‘No food, at all?’ I asked to clarify. I still found my own mentor’s injunction to fast two days a week pretty daunting, so I was impressed when the distiller declined a handful of cashew nuts one afternoon saying that food is another thing on his can’t-do list. ‘No, no. Just can’t eat anything […]
Category Archives: The Oud Journey
We had just lost a high-spec balancing scale (worth a pretty penny) to airport security coming to Thailand and I needed to buy a new one to get back to work. But …“I can’t drive” the distiller told me when I asked him if he felt like going to the city. “What do you mean […]
Here’s what Andrej (Croatia), the winner of our free Oud Yusuf draw, had to say about Assam Sur Fleur: “Assam Sur Fleur is a very unconventional Hindi with a perfume-like character. The first note is liquid flower nectar with a transparent sweetness. These could be shy spring flowers – but which ones? It reminds me of […]
A few weeks ago the distiller I’ve been working with on the 100 Year-Old Chanthaburi distillation took off to a remote monastery some 12 hours from his farm. There, aspiring mystics visit an illumined monk who lives cut off from society, deep in the forest. In hopes of attaining higher spiritual ranks, students subject themselves to […]
Hi Thomas, I had already given some thoughts on Borneo Zen, but I thought I could give a comprehensive review now: I have purchased four bottles of Borneo Zen in the past few months. That in itself is saying something, given that I am by no means wealthy. I never want to be without this […]
Following Trygve Harris’ latest escapades through Laos, some confusion has come up about the real state of agarwood. From some corners you’re being told agarwood is all but extinct, only to then hear that there’s in reality a surplus supply. So, what’s the deal? As I’m writing this, looking out at the distillery, a tractor […]
We should all be rejoicing that ‘incense-grade’ agarwood seems to be blooming on the market like never before. Wild-harvested sinking-grade, incense-grade, and all kinds of super-duper grades are not only freely available online, but you can even go to any shopping mall in the Far or Middle East to see it for yourself! Yet, closer […]
Walking out from one perfume shop into the next, what I found in the Emirati malls and outdoor markets was that nothing had changed since my first visit there many years ago. ‘Thaqeel’ and ‘Kalakassi’ are household names in oud circles in both the East and the West. At $680 and $545 per quarter tola, […]
Ensar just arrived in the thick jungles of Borneo, exploring the island’s oud scene. Known for legendary Borneo oils like Borneo 3000 and Borneo Kinam, Ensar embarks on a project to produce the next generation of artisanal Borneo oud oils. Join him on the journey. Visit www.oriscent.com and keep an eye on our facebook page – www.facebook.com/ensaroudoil – to […]
Tupelo honey-laced strawberry jam, and purple bubble gum. Figs, plums and nectarines. Ensar recently launched his most fruitilicious Cambodi to date: Oud Yusha. Oud Yusha is definitive proof that organically cultivated agarwood can yield amazing quality Oud oil. When produced artisanally, that is. Anyone can order Oud directly from a distiller. Just like anyone can order a Monet […]