Aroha makes almost any other oud, especially Oud Yusuf, smell timid and tame. The sheer potency of the wild vintage Marokean oud smoke that hits your nose makes you black out for a second, makes your nose go blind, makes your head reel with the puzzle, “OMG, what is this!?”
It’s actually very difficult to capture oud smoke in spray format. I can bottle pure oud smoke for you, but when you take a spritz you’d be let down. Have you tinctured pure oud hoping to let it cast a resinous cloud of oud incense all around only to find all those hardcore smoke notes evaporate before you’ve even smelled them?
So when you compose a perfume around an oud that’s pure “incense, incense, incense!”, an oud that’s “intense” and captures that “smokey goodness, bold and dark, suitable for the colder nights with a black leather jacket and riding a Harley Davidson with your girl behind you” then you don’t want that resinous kernel to go anywhere.
When an oud smells “so brawny, burly, and inordinately macho that the only thing which came to mind was Ernest Hemingway” you want that mojo to fill the air and flirt with everyone around you.
You want that aroma that brings to mind that “bare chest gleaming in the sun as he went fishing or shooting, every inch of him reeking with confident swagger and bravado” to engulf you. Not to have it watered down to a weak sauce with only a macho label.
So, if you’re looking to re-energize your perfume collection or if, for a change, you don’t want just another bottle of one-note pyramids, then Aroha Kyaku will blast them all out of their underwear, left naked under dark clouds of thunderous oud resin raining down hard.
From beeswax to black tea to blackcurrant and coffee, the noir oud incense core is decked out with layers of intrigue and intense flavor. A dash of cinnamon which you won’t actually smell, laced with pepper and oakwood, which you won’t smell, either, infused with oakmoss and mate and spikenard for an olfactory embellishment you won’t be able to pick apart either – all drenched in tobacco smoothed out with sandalwood – for a scent that screams “take cover!” as waves of Aroha come at you and leave you craving the oud at the center, just like oud neat keeps its lovers wanting more.
TOP
Clove
Pink Pepper
Nagarmortha
Aroha Oud Incense
HEART
Mate
Rose
Plumeria
Pink Lotus
Aroha Oud Incense
BASE
Wild Maroke Oud
Wild Cambodian Oud
Wild Sumatran Oud
Black Ambergris
Sandalwood
Spikenard
Castoreum
Vetiver
The breakdown doesn’t just list all the oud as a covert sales-pitch. Almost 35% is made up of those ouds! All carried by a hefty dose of vintage black ambergris.
You could experience different kinds of oud perfumes, from Oud Yusuf’s fruitiness to EO1’s leather or Oud Sultani’s purple bliss…
But if you were to ask someone about oud, if you asked someone who knows something about agarwood, who has burned raw oud chips, those who have fumigated their clothes and their homes with the Scent of Heaven; if you were to pin down the quintessential OUD profile, then I think this brew gets straight to the point. Right down to the agar-incense heart of that fearless aroma.
“Would I say it is a unisex scent? Probably not, unless you are like me and enjoy heavier, darker, masculine leaning offerings. But if you are a guy, this should be an absolute no brainer.”
Featured Testimonials…
Don’t sleep on this one, boys. This little gem broke a 6 month no-buy policy. If Tigerlust and Tigerwood comes from the darkest realms of the jungle, this beast comes crawling straight out of Hell. Smoke, smoke and more smoke, No BBQ, just incense, embers, and ash. Rugged, but elegantly so. The first Ensar that screams “don’t f**k with me”. Easily my favorite release this year and most of last. Hell Bent for Leather indeed. Thanks Ensar Oud
Aroha Kyaku: one impatient spritz and I’m hooked! Spritz at your own risk. The glowing reviews are sure to be forthcoming.