well.

I tried to contact the distiller in Nangarhar province, who has an outlet in Jalalabad, and running a brand Orzala nowadays. I succeeded as well. Hope I will be able to get the oils, rose and neroli, from him. He also endorses that there was just poppy fields everywhere. But after the Afghan US war, the government initiated rose cultivation projects to divert the attention of the local people from hashish to rose.

Yet, your point is noted, and it will further be searched.

Thanks and cheers and peace!

I think I understand where you are getting those claims from, yes some news papers ran with those stories and Hindustan Times you might as well put a link to a Bollywood music sequel. I can't vouch for the accuracy of those claims purely based on what I heard from the horse's mouth. But you may continue to propergate that if you feel it is true what the Hindustan Times has said.

In our discussions this very point was broughtbup with the owner of orzala and he confirmed to us that the roses in their crops are all local damask roses known as Mohammadi, he was infact adamant that they are not from Bulgaria.

CBD is now being taken up like a storm in many different applications from perfumery to MMA training recovery, if they were growing hashih in Nangarhar and not poppy, they May have been ahead of the race due to huge CBD demand, but maybe it was poppy and not hashih

 

[Rai Munir]

yes some news papers ran with those stories and Hindustan Times you might as well put a link to a Bollywood music sequel.

Stories! And for what? What purpose it would serve for them if these are stories? And even Afghan govt. says so. So, please don't consider it a story. Second, I assure you there is no news I could ever find about oils in Bollywood, Hollywood and in any sequel or season. Sorry, I must rectify, yes, there is one reference "The Perfume". I rectified so that not to disturb you, respected Al Shareef Oudh, to refer to that.

But you may continue to propergate that if you feel it is true what the Hindustan Times has said.

If it is so, respected Al Shareef Oudh, the same thing your highness is doing. But I assure you I am not propagating anything as I have no stakes of any kind.

In our discussions this very point was broughtbup with the owner of orzala and he confirmed to us that the roses in their crops are all local damask roses known as Mohammadi, he was infact adamant that they are not from Bulgaria.

I never found him adamant at all. Second, rose in Nangarhar is no secret at all. Please have a lovely trip to the area and you will find the fields where a decade and a half were poppy fields are covered with rose.

I think I understand where you are getting those claims from

Again with due respect, respected Al Shareef Oudh, I must say you didn't. Second, I prefer to share, not to claim. I whole heartedly own the poem "In Broken Images" by Robert Graves.

CBD and MMA
I am sure, majority of people come to know about it through newspapers, not through Jack Swagger.

Thanks, cheers and peace.

 

[Al Shareef Oudh]

Stories! And for what? What purpose it would serve for them if these are stories? And even Afghan govt. says so. So, please don't consider it a story. Second, I assure you there is no news I could ever find about oils in Bollywood, Hollywood and in any sequel or season. Sorry, I must rectify, yes, there is one reference "The Perfume". I rectified so that not to disturb you, respected Al Shareef Oudh, to refer to that.


If it is so, respected Al Shareef Oudh, the same thing your highness is doing. But I assure you I am not propagating anything as I have no stakes of any kind.


I never found him adamant at all. Second, rose in Nangarhar is no secret at all. Please have a lovely trip to the area and you will find the fields where a decade and a half were poppy fields are covered with rose.

Again with due respect, respected Al Shareef Oudh, I must say you didn't. Second, I prefer to share, not to claim. I whole heartedly own the poem "In Broken Images" by Robert Graves.

CBD and MMA
I am sure, majority of people come to know about it through newspapers, not through Jack Swagger.

Thanks, cheers and peace.

Media outlets at the end of the day have to make money and that could be why they run stories, there could be other reasons too but I am no expert in that field.

Yes plenty of local Afghani Mohammadi roses are now covering the landscape, but the claim you had made was "Afghani rose is basically Bulgarian" which needs some substantiation, you could be right and we would be happy to learn from you if you could elaborate more on that conclusion.

CBD is being promoted definitely, I haven't seen it in news papers, but definitely at some health stores.

You could add to your library Daniel Coleman's "Emotional Intelligence" might be more apt for the modern age of sensitive people that get disturbed easily. "In broken images" could be a bit too much

 

[Rai Munir]

Media outlets at the end of the day have to make money and that could be why they run stories, there could be other reasons too but I am no expert in that field.

My respected Sir, Al Shareef Oudh, you are right, but I cannot understand what sort of benefit these media houses including Afghani, Indian and German have gotten from propagating this fake news. But I will try to understand. After all, I myself have no mastery of journalism and yellow journalism.

but the claim you had made was "Afghani rose is basically Bulgarian" which needs some substantiation

I myself had substantiated it in my post, respected Al Shareef Oudh.

Second, it doesn't mean there was no rose in Afghanistan before that. The way it doesn't make sense there was no rose in Turkey before the people brought it from Bulgaria. Anyway.

You could add to your library Daniel Coleman's "Emotional Intelligence" might be more apt for the modern age of sensitive people that get disturbed easily. "In broken images" could be a bit too much

O GOODNESS!
I will, Sir. But I won't suggest anything to anybody, but it is said EQ is important than EI.

Thanks, cheers and peace.

