OudBlog

If we were to do the math regarding the true market value of this oil, it would go something like this:

Out of one kilogram of raw agarwood, the distiller can get up to 6 grams of Oud oil – if he is lucky. That amounts to two bottles of the size we sell on Oriscent. Now, one kilogram of the sort of wood that’s been used to distill Borneo 3000 goes for about $7,000 in the current market. Suppose you get 6 grams. With the cost of the wood alone, you’re looking at $3,500 a bottle (!!) – not taking into account distillation expenses, the distiller’s profit, our travel expenses, etc. By the time we add our little margin to the oil, you’re looking, at the very least, at about $4,500 per bottle. Now if you go and age this oil about 5 years after it’s distilled, what does that bring the value to? $5,000 a bottle?

Borneo 3000 is currently selling for only $485 a bottle! I strongly advise everyone, if you bear any love for this marvelous oil, to purchase as much of it as you possibly can – while you still can. There are people who sigh and pine over the missed opportunity to own more Oud Royale. Price is no longer an issue. Whatever the cost, they’re willing to pay it. But it’s too late. Oud Royale is gone. It is now owned by the lucky few who had the foresight to invest in it while they had the chance.

The same exact thing will happen with Borneo 3000 – the last of the sinking-grade Ouds. I am not concerned about this oil selling. So far as I am concerned, we have already sold out of Borneo 3000.

What matters to me is that you own as much of it as possible – so that the ignorance and misinformation that’s being spread by the charlatans selling cheap Oud over the internet can be dispersed.

More than a royal Oud oil, Borneo 3000 is an education in Oud. We have clients who cannot believe, upon trying it, that this is Oud. “Oud is supposed to smell like the stuff I got from Singapore – or Saudi Arabia – or Dubai!” Well, not only is it Oud, Borneo 3000 is the very best Oud possible. If only all Oud were like this!…

By wearing Borneo 3000, you are doing many people that have been deceived a huge favor. We absolutely must tell people and inform them, and warn them, that the stuff being auctioned on the internet is NOT pure Oud. It is your duty, if you know this, to spread the word and tell others. This information must become common knowledge. The deception must stop.

Here is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to acquire something priceless, and own the Oud of Kings, at a fraction of what it’s worth! Share some of it with others, and show it to as many people as you possibly can; teach them what pure Oud is supposed to smell like and the entire Oud-wearing community will be the better off for it.

Borneo 3000 is selling out very fast. And your chances of owning more of it are only getting slimmer. Act now, while it’s still in stock, and you will be richly rewarded.

I couldn’t wait for the weekend to try my wee sample of Oriscent’s Oud Royale so around 5:00 PM I decided to venture forth. First I smelled the inside of the vial and the dauber – I wanted to inhale deeply but there was so little in the bottle and on the wand, that was impossible. I was able to coax the tiny smidgen that it contained onto my wrist and… it was like being hit by lightning! I almost lost consciousness! After a while I phoned Ensar to ask if he put opium in the vial. I really felt ‘high’ in a dreamy and suspended kind of way. My body seemed to melt and to be taken over by the oud. It was like being bathed in a warm, liquid and cavernous light. I went into my bed, my wrist glued to my nose. I started swimming in the depth of wine-y, jam-y, honeyed luminosity. I stopped smelling the oud – I WAS the oud and the oud was me. I lay, lifted by its soaring opulence, my body covered with melting, golden fur, my mind released to a realm where angels chant and spirits soar. I cannot say this is a woody, floral, or fruity oud, because there are no mortal words to describe it. This oud is an experience.

Borneo 3000 – a bed of embers, from which sharp resinous sparks fly with frisky impertinence. Borneo 4000 is somnolent, content to lie in dormant sweetness. 3000 cries of woods and barrenness, 4000 whispers of fruited savories and quiet indulgence. If 3000 is taffeta, 4000 is satin. If 3000 is Shiraz, 4000 is Port. 3000 – my brother calls to me. Nestled in the embrace of 4000 is to be held by my mother, but the mother who is dreaming of her own desires. It is not aloof, but light as a spring breeze that gently caresses the ripened peaches and steals a kiss. 3000 runs, 4000 ambles. 3000 is a soprano. 4000 – an alto. With whom will I sing? 4000.

