Oud is by far the world’s most expensive essential oil. Even low-grade oud oil can cost more than the finest rose and jasmine. That agarwood is, ounce for ounce, worth more (often WAY more) than gold is well known. So, oud oil —artisanal oud oil especially – is both a luxury perfume and ingredient (which is why most ‘oud-perfumes don’t actually use real oud).
Zaza Zen gives you a bottle of oud that goes easy on your wallet — without compromising quality. Years of fine-tuning our distillation set-ups and long-time collaboration with leading farmers let you in on oud oil of the highest caliber, at a lower price than you’d expect quality like this would sell for.
Zaza Zen smells beautiful. A pristine resinous core doused in accessory notes of wildflowers. A departure from the typical apricot, peachy profiles of Indochinese ouds, Zaza Zen accentuates a soft green mintiness (think Japanese Sencha), adorned with a bouquet of flowers rather than a single discernable note.
To balance price, accessibility, and caliber, Zaza Zen is a distillation of crassnas around 40 years old, with rich-resin maturity many years ahead of most ouds. The scent is deeply meditative, yet fruity-playful enough to let you wear it as an exotic add-on to any style wardrobe. Its piercing green heart notes blend into a delectable cane sugar floral heart that makes Zaza Zen sultry, incense raw yet sweet… and addictive.
What’s more, oud veterans will quickly pick up an incense glaze in the top notes, but especially over the heart that emerges 15 minutes in. Just like the spritzy fuzz, that bitter-sweet malty taste of kombucha lets you know you’re not just drinking sweetened tea, but that there’s a scoby working its funk behind the scenes, it’s how this airy powderiness imbues the resinous vapor aroma infused with its sencha green meets creme brûlée aroma that clearly shows the quality of the agarwood distilled. This means you’re not just getting a joy-to-smell bottle of oud, but one that packs the soul-stirring oomph of aged oud and the scent of incense-grade oud chips heated neat.
New to oud or not, Zaza Zen lets your nose dive into a richly layered aroma that’s a pleasure to explore (oudheads know what I mean) and it’s super accessible with zero ‘barn’ and none of the cloying off-notes in poorly distilled ouds, so it’s totally office and after-office friendly as it oozes with exotic charm.