 

[Rai Munir]

Vintage Musk Maceration Oils:
1. K Musk, M Santal, Tigerwood
2. K Musk, M Santal, Archipelago

While decanting into small bottles, I smeared the drops present on the necks of the lsrge bottles.

Decanted Musk maceration oils into small bottles. It was necessary to do so because the oils were getting brutally stronger. So, I did it just now, and added more Mysore Santal in Musk grains that have already absorbed enough Tigerwood, Archipelago and Mysuru Santal. Of course, those are very much into the grains. After some days, I will add some Oud oils. Which ones? Its up to the mood in coming days.

 

[Woodland Note]

This year’s batch of Bulgarian rose absolute from Alteya is blowing my mind. This is the most true-to-fresh rose scent I have ever smelled, by a long shot. Absolutely stunning rose oil.


I’ve smelled dozens of absolutes and ottos - I don’t know what is different but I am guessing the organic cultivation must result in more complexity in the secondary metabolites like essential oils of the plants. Or maybe it’s just unusually fresh. Or a good season... I did not know rose absolute could smell this nice.

Or maybe it's about the method of extraction? The more I extract various stuff and improve the ways the more life-like result. I still fail a lot with top notes though. Ah, I can't wait to smell living damascena rose flowers I planted this year.

 

[Oudamberlove]

Swiped my homemade Al Ghaliyah #2
The oud used is mainly Bangladesh.
It’s mainly oudy, the rose blends with the other ingredients (as with my AG#1), it’s a bit high pitched (maybe it needs more aging), and has a little fruitiness.
I wonder what will give it more base, and since the musk is mild, I am considering adding more.

I also wonder if it is possible to make a blend where the rose stays intact

 

[Rai Munir]

A Blend of Tyson's Euphoria and Holy Attar in which Ambergris Liquid Mixed: So subtle and so tender, gossamer like scent. Ambergris gave it a touch of depth. Swiped before sleeping, and loved the light balmy puffs.

 

[Mr.P]

Enjoying Rksons sandalwood today, But I applied it last night - several big drops on my arms (this is why I personally never consider sandalwood that’s like $15+ per gram as I would use it way too fast - this is an oil I enjoy applying liberally). For me sandalwood is all about the base that eventually develops and though this oil might not have some of the complexity in its top note that others I have smelled have, the base is there very nicely.

the great thing is I woke up smelling fantastic and even after a shower, I still have that warm dry background sandalwood scent wafting around me. This oil exceeded my expectations greatly.

 

[Ashfaque]

Swiped my homemade Al Ghaliyah #2
The oud used is mainly Bangladesh.
It’s mainly oudy, the rose blends with the other ingredients (as with my AG#1), it’s a bit high pitched (maybe it needs more aging), and has a little fruitiness.
I wonder what will give it more base, and since the musk is mild, I am considering adding more.

I also wonder if it is possible to make a blend where the rose stays intact

Re base: labdanum, musk isolates, patchouli, vetiver, cypriol, myrrh and more ouds. The choices are endless.
Re rose:
- I noticed that if I add rose absolutes (along with Ottos), the overall rose accord to last longer in most blends.
- adding some rose concrete might do the trick too as it has lots of wax in it. But not sure how much one can add in a blend.
- You could try adding citronellol, geraniol and rhodinol (natural isolates) to hike up rose experience further. I haven't tried with those isolates. So this is a guess on some readings.
- Civet always highlights florals - i.e. they become more easily identifiable in blends.
- Ambergris slows the speed of progression of most blends.

 

[Oudamberlove]

Re base: labdanum, musk isolates, patchouli, vetiver, cypriol, myrrh and more ouds. The choices are endless.
Re rose:
- I noticed that if I add rose absolutes (along with Ottos), the overall rose accord to last longer in most blends.
- adding some rose concrete might do the trick too as it has lots of wax in it. But not sure how much one can add in a blend.
- You could try adding citronellol, geraniol and rhodinol (natural isolates) to hike up rose experience further. I haven't tried with those isolates. So this is a guess on some readings.
- Civet always highlights florals - i.e. they become more easily identifiable in blends.
- Ambergris slows the speed of progression of most blends.

Thank you

 

[Uday Lalan]

Any Jasmine attar/perfume lovers here?
My favourite had been Reflection Man vintage until I tried, recently, Al Shaŕeef Yasameen.
Its a beautiful, narcotic, addictive Jasmine with a mild animalic touch of musk, sandalwood, ambergris.

This has good projection and lasting
power is immense on clothes.
This attar gives the vibe of a gorgeous
French perfume from the past.
With sandalwood as base the blend is so well crafted that all the different ingredients
come together in unison. Such perfections
I guess are little difficult to achieve.

 

[Mr.P]

Jasmine perfume, no. Jasmine absolute and essential oil, yes please! Good jasmine is super hard to find though. Been a long time since I’ve seen a nice one. The last real beauty was a “florasol” extracted by Peter Wilde. It’s basically a low temp solvent extraction but the solvent is completely odorless and volatile and evaporates at ambient temperature so zero thermal degradation. I believe extract actually takes place at reduced temperature in this process. Sadly it is no longer available (not sad for me as I bought up a good amount of it).