The Borneo 3000 is a wonderful oil, and I feel lucky to have it in my collection. As others have remarked, the aroma is very clean and beautiful at all stages of its development. It is also true to the aroma released when certain types of high quality agarwood are burned at the right temperature. I mention this because it seems to me like many Oud oils pick up notes that are very different from heated wood chips. I am no expert but imagine this is a result of the distillation process. Whatever the reason, it is great to have an oil that truly presents the aroma of the best Oud wood. This is a first for me.

I have a sample of very high-grade aloeswood from an older Japanese incense manufacturer (a company older than the United States, by a long shot). The wood is a true Jinko (sinking grade agarwood) and one of the most expensive this company sells – dark, dense, resinous, and completely authentic and natural. I have been burning small splinters of this wood for several years, and have always been intrigued by its unique odor. I was delighted to find that its aroma is nearly identical to that of the Borneo 3000. The aroma is sweet, balsamic, at times almost chocolate-like. It also reminds me of the sublime scent of the balsam poplar stands so common along river banks in the US. Its aroma is gentle at times but very persistent, and develops into a truly amazing fragrance over the course of the 10+ hours it lasts on the skin.

Great stuff, I am grateful to have a specimen like this. Its value to me is educational as well as aesthetic since this provides a new benchmark of quality against which I can judge other oils.

I should mention as well that I have many Oud oils, and my wife has liked (in fact loved) only two: Borneo 3000 and Green Papua.

I have good news and bad news.

The bad news is that we are slowly saying good-bye to the Borneo 3000. It is currently the fastest-selling Oud on Oriscent, and I doubt it will be around for too much longer. The Borneo 3000 is my most beloved Oud oil. In my opinion it is superior to the Oud Royale, despite the age and fame of the latter.

Now, the good news is that we have been blessed with a new distillation of this Oud, which is truly a worthy replacement for the Borneo 3000.

When I first sampled the oil in my distiller’s Jakarta home, I fell in love. He later confessed to me that his colleagues started taunting him after seeing it: “Why do you distill such costly Oud oils? Have you gone crazy?”

The local Oud businesses, which are the main clients of these small distilleries, are only interested in the cheapest Oud money can buy – which then gets blended with DOP and other synthetic fillers, aromatics, and cutting agents, and auctioned on the internet to the unsuspecting.

“Who is the crazy man who buys this Oud from you?” they would poke fun at him, time and time again.

“I sell them to the King Abdullah!” was his reply. (I was living in Jordan at the time.)

At long last, the Oud is finally here (and a costly Oud it is, and it is worth every penny!). The opening note is a deep fruity accord which evokes the sweetness of figs and the floral notes of narcissus and frangipani. This unfolds into a deep woodsy aroma that is rich and lasting, verging on the erotic.

I believe this oil to be superior to the 3000 in several respects. The whole totality of the fragrance is a notch higher in sheer beyondness. The 4000 is more ‘wild’ in character, while the 3000 is all decorum and grace. If the 3000 is from the highest heaven, the 4000 is from outer space.

Compared to Sheikh’s Borneo, it is a different oil altogether. Sheikh’s Borneo is a truly excellent oil, complete, well-rounded, and amazingly fragrant. The 4000 is a vista unto the infinite.

Words cannot do justice to the aroma of this Oud. A connoisseur’s dream come true, the scent notes this oil exhibits are simply extraordinary. That wildness in the oil is a bridge between the super-sweet fruity notes of Borneo Oud and the fecal savagery of wild Assam Oud. My equation goes like this: if you love the scent of a fine Borneo but are also partial to the Indian smells, you will dig the 4000.

