Oud Sultani: Brunei Kynam

Oud Sultani, the long sold-out oud oil, was a resinous floral fusion that when I showed it to an olfactory savant in Thailand (this one), he said – without me telling him anything about the oil—that “this is one of those rare, old Malaysians… the ones that smell like flowers.” Imagine Oud Royale… but draped in a dark blue purple floral garb that has baffled oud lovers till this day. 

I started making attars and perfumes almost two decades ago and “Oud Sultani” has been a defining fragrance throughout. Naturally, I’ve been mulling over the idea for years and years waiting for the right time, the right… something… for things to fall into place to actually create Oud Sultani, the perfume.

There are no sinking-grade distillations around. Nobody makes them (it’s too expensive), and certainly nobody ages one for forty years. So, how are you supposed to compose a perfume built on such a class of oud?

You may not know this, but Oud Sultani and Oud Ahmad (twin sinking-grade distillations from 2001) were directly obtained from one of the Sultan’s distillers. At that point, in 2012, it would have been easier to rob a bank than to get into Sultan Qaboos’ vault. We were going all around the oud world for years and nobody was making oud like what the Sultan had made. Why the distiller got in touch with us and how we ended up spending weeks on an island near Penang to finalize the deal is a story for another day, but in the end, I could never bring myself to use such precious oud in a perfume. Surely, we would never unearth anything comparable again.

That you’d, eight years later, gain direct access to Sultan Qaboos’ collection was unthinkable. Now that the royal treasury is shut, it still feels surreal that we had this brief moment to descend into oud paradise and bring a distillation that precedes Oud Sultani by 20+ years back with us.

I wasn’t going to make the mistake again. If the Sultan’s own oud in your hands isn’t reason enough to finally step up to the pitch, there would never be a right time. Access to a precious batch of vintage sinking-grade oud happily pushes you over the edge, and practically compels you to create this perfume.

The Sultan’s distillation style is all about auxiliary notes—the lush plums and raspberries, thick sweet molasses and oud smoke wafting through them all. Its layeredness and olfactory density makes the Sultan’s vintage Brunei distillation a fantastic oud to use in a perfume. The accessory notes bubbling from the oud mean a hundred different micro-interactions with the cast of ingredients around it.

When studying the profile and properties of the Brunei Kynam, you’d have to take a swipe of oud like Kyara de Kalbar to appreciate the sheer soul of old-school Brunei oud.

At first whiff, Kyara de Kalbar’s crystalline Oriscent aesthetic stands in contrast to the deep resinous potency of Brunei Kynam… then as you smell them in tandem, the beccarianan cool starts to tickle your palate and by the time you hit the drydown it’s like you’ve traveled up from two sides of the same mountain to reach the top where the view puts it all in focus.

Certain ouds are stripped of auxiliary notes and have unitone buzz from start to finish, and they’re difficult to incorporate into a perfume. Their linear profiles also make them hard to use in a composition – blend such ouds with rose or orris butter, for example, and the rose and orris will dominate.

Auxiliary-rich oud offers you more in terms of perfumery. Pair iris root and rose with aged Brunei oud, and you end up with a new fragrance. As if the auxiliary notes each sip from the orris and rose to create a series of small alterations to create a new scent, one that’s different from the parts that make it.

• • Brunei Kynam
  • Nepalese Spikenard
  • Bourbon Vanilla
  • Vintage Orris
  • Castoreum
  • Jasmine
  • Rose
  • Violet Leaf
  • Tigerwood 1990
  • Raw Agarwood Resin

These are some of the notes that have been welded by the blue resinous grip of Brunei Kynam, which have been transmuted by the only Tonkin Musk Absolute in existence (made in-house), metamorphosed by the Sultan’s own Ambergris, transformed by the final fusion of the entire blend.

Oud Sultani’s signature is a wild, auxiliary-licious concoction that ditches any monkoh serenity for a deep purple floral heart characteristic of “one of those rare, old Malaysians… the ones that smell like flowers” punctuated with the heavy toned duo of violet leaf and rare Nepalese spikenard infused into crimson jasmine petals sweetened by castoreum.

Many people won’t be able to handle smelling our in-house Tonkin musk absolute neat; it’s that raw. But in Oud Sultani, that raw tenacity turns into an exalting, savory sweet glow, brighter as you smell the spritz mid-air, while once it settles on your skin or collar, you’d smell the sweet purple orris oudy liqueur up-close.

This semi-bespoke edition features an extraordinary vintage distillation: Brunei Kynam, an oud that oozes the exquisite blue resinous sheen of majestic Brunean beccarianas. Oud like this, as rich as this, as deep-blue pitch-perfect full-spectrum comes around once in a lifetime.

Featured Testimonials…

While there are much difference between spraying it on cloth and skin, especially for its opening. You will detect a blue hue on cloth but on my skin, maybe due to a summer heat day and high skin temperature, I only got a purple vibe from it. That blueish cooling profile, surrounded by a heavy does of ambergris and Tonkin musk, develops so well on cloth. That smoothing chocolaty furry feel from Tonkin musk and that beachy airy ambergris did a good job to support its opening.

Soon you will recognise Orris, the signature note of EO, a bit juicy, powdery and buttery with slight earthiness. Ah, do not forget Tigerwood 1990, our old friend, provides a plum-like sourness and thin smokiness but coming with a dense layer of resinous foundation. Bright Jasmine offers a tea-like vibe to accompany musk. This is my favourite combo.

When florals and sweetness become more prominent than animalic notes, I have more love on this exquisite floral combination. To my nose, it is a kind of floral accord with a bit earthy and animalic sweetness. It is so soothing and elegant. You probably could find the similar accord from Tonkin musk pp but here it is more refined.

At drydown, it surprised me! Ambergris is lasting forever, mixing with smokiness and cool blue Brunei oud resin, which does remind me of another true gem I love so much, Hajar Aswad. They shared the same feel at drydown, that zen, relaxing and meditative peace made me feel blessed.

—Yisean Z / Australia

We all know oud sultani, we love it and with every new version we got a perfume from what we thought it couldn’t get better anymore.

The last one was Oud Sultani Kelantan and I remember smelling it for the first time and getting completely blown away by it. Months have passed and out of nowhere we got the new Brunei Kynam version.

The purple syrupy blast in the opening of this version is without any doubt my favorite of all the OS perfumes… the grape(?) note is absolutely amazing

The Brunei kynam adds a blue touch to the purpleness and compliments the composition with a great oudy smell.

If someone asked me what the difference between OSBK and the others is, I’d probably say imagine OST but in a amped up, even more purple and beautiful way.

A sophisticated evolution of an “old” fan favorite.

Longevity and silage are great, exactly what I’ve expected from a new sultani release.

Too bad that I haven’t got the 50ml bottle of this perfume…

—Chris A / Germany

Reviews of previous editions…