DrB1414

Ensar Oud, Oud Salahuddin.

I thought after Oud Ahmad, there was no more to surprise me. There cannot be an aromatic that boasts more complexity and sheer awe than Oud Ahmad. I was wrong. Oud Salahuddin was the key to unlocking a new olfactory realm. Can it go further than this?

This oil was distilled in 2001, next to two other legendary oils which I hold dear to my heart. Oud Sultani and Oud Ahmad. Sinking grade wood, but instead of using just Malaysian (Kelantan) Agarwood they decided to throw Cambodian into the pot, as well. The result is something that I cannot relate to any perfume, attar, or oud oil. It is its own beast. If I had to describe the smell in one word, it would be ANCIENT. The smell of an old castle chamber, an old library, old terracotta pots, or old musical instruments. I have a very old piano at home, maybe 80 years old. Sometimes I lean to smell its keyboard. It has a beautiful smell. I looked for many years to capture that scent in perfumes yet to no avail. Oud oils came closest but none as close as Oud Salahuddin. It also smells like red terracotta pots. Or old chambers inside a Medieval castle. Ancient. That is the overall feel this oil has upon smelling it. Its complexity and scent profile, however, go way beyond that if one spends time analyzing it. And it seems to change depending on how much I apply, and skin temperature. I would say it is akin more to Vietnamese oils than either Cambodi or Malay. Like a Red Vietnamese oil boasting that bitter-sweet, earthy medicinal aroma.

The opening is either an explosion of red powderiness or red incense smoke. When it is red powder it goes hand in hand with a slight golden honey sweetness and a vivid red terracotta pot smell. When it begins as a red smoky incense accord, it feels much darker, akin to Oud Ahmad. Most of the time, it starts as the red powdery terracotta smell, laced with faint pollen-honey-like sweetness, adjoined by a bitter and sharp green facet that feels like the jungle and earth being struck by the summer rain. Dusty almost, in texture. Green, red, earthy, and slightly sweet. Akin to the Vietnamese profile or old Cambodis. I can sense faint traces of Oud Ahmad and Kambodi 1976. The first part is bright red, like a landscape during daylight. As it progresses, it gets darker. The green hues turn brown and finally black. The blast of red powder shapes into a fine red incense smoke that tingles your nostrils. An incense stick, burning in a dark ancient chamber, its aroma permeating the room and throwing your mind into a limbo. I feel words cannot do justice to this oil. I only write this so that people can get a glimpse of what Oud Salahuddin can offer. It is an aromatic that, at this point, exceeds my power of putting into words what my nose tries so hard to decipher. Oud Ahmad is Ancient and Dark. Oud Salahuddin is Ancient and Wise. If I were to name this oil, I would have called it Confucius.

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Musc Tonkin from Parfum D'Empire.

I remember reading about this fragrance back in the day before experiencing real deer musk and searching for a perfume that was considered a good approximation by the community. Now, many years later, I don't see Musc Tonkin as a perfume that is supposed to be a rendition of that, but rather a floral-chypre perfume with a resinous touch, infused with a BIG animalic cocktail that does indeed instill the whole "Natural Deer Musk" feel to the composition. The accord does capture the scent of natural musk, at least to some extent, and certain facets of it. What you smell first, is the floral-chypre component and the resins, then the musk. I find it not as overtly musky as say, Musk Kublai Khan or even Musc Ravageur (to keep it in the synthetic/commercial territory), but it is just as dirty as the first, if not more. The blending is superb, hence, breaking it apart is difficult. There is a big floral component saturated in indoles and an earthy, mossy component warmed by resins. All this structure is infused with a generous cocktail of various synthetic musks, indoles, hyraceum, and ambergris, making the florals feel alive, almost drawing breath, fleshy, and sweating. There is a prominent saltiness and halitosis quality to the composition. That's how hard the base hits. It feels like sitting inside a forest glade full of flowers and animals. The perfume has a powerful vintage flair, and I can see average sniffers calling it an "old woman/man perfume". An odd to vintage floral chypres that were not ashamed of using the same heavy musks in their base to make them interesting and bigger than life.