Thanks to the recent popularity of aromatherapy in the west, we now have a very clear sense of essential oils and their various uses. We know what an essential oil is, and what it is not. If someone says, “I put some lavender oil on my neck to help me relax,” we know she means lavender essential oil, not synthetic lavender oil, or lavender oil blended with other aromatics, or diluted with jojoba.

The same conception of essential oils does not exist in Arab culture. If I were to tell a Jordanian, “This is the finest Oud oil money can buy,” and hand him a bottle of Borneo 3000, he would not take the contents for agarwood essential oil any more than he would take them for synthetic Oud oil, or agarwood oil blended with synthetic aromatics, or diluted with cutting agents, or even for an attar or oil based perfume containing no agarwood oil at all. So long as the fragrance is strong, and characterized by woody, leathery, or smoky scent notes (i.e. vaguely implies an ‘Oudy’ fragrance), it is Oud oil.

In the Arab world, ‘Oud’ is a fragrance category — not the more-precious-than-gold essential oil of the Aquilaria tree. It is a type of smell — not a type of ingredient that is extracted from a particular substance in a particular way.

Just as we have ‘musk’ hand lotions, ‘amber’ incense cones, ‘rose’ soaps, which smell like musk without necessarily containing any deer musk; smell like amber without necessarily containing any ambergris; smell like rose without necessarily containing any rose otto; in Saudi Arabia and the Emirates they have ‘Oud’ mukhallats, soaps, perfumes, air fresheners, even scented paper tissues. They smell like Oud but don’t necessarily contain any agarwood oil.

Now because Oud oil is so strongly associated with Arab culture, and because a lot of Arab companies are marketing their so-called ‘Oudh’ on the internet, this misconception regarding the true nature of Oud oil has also crept into the minds of western consumers. And the same essential oil enthusiast that will proceed with the utmost caution in purchasing sandalwood oil, even from the best known sources, will not hesitate in ordering his bottle of Oud off an auction website, from nameless sources in the Far East.

But this quickly leads to compounded ignorance, because the same individual will eventually come to think of himself as a connoisseur, whose discriminating taste is capable of endorsing and authenticating even the foulest, most poorly adulterated specimens of Oud that were ever auctioned!

I received a threat email today, stating that if I do not make amends for my statement regarding “the Arabs, with their synthetic Oud ‘mukhallats’,” some really bad publicity would ensue.

The frustrated mukhallat partisan goes on to say: “I feel this is not telling the truth, as you probably know that ‘mukhallat’ means mixture, not ‘synthetic’. This is a disservice to the people who have established a long tradition of unique attars, as many have used the word Mukhallat and their product contains real Oud. Yes, I know many of them are synthetic, but it is not fair on your part to make such a blanket statement which will influence the minds of many who have not experienced the tradition of Arabian perfume.”

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Dear Mukhallat Friend,

Kind greetings! I am very familiar with the Arab Agar Bazaar, and all the Dubai-based Oud companies they deal with: Haramain, Ajmal, Al Qurashi, etc. I have been at the office of the chief Oud supplier in Dubai, who all of these companies purchase from, and I am very familiar with the Oud they offer, as well as their business philosophy.

Their marketing strategy is what we call the Madison Avenue approach. In a nutshell, what it entails is that the packaging of the product is more costly, elaborate and presentable than the product itself. It is all hype meant to capture the imagination, with little reality to it. These companies dilute their Agarwood oils with DOP – a colorless, scentless (and yes, synthetic) invention of the Indians which blends with it perfectly, without altering its scent or consistency.

As for their perfumes (aka “mukhallat”), the above-mentioned Oud merchant and CEO of the company which I visited openly confessed to me that it is impossible to manufacture natural perfumes – and still make money.

As sad as it is, you will find a far better source for these historically Muslim attars in the West than you will in the Middle East or the Gulf countries, where synthetics and chemicals are the rule. All of the so-called “Oud” companies mentioned above – I would not touch their products with a stick, let alone put them on my skin.

Skin is porous, my dear friend; whatever you put on it, it absorbs. This is why cream quickly disappears from it once applied; it all gets absorbed into your system. So those who know better will apply only pure Oud on their skin, and no “mukhallats”. In any case, once you get into the naturals it is impossible to go back to synthetics.

