Ko Kon

Price range: $1,799 through $5,000

Distilling Ko Kon was extremely labor intensive, took months on end, and cost us…

Oil Bottle

Immaculate. I can’t think of another oud that gives you such a flawless portrayal of Cambodi oud’s legendary red gaharu.

I’m saying this with the likes of Kambodi 1976 in mind, along with the reddest ouds that ever came out of The Great Cambodian Experiment.

Imagine stripping the most incredible Koh Kong agarwood of all accessory notes – all the fruity tones, the jammy texture, the often overripe twang – and instead you get to smell the soul of the oud itself.

I don’t mean the scent of that agarwood gently heated – more than that…

A distiller can become obsessed with finding this thin magic thread that lies between accurately portraying the scent of the agarwood, yet also coaxing a scent that isn’t imparted by the steel or the copper or the condenser or anything else – a scent dormant in the wood, not brought out by heating; hidden inside.

A cooling pitch I doubt you’ve smelled in most other ouds, and certainly not in a Cambodi. A gently bitter, medicinal profile that reminds you of… you know what. (Have you ever smelled Cambodia’s kinam?)

Legends like Kambodi 1976 are lush and layered and full of flavor, and most certainly red. It’s like a decked-out buffet, while Ko Kon is pure kodo. Linear, unitone bliss.

Ko Kon is as pristine as Cambodian oud can get. And I don’t mean in the skip-the-soak way. It’s like it was distilled without water in a pot made of air. Like nothing touched the scent as it was born. That crystal-clean Koh Kong soul, bottled.

⦿ This oud is an ode to one of the most renowned agarwood jungles in history, and if there will ever be an Agarwood Hall of Fame and I was asked to recommend an oud to represent Koh Kong, it would be this.

Distilling Ko Kon was extremely labor intensive, took months on end, and cost us a fortune to produce. With these ouds, it was never about making a product. The opportunity cost, the time spent working on it, the physical intensity and fatigue, all of it was at heart a team of oudheads obsessed with the best – and sharing it.