I’ve distilled my share of oil, and from all I’ve smelled, I haven’t come across a scent that so truly, so exactly captures the scent of the distillery itself as Hailam Kilam.
More than the juicy air around the pots, it’s the scent of grinding fine agarwood. That’s what you smell here—the scent of oud chips the second the blade cuts through and scatters the resinous aroma all over. One whiff and it’s like you’re standing there watching the chips turn to powder, the scent of what’s to come all around you.
If I had to answer the question, “What’s the most addictive oud you’ve smelled in your career?” the oil you’ve got here would no doubt come to mind. In fact, I’d most likely be wearing it. It’s a definite daily swipe for me, if not several.
When you talk about agarwood, the story ends with kinam. If you don’t know about kinam, the journey offers many pleasant distractions en route to the scent that puts an end to your search. But once you know, everything becomes a comparison.
Except when it comes to agarwood oil.
There are many ouds cooked in many different ways, yet how many of them can you wear?
How many do you want to wear?
The pickiest person I know when it comes to oud oil is me. I can’t wear almost anything. But this oil… not only do I wear it every day—I crave it all the time. To me, Hainan is the pinnacle of agarwood, and this oil its most delectable interpretation.
The people who took Hainan oud and turned it into the droppings of the Bengal tiger with their crude fermentation have committed a travesty against this noblest of aquilarias.
Hailam Kilam is not a bottle you take out and swipe according to your mood or time of the year. This oil is the equivalent of a postgraduate degree in fine agar olfaction and showcases the quality wild sinensis you’ve been missing out on. A powdery orange zest laced with vanilla and rooibos with a medicinal note akin to Royal Kinam, but mellower and less bitter. A smell you can only capture by extracting the soul of the world’s most precious Chinese agarwood.
A good distiller will try to approximate the scent of that agarwood. But with the right hand at the helm, you can smell more than the scent of the oud wood they distilled from.
When people cry out lamenting how you ground up oud chips any sane person would sell raw, Hailam Kilam foregoes the regret as you bow your nose in gratitude for the fact that someone did distill such wood—and made something that smells even better.
If you haven’t smelled kinamic oils, there’s still hope. The door to a higher scent is still open. But once you enter into a room with Hailam Kilam…… everything else becomes a comparison.
So, there’s good reason for me to discourage you from buying a bottle. If its resinous sinensis aroma does to you what it did to me, it’s game over. But if you-re curious to smell how deep the rabbit hole goes, Hailam Kilam’s insanely addictive dry kinamic tone drags you down as deep as it goes.
Customer Reviews:
One of the most relaxing and entrancing ouds I’ve ever smelled!
Hailam Kilam: Kinamic powder. Strawberrys, honey, with wood powder like a firework. Very soothing for the soul.
I just got a vial of Hailam Kilam. It feels like I am wearing a divine mix of Vanilla and Maple syrup, this Oud is so different! I have a lot of Oud, some are funky, some are honey like but this one… Smooth, sweet, subtle I LOVE it!
UPDATE: my wife just smelled it and now she is saying that she will wear it every day… Gonna have to get another one for myself!
This one is easily my favorite oud oil I’ve tried from EO. I love this stuff.
Oud of the day for #oudvember
I did not enjoy this oud when I first received my sample. I even remember speaking to @scentofsamadhi about trying to decipher what it was about the Hainan profile I couldn’t connect with.
It is now apparent from my insta that I’ve completely changed and Hainan/Chinese Oud is my favourite along with Vit and Laos.
That’s the fun of the journey never stop learning and experimenting
On to HK I’ll be giving thoughts on Oud in a different manner than perfume.
Open: Dry Hay, moderate sweetness, nutty, slight powder, vanilic, deep tan yellow
Mid (30 mins in): Cream, vanilla, bitter, dry hay and nuts gone, yellow streaked with green, mentholated aspects appear.
Base (3 hours plus): Slight bitter menthol on the inhale, very smooth, lactonic, calm woods, vanilla, caramel, maple syrup.
This incredibly addictive oud lacks the vaporous penetrating bitter green of Guallam Kilam. Sweet, yellow, calming gentle woods.
If Guallam Kilam is Wushu, Hailam Kilam is Tai Chi.
Excellent!
This is such a Zen inducing kinamic oud oil for me. It puts me at peace when I wear it.
It is very woody, not the resinous woody but fresh wood. Like when you sharp a pencil or step into a carpenter’s shop. That smell of freshly cut wood. Then when you start to dig deeper you get those citric notes. It makes for a dry, airy, very mystical, ethereal oil. But despite its “fragile” character it preforms very well and it’s really long lasting.
“My swipe of the day is the totally addictive Hailam Kilam. I always imagine an exploding chunk of agarwood when I swipe this. Wood dust flying around, colliding with splashes of white chocolate and patchouli. HK is bitter sweet, creamy and dry at the same time. It’s really something else… 🤤.”
Jay T. • Sri Lanka
SOTD: Hailam Kilam
Thanks to Aaron Riddle for my first Ensar Oud purchase. This oud is an easy to wear, mellow, inviting, and relaxing oud. For some reason i picture the color yellow when wearing it. I got a robious tea vibe in this one. You get a subtle smoke, and something sweet like molasses/vanilla/Carmel every now and then. Very long longevity with this one.
