07
Jul
Jul
Oudheads who love detail know that there are two sides to this fragrant coin: agarwood’s essential, intrinsic—core—smell, and its ‘auxiliary’ (or secondary) notes. Those fruity, floral, honey-sweet, savory umami notes in your…
Tag Archives: OG
13
Jun
Jun
Indigenous cultures and modern minds alike swear to the sacred nature of the mysterious agarwood tree. Oud wood and oil have a place in the homes of laymen and business tycoons alike, whether as carved agarwood beads, aloeswood miniatures of religious symbols, or bottles of fragrant oud oil. We might have dismissed it as mere […]
12
Mar
Mar
Here’s yet another Kyara theory some of you might find interesting. I met a bright and resourceful scientist in Borneo who was fascinated with the resination process of agarwood, particularly that of Kyara. Based in Malaysian Borneo, where you find numerous centennial aquilarias with zero infection, he hypothesized that the reason so many of the…
22
Jun
Jun
There is a huge difference between something that gets produced in order to get sold, and something that gets produced in order to be kept. ‘Financial viability’ is the last thing to be considered when a…
11
Jan
Jan
The warehouses in the oud center of the world do not stock Cambodian agarwood anymore. If you want to get a look at the best pieces go see the ones up on display behind the boss’ desk, but don’t bet on getting a piece of your own. This is largely because major oud hubs across […]
01
Sep
Sep
Q: “Ensar, having now the benefit of experience of several distillations from incense-grade wood, do you still think it’s worth the risk and do you plan on doing any more? The cost is much higher and because the wood is so resinated, yields are modest. Of course, the resulting oils can be spectacular, but even […]
17
Aug
Aug
No one can blame him for the initial suspicion he showed towards me – this stranger from the West who seemed to challenge him on every point he brought up. The oud business is rough and dirty, and he’d been in the thick of it for decades. He used to be the main oud supplier […]
06
Mar
Mar
If you’re new to the world of Oud, one word you hear being chanted all over the place is ‘Cambodi.’ So, what is Oud Cambodi, anyway? In the beginning, there was Oud Hindi. This was the deep, reddish-brown juice that was presented to the Sheikhs and Emirs, Sultans and dignitaries in fancy crystal flasks back […]
30
Nov
Nov
30 May 2012 Kuala Lumpur ‘If you want oud oil, all I have to do is make a phone call. I can get you two kilos in two minutes. But you know what kind of oud it’ll be…’ explained the man who first set up distillation in Kuala Lumpur, as he showed us around his […]
12
May
May
12 April 2012 Mission Borneo: Progress Report I. Eating Agarwood Dust Singapore. It’s here where we first heard the news that the agarwood world as we know it is at its end. Six months later, en route to Borneo, we stopped over in Singapore to find out what has come to pass since our last […]