White Kinam

There are all sorts of obscure backrooms in society where people explore remarkable arts or hunt down precious artifacts.

Some devotees spend a year spotting an endangered bird, while some collect space rocks. Audiophiles seek out the indie-est music shows and the avant gardest theaters to satiate a desire for the unique; for the exceptional. 

And then you’ve got what may be the most niche infatuation there is. The most peculiar and fascinating connoisseurship of them all. The love that brought you to this page, reading these words.

As subtle as poetry, as esoteric a passion as Japanese jazz, as underground as unearthing Faturan, name me a passion – or obsession – so… unusual, so cryptic as chasing the scent of the White Dragon’s breath.

Kinam requires a high degree of expertise. Not just to identify, but to truly appreciate its secret wonder.

How many people talk about kinam, pretend to brag about their kinam, or try to educate others about it, all the while having never actually experienced it?

Oud, and especially kinam, is learned.

Kyara (sold out) and Nha Trang explore the red and bluegreen spectrums of kyara, while this perfume is even more ambitious…

As far as rarity goes, finding authentic white kinam is both difficult and tends to be the most expensive strand of kinam there is.

The most die-hard kinam lovers I know go after kinam, they don’t sell it. To a veteran agarwood dealer or distiller, white kinam is not a product but a prize. 

That’s what makes oud oil like White Kinam one in a million. It was a crazy undertaking to distill it when we did, and would be total madness to attempt to do it today. That’s why nobody does…

… And it’s why I stopped selling WK quite a while ago. I had little of the oil left, and reserved it to use in this perfume.

How do you carry the scent of kinam? How could you spray it? Which aromatics could be used alongside it; to complement it, to accentuate its delicate scent? Which aromatics deserve to be used alongside it?

The scent of white kinam is like a ghost passing through you (chilling and undeniable). The impression is permanent, and the juice doesn’t let up, either. With an ice cold sensation that makes it unforgettable as an experience. One of those rare encounters with incredible rarity and greatness. Etherealness monsterized, for our German and Russian die-hards in particular.

OPENING
White Kinam
Raspberry
Douglas Fir
Golden Apple

HEART
White Kinam
Rose Otto
Frangipani
Galbanum

BASE
White Kinam
Tibetan Musk
Iris Absolute
Costus

Inject subtle notes of fir and raspberry into White Kinam, and you accentuate both its agar-core and its auxiliary deliciousness. Imperceptible notes of pear and apple let the incense note lift and project. 

While White Kinam rides on such subtle notes, what you smell is one scent. Rose ottos and frangipani decorate the remarkably bitter kinamic heart, as galbanum plays on kyara’s earthy translucent medicinal mineral heavenliness.

There’s a signature zen-like tartness to the Oriscent White Kinam, which is imparted onto the perfume and magnified by a fusion of vintage iris, costus root, and Tibetan musk that lets it diffuse and spread open through the spritz. 

White kinam is a listen closely perfume, even though it projects like nobody’s business! A scent you engage with just as you would a sliver of kinam on a heater. No doubt, it’s a stunning fragrance to wear out but just like you wouldn’t mind filling a room with wafts of kyara (you will do exactly that when wearing this perfume)… you’d still be inclined to sit close to the whispered reveries unfolding on the skin level, and enjoy the mystical prose.

*This perfume uses most of what remains of White Kinam, the oud oil. So, sadly, this is a double rarity: there are only a few bottles of the oud left for sale (which we’ve made available only for White Friday), while I suspect the perfume will sell out quickly.

*Each bottle will be numbered. Sold on a first-come first-served basis.

**In addition to White Kinam (the oud), your bottle also includes a granule or two of actual Kinam wood pellets.

Featured Testimonials…

After 4 days of the single-spray experience, I couldn’t resist the temptation to layer these bad boys any longer. At the very least, it served to amplify the satisfaction that the perfume alone does very much maintain and spotlight the facets of the oil that are so coveted. Sure, a drop of oil on the skin amplifies the kinamic petrol bite, but the notes aren’t thrown out of whack.

