Category Archives: The Oud Journey
Mar
The Great Cambodian Experiment: VII I was sitting in the back of a pick-up truck with my head squeezed in between a web of red ropes bound around a huge empty blue tank. Sort of half-way seated on a dirty oil container toward the back of the truck, my legs awkwardly tucked between the ropes […]
The Great Cambodian Experiment: VI This is a rerun of one of my earliest distills which sold way back in 2004. To this day I get emails asking for Sultan Murad, so I thought it was time to revisit the old timer and see if I could improve on anything while retaining his distinct Papuan […]
The Great Cambodian Experiment: V 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 […]
The Great Cambodian Experiment: IV ‘What do you think God has to gain from you getting up to wash your face and do a few quick bends and bows in the pre-dawn hours when no sane person is anything but asleep?’ the Shaykh once asked. This was in Jordan, where I had moved from New […]
The Great Cambodian Experiment: II A farm worker handed me the frying pan they had just finished cooking their lunch in. I could barely greet somebody properly in Thai, so through sign language I tried to explain that I couldn’t cook in the same pot without washing it first. When I was younger, at a […]
The Great Cambodian Experiment: I Tomorrow’s a big day. We’re going back and forth to so many countries there’s moments where I have to pause and remind myself which one we’re in at the moment. Often, I’d wake up in the middle of the night and it’ll take a while before I can figure out […]
Dr. Andrej is more obsessed with oud than most diehard collectors and his acute appreciation for all things oud got him to get in touch with Ensar. Their ongoing discussion has covered numerous themes that delve into the finer details of artisanal oud oil. This is the first in a series of posts that follows the email […]