Chewing a tiny bit of kinam is as good as anaesthesia. Your mouth’s gonna be numb for a good half hour. The numbing effect as the drop of Basic Kinam touches your tongue lasts only a few seconds. But isn’t that something?
The kinam-y menthol minty incense green high notes linger long enough to make you go – is this for real? – then smoothe into a gentle jasmine suave reminiscent of the mighty Oud Yaqoub.
The secret behind this jasmine limegreen scent is the same as that behind Oud Yaqoub, and the same secret behind the distillery’s amazing coffee brew: earthwater from an underground spring right beneath the distillery.
But the killer trick is how you put this water to use. So your first thought might be to soak the wood longer so that this fine water impregnates it fully. We did the complete opposite: zero soak.
Another suggestion would be to make this a straight steel distillation to preserve the clarity of the menthol hue. We’ll meet you half-way: this was a steel-copper dual distillation. One twist that really made the water sparkle was to install cooling condensers that don’t run straight into the beaker. These condensers are instead mediated through an amplified cooling device to sharpen the green note to its extreme.
The oil’s in its fourth year of maturation and Kruger wants to keep the whole batch to himself. “Half to use, half to age even more.” Actually, he owns the entire sister distillation to Basic Kinam and cherishes it more than his house. “But this one’s better. You want to trade?”
This is organic oud gone green—kinam green.
Reviews for Basic Kinam
Personally, I’m a huge fan of Basic Kinam. I’ve smelled similar notes in Satori Basho, the green, minty-fresh, heated incense chip that lasts until the end in varying degrees. I’ve also smelled similar notes in a very expensive Sinensis distillation that was recently released by a different company, but the Basic Kinam is easier to justify wearing everyday. I’m assuming you used Crassna for the Basic because after 20 to 30 minutes a very light ripe fruit comes into play with the higher green incense note reminding you of the species. Dry down is sweet, woody, a bit spicy, all good. – Matt, Canada
On application I get lush rich deep green notes, wet and earthy with an accompanying vaporous slightly minty aura. I get the impression of exotic florals, a jungle after a heavy rain type of feeling, very soon morphing with the addition of zesty ripe fruits accompanied by a deep jasmine note settling into a rich balanced fruity floral character with a fresh minty note. At this point only 30 minutes in, this is a very refreshing & aromatic oud, both calming and healing. I am now detecting a slight spicy note in the background with some dark fruit notes. Upon settling I perceive the refreshing mintiness with rich ripe fruits and florals all equally balanced.
The rich ripe fruit reminds me of Oud Mostafa without the pungency, though with more refinement, the florals of Oud Yusuf, though with a renewed vigour to stand by the other sturdy notes, still with a very refreshing overall aroma. Basic Kinam has such a clean layered profile, beautifully fruity, beautifully floral, and with a fresh minty and slightly spiced note. The fruit notes occasionally pop to the foreground before receding giving the florals and minty aroma time to shine. This Oud morphs and changes while keeping its signature tune! Dry-down is a wonderful fruity floral so much like Oud Yusuf though I would suggest grander?
Towards the end of the dry-down Basic Kinam morphs yet again, a clean herbaceous anise note pops to the forefront, a final reminder of the rich green starter notes this oud gave at the beginning of the journey! Imagine Oud Yusuf with a fresh, balanced ethereal minty aura. – This could become Legendary! The final stage of this dry-down leaves a slight feral & camphorous note which I like. A clean, refreshing, generous and bountiful oud, Basic Kinam is an olfactory adventure. – Jim, UK