Oud Ertugrul II

Everytime you smell certain ouds, you marvel at how un-oudy they are. Often you think that the one you’re smelling must be the most unique oud you’ve smelled. Then you remember another one and go, “…but that one’s also so unique. And so is that one, and that one!”

That’s the beauty of oud – it truly is an olfactory microcosm. No other aromatic comes even close to its breadth of variety and complexity.  

Personally, the most distinct impression of an oud not being an oud I keep experiencing is with a good Borneo oud. And I mean this in the best way possible.

Because the world of oud offers such a vast scentscape, it’s exactly when an oud smells out of place that you begin to appreciate it. While the landscape may be vast, most people are stuck in one of its corners where all ouds smell mostly alike – all mere variations of ‘the oud smell’. 

The reason is that while the oudscape may be vast, few have access to the treasures that let you smell the rare and undiscovered oud scents.

The reason for the lack of accessibility is that the artisanal distillations cost way more to create. They require better raw agarwood (here, it’s not just the cost of the wood but the time and effort it takes to track it down, i.e. the opportunity cost is also high), finer distillation parameters, and distillation itself that sometimes runs five times longer than generic ouds (2+ months vs. 2 weeks or less). It’s more expensive on all fronts.

Give laymen in countries where oud is common a swipe of Borneo and there’s a good chance they won’t recognize it as oud. They may even try to educate you on how it’s not oud, thinking they know better because they’re swimming in oud (of the same generic kind and quality).

But pause for a minute and seek out any Borneo oud even within ‘niche’ circles and you’ll discover that there are actually very few. And after twenty years in the field, I can guarantee you that you can cancel out many of those few for being either diluted or simply downright fake Borneos – or not even oud at all!

So, imagine a quality Borneo oud…

Oud Ertugrul II is the most replete, all-round unique, full-spectrum Borneo I’ve offered in recent times. It’s a notch up from Borneo Reborn in complexity and three notches up in terms of unusualness. Being unusual within an unusual niche within the oud world is… unusual.

You’ll smell that vanillic chord dormant in the highest-grade Borneo agarwood, but it doesn’t define the profile. Instead, there’s a juicy citrus note that’s almost jammy – super unusual for a Borneo – admixed with an earthy undercurrent that’s half petrichor half pine sap that fuses with that ravishing zesty jammy heart.

Borneos tend to have dry aromas, but Oud Ertugrul II practically drips. Behind, beneath, throughout those unique zesty jammy tones, you smell cinnamon-sprinkled-berries wrapped in a creamy accord (partly courtesy of that vanillic note) that is also highlighted in full bloom in its namesake Pure Parfum rendition which “just takes my love and appreciation of Bornean oils to new heights and makes me want to explore more.” (Suren I. on the Oud Ertugrul, the perfume, available here.)

The oud has been aging for almost nine years, which in Borneo-years is a few decades – I’ve seen Borneo agarwood prices quadruple in one year! This means that you’re getting a fully matured distillation that’s smooth and gives you an impeccable portrait of this famous profile.

If you don’t have a Borneo in your collection, and most certainly if you haven’t even smelled one, Oud Ertugrul II is a fantastic introduction. If you’ve owned the likes of Borneo 3000 or Borneo Reborn, this will be give you the same vibes – plus those zesty jammy berry chords that’ll really stand out when you swipe whatever Borneo/s you currently have, which will make you love ALL your Borneos all the more.