White Kinam PP is a shape shifter in the best of ways. I was admittedly a bit nervous about what a perfume interpretation would do to my favorite oil. I generally love all things rich and complex from Ensar—the pungent, the boozy and bombastic, the musk-bombed, even the damn right dirty. So saying that White (and Red/Rouge) Kinam—both tamer beauties amongst the classics—are my faves is basically me acquiescing to the fact that they are both simply beautiful without flaw when served neat. Adding notes to these oil profiles seemed unnecessary or, worse, plain wasteful. Basically, a perfume based on an oriscent grade oil could go in any direction. I imagined the result spray improving, destroying, or just masking the core essence of the oil. Luckily, WKPP manages not to mask; 24 hours later the skin scent is almost identical to that of a White Kinam oil swab. But there are some added surprises that really make this perfume pop.

Describing it is difficult. I return to the shape-shifter quality already mentioned. Travis used the term bittersweet. That’s just the thing… one day it’s sweet. the next it’s bitter… or rather sour. What it always has is BITE. And for a perfume that I feared would be lighter (and would NEED to be to not overpower the core oil), it’s impressively tenatious. Projection is not huge, but sillage is really noteworthy.

I often apply EOs for my own satisfaction, and find myself lifting wrist-to-nose to remind myself of the scent and see where it has gone. No heed for this with WKPP. It may not fumigate a room in grotesque fashion, but noses (mine and those of friends) catch it nonstop… at work, in motion, at the gym, even after a shower (do I have insufficent bathing habbits?).

I didn’t read the description until now. Thus the notes I seem to consistently get are really based on perception and not “looking” for what I’m supposed to smell. For example, I’ve sworn by a black pepper note in the first blast with every wearing. Now reading… maybe it’s the “Douglas fur” combined with the burn of the petrol kinamic punch. But it’s not piney or particularly green. Again… a really aromatic pepper note… black, chilli, tickling and warm. I keep getting the sours vibe (as in a cocktail), but never equated it with the listed green apple. Apple. Sure.

I just think it’s more than that. Actually, if I imagine the perfect Margarita aroma and smell my arm right now. It’s all there: salted lime, some burn (I like my margarita’s spicy), and the base of a reposado tequila… make that a mezcal—glazed with the peppery facets of fossil fuel and smoke. That Bite. The Burn. Yet. it’s so incredibly well balanced by the sweet-and-sour, by the brightness of the fruit and a floral garnish. The middle section drifts elegantly from the citrus and the stays true to the described notes. Rose and Iris are clearly on show, and here is where (for a while) you’ll forget that this is a play on White Kinam. But worry not, the dry down brings the oil back into focus.

At the price point, this was a risky blind buy. In the end, no regrets. I’m holding in my hand the marriage of an oil-of-choice with the absolute satisfaction delivered from an (already lauded, redundantly) “turns-everything-to-gold” musk fave of mine: Tibetan, a magical melange of a floral bouquet, and the most perfectly tart and refreshing cocktail imaginable. With each day of wearing, I’m getting an uplifting kinamic BUZZ—without the hangover.

Lovely.

—Lawrence S / Singapore

White Kinam by Ensar Oud is an olfactory journey into rare beauty

It opens with a crisp burst of pear , Golden Delicious apple , and a hint of raspberry , wrapped in the green brightness of Douglas fir

 

These fruity notes play softly in the background, highlighting the smoky, ethereal quality of the White Kinam oud at its core.

 

At the heart, White Kinam deepens with lush rose otto , tropical frangipani , and the earthy bitterness of galbanum . Together, they create a tranquil, almost meditative harmony. It’s like breathing in the delicate, zen-like essence of fine incense, merging floral sweetness with kinam’s mineral, earthy depth.

 

As it settles, the fragrance becomes a masterpiece of complexity, with notes of vintage iris , Tibetan musk , and costus root. The iris adds a soft, powdery elegance, while the musk is refined and smooth, never overpowering. Costus brings warmth, allowing the White Kinam to project with a mystical, almost ghostly presence .

 

Wearing White Kinam is like entering a sacred ritual, where each note reveals itself patiently and beautifully. It’s a rare gem that lingers both subtly and captivatingly—perfect for those who see fragrance as art .

 

Enjoying Black Kinam and White Kinam really shows off the difference of two completely different composition …

—Thomas W / Germany