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Oudh Lacquer from Soivohle. An amazingly complex cocoa-oud pairing that came way before that was considered trendy(Russian Oud, wink wink). I'm surprised no one talks about this brew, but I suppose it doesn't look good in flex pictures(as someone recently told me that they are only interested in acquiring perfumes that would look good in pictures, insert facepalm)

The blend itself is beyond masterful and clever. As the name suggests, the cocoa and the oud blend to create more of a chocolate liquor accord or cocoa/chocolate served with wine. Now, I do love Russian Oud, which showcases one of my favorite uses of cocoa in perfumery. This one takes a different approach, however, in blending the two materials. The Oud used here has more of an earthy, musty, antique smell as opposed to the Hindi profile that permeates Russian Oud. Oud here is dark, gloomy, and mysterious. And what better way to complement that profile than to add mushrooms, which naturally pair well with both cocoa and this type of oud? Take it a step further and suspend the entire formula in an aged tincture of oud and spices and you'll get an amazingly deep aroma. Intoxicating. She uses some floral notes as well to balance the composition, and the linden blossom accord shines more than the others to give a nice and unique touch of fresh sweetness. It feels almost honeyed and citrusy at the same time. Although it starts dusty, musty, and dank, it slowly morphs into this most inviting dessert of dark chocolate, wine, and spices, served on an old wooden table with some freshly cut linden blossoms sitting on the side. It is dark and earthy but smooth, inviting, and mysterious simultaneously. It feels like going into an old, dank cellar to choose your favorite chocolate liquor that has been aging away for decades, waiting to caress your palate. A charming composition for cocoa and oud lovers like myself.

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Oriscent Kyara Koutan. Another heavy-bodied and nose-numbing oil, in the veins of Royal Kinam V1, Kyara LTD, Pusong LTD, and Nha Trang LTD. I'd say it comes closer to Royal Kinam V1 than the others.

Strong, medicinal, and bitter kinamic fumes that numb your senses and pierce through the cortex, down the spine, and in the back of your throat. I once applied too much and could taste the oil in my mouth. This is a powerhouse oud oil. Less is more. A tiny dot envelops you. And although I find it very similar to RK at the top, the body is very different. I never smelled a Burmese oil like this. No leather, no funk, no fermentation. Pristine and clean yet heavy. Deep and brown. It has three main facets that intermingle. And each time I wear it, I get something slightly different. I'm testing to see if the amount I apply makes a difference. Sometimes, it is very antiseptic, with an almost verdant and cooling quality like eucalyptus. Other times, I get a green jungle smell during heavy rainfall. More often than not, it displays steamed milk, hot chocolate, cocoa, coffee-like earthiness and flavor. This latter facet is always present, but sometimes it shows itself more than the others. Bitter-medicinal fumes at the top dissolve into this steamed hot chocolate body that soothes your soul. Savory almost yet never gourmand. Maybe I should let one drop slip into my cup of coffee and see what happens. That's how I'd like my coffee every morning. One thing is sure. It clears your mind and awakes your senses like a strong cup of black coffee.

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The best way to describe this scent is that of an old fireplace. Being next to the fireplace, sipping your tea, reading an old, dusty book. On my skin, this perfume unfolds as a most gorgeous Amber Fossil accord with a prominent Lapsang tea woody-smoky aroma. I get almost zero sweetness from it, although it lists honey. You have the smoky quality from the tea note, with a characteristic woody undertone adjoined to the smokiness of the amber fossil, labdanum, and other resins used. I love Amber Resin accords in perfumery, and this one is among the best I have come across. On top of that, all-natural, using actual fossilized amber resin. Hence, you get the typical facets of leather, dustiness, dryness, and toffee-like texture. There is also a slight bitter-medicinal feel to the perfume that works well with the other accords. When I smell an amber resin-themed perfume, I want it to make me think of something old and dusty. Very few managed to pull off that imagery, this one being one of them and the most realistic at that. In a market where all the Amber perfumes are overdosed on vanillin, ambrarome, and ambroxan, with the sweetness reaching sky-high limits, compositions like this are a breath of fresh air, or should I say, old air.

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