“Hailam Kilam: My Favorite Oud”
A Note from a Customer
As a person who is generally interested in Chinese culture, it was clear to me, that at some point I have to try Chinese oud of course. Shortly after my entry in the EO world a friend of mine offered me a sample of Hailam Kilam and from the minute I tried it the first time, it was extremely special to me.
I kept my tiny sample like a treasure and only used it a few times but after my last purchase at EO, I was lucky enough to get another sample from them, so I could use it more often since then.
To me, this oud is an oil, I would almost classify as „gourmand“. The opening provides you with a dried-fruit platter. Dates, plums, some apricot and peaches. There is a slight bitterness in the background which displays the sour aspects of the fruits.
The bright woodiness which accompanies the whole profile reminds me of very fine sawdust from an ash- or maple tree. The smell you get, when you walk by a sawmill.
After a few minutes Hailam Kilam gets more and more dessert-like to me. I almost think of white chocolate. But even though It’s sweet in it’s profile, it never get’s too heavy in it’s overall impression. Almost like white chocolate mousse. Fluffy and delightful.
Later there is also a touch of dry bourbon-vanilla. I don’t drink any alcohol so I am not an expert but I sometimes get the same Vibe when smelling a good whisky. Don’t get me wrong it’s not boozy at all but sometimes whisky also has this dry, woody, vanilla-note to it probably infused by the barrels they are macerated in. Sometimes it’s even slightly milky, almost like sandalwood in it’s olfactory consistency.
From time to time the bitter, medicinal note is waving in the background but it never really dominates this oil.
Somehow I can also detect some kind of muskiness in the deep dry down.
Normally I’m absolutely not interested in rather sweet, „gourmandy“ stuff, but this one affects my mind like no other oil did till this date.
No animalics, no barn or leathery notes. It’s so smooth and mellow that I can hardly imagine anybody not liking it.
If you ignore the price for a second and only look at the profile, this oil would definitely also be suitable for beginners. Why? Because it does not challenge you but at the same time still shows, how deep and multifaceted a high-quality oud can be.
It literally blew me away.
—Marvin G. / Germany
I have been utterly captivated by Chinese oils as of late, and no region has spoken to me quite like Hainan has. Ever since I was graciously sent a sample of Hainan 2005 by a good friend, I have been on a mission to find more expressions of this stunning profile (anyone who has any of this fantastic oil and would like to share, please reach out to me!).
I managed to track down some Hailam Kilam – my other Hainan references were the heavy-hitting legends Hainan 2005, Hailam LTD, and Royal Kinam – and I was surprised by a very unique oil.
Warm nutty and sweet maple syrup punctuated by dry hay and herbal liqueur. It’s a completely unique opening to me, and I didn’t expect it to challenge me the way it did—not in the animalic sense, but something about the sweetness, butteriness, and powerful spice all come together in a way that was new and shocking to my senses. On first sniff I waited anxiously for those notes to dissipate…by the second wearing I found it interesting and could perceive more of the powdery zesty notes and vanilla tones…by the third wearing but I found it utterly enjoyable!
In its heart, Hailam Kilam shows something of the Oriscent aesthetic: a cool, green, mentholated note streaking through the warmer yellow and burnt orange backdrop. The vanilla/orange combination, along with the dry sweetness, make this a very easily enjoyable oil. I also pick up some delicious chocolate notes, which helped me make an immediate connection to how this profile is such an integral part of Hainan Attar and Chinese Exclusive.
The dry down…oh man…this is why I love Hainan! A brighter version of the more mature Hainan 2005. I don’t know how to put it into words, but this scent is magically zen and always hits just right.I have been utterly captivated by Chinese oils as of late, and no region has spoken to me quite like Hainan has. Ever since I was graciously sent a sample of Hainan 2005 by a good friend, I have been on a mission to find more expressions of this stunning profile (anyone who has any of this fantastic oil and would like to share, please reach out to me!).
I managed to track down some Hailam Kilam – my other Hainan references were the heavy-hitting legends Hainan 2005, Hailam LTD, and Royal Kinam – and I was surprised by a very unique oil.
Warm nutty and sweet maple syrup punctuated by dry hay and herbal liqueur. It’s a completely unique opening to me, and I didn’t expect it to challenge me the way it did—not in the animalic sense, but something about the sweetness, butteriness, and powerful spice all come together in a way that was new and shocking to my senses. On first sniff I waited anxiously for those notes to dissipate…by the second wearing I found it interesting and could perceive more of the powdery zesty notes and vanilla tones…by the third wearing but I found it utterly enjoyable!
In its heart, Hailam Kilam shows something of the Oriscent aesthetic: a cool, green, mentholated note streaking through the warmer yellow and burnt orange backdrop. The vanilla/orange combination, along with the dry sweetness, make this a very easily enjoyable oil. I also pick up some delicious chocolate notes, which helped me make an immediate connection to how this profile is such an integral part of Hainan Attar and Chinese Exclusive.
The dry down…oh man…this is why I love Hainan! A brighter version of the more mature Hainan 2005. I don’t know how to put it into words, but this scent is magically zen and always hits just right.