In the end, your nose will educate you profoundly. You will not be able to bear the smell of anything compounded of synthetic chemicals. They will stick in your nose like glue and create a really uncomfortable feeling. They may smell good for a minute or two but then they begin to fall apart. A true essence is a harmonious unit from beginning to end. Each one has a unique personality which you often have to study individually over the course of many days. In the end, it really depends on the purity of our own understanding and heart.

Kind regards,
Ensar

There are two kinds of Oud in the world. There’s the so-called ‘Oud’ of the auction and bazaar websites, which consists of low-grade agarwood oils diluted with DOP (dioctyl phthalate) and other highly toxic chemicals. This oil is known by its harsh leathery aroma, lack of coherence, linearity, utter lack of a spiritual dimension, and unharmonious drydown. I call it ‘alternative’ Oud. At best, it is an affordable substitute for premium Oud oil. At worst, it defrauds you of the joy and spirituality of true Oud oil while putting deadly toxins in your body.

The second kind of Oud is as rare as the first is common. It is the aroma of class and refinement you would smell if you ever got very close to the Sultan of Brunei, or the King of Bahrain. Sheer elegance and opulence mark its aromatic quality, as it is devoid of all harshness, leathery notes, and dull linearity. Much more than a costly fragrance, this oil possesses a spirituality that has been cherished by the messengers of God since time immemorial. The prophet Solomon (peace be upon him) sings its praises in the Song of Songs, and prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) taught that Indian Oud contains the cure for seven diseases.

If you are looking for the first type of Oud, I am afraid I won’t be of much help. But if your search is for the second type of Oud – if you are ready for this, and you’ve had enough of the ‘alternative’ stuff (and you know once you do this there’s no going back!) – then you have certainly come to the right place. Ahlan wa Sahlan wa Marhaban!

Hello Jann-Lee,

We are a small New York company specializing in producing and sourcing the highest quality Agarwood oils. Our mission is to produce Oud of the sort that is worn by Sheikhs and royalty, and make it available to the few people interested in (and able to purchase) such a rare and costly aromatic.

I personally travel the world and work with several distillers in the Far East in our efforts to produce the most outstanding specimens of Oud. We deal exclusively in 100% pure, premium oils, and do not blend our oils with any synthetics or cutting agents.

We are all Sufis, and believe in the spiritual dimension of Oud, so we take Oud seriously. It is very important to us in our gatherings and spiritual ceremonies, to have only the most enchanting, spiritually elevating fragrances around us as we evoke the Divine.

Peace,
Ensar

On Apr 11, 2008, at 9:19 AM, Jann-Lee wrote:

Greetings,

I wonder, who are you? I tried to find out from your website who you are but there is no section regarding Oriscent on the site. Also, where are you located? Are you in Eruope, North America?… Because your site is awesome, but I would feel more comfortable if you provide more information about yourselves, because I want to be sure whom I am dealing with.

Regards,
Jann-Lee

Who’d ever think Oud could be green? The Arabs, with their synthetic Oud “mukhallats”, maintain that Oud should be a reddish brown, or as black as possible. Not to mention thick like molasses, so that you could hardly get it out of the bottle. – But green?! That doesn’t sound right.

Yet here I am, telling you this is 100% pure Oud of the first order, and it’s green. That’s because it is not a mukhallat, first of all. Secondly, it is not Indian (so no barn smell here either, for that matter). Thirdly, this is no Aquilaria at all. This is the oil of the newly discovered Oud species Gyrinops. And Gyrinops is green. At least the very finest Gyrinops is green. There are Gyrinops oils that smell like sun-dried tomatoes (and look it too). But this is a green one.

With the green tinge comes an all new agarwood fragrance. A fragrance that is juxtaposed to the farmland smell of Indian Oud just as its color is juxtaposed to the brownish hue of the synthesized Assam smells the Arabs are so fond of.

Cool and light, Green Papua promises a new start for the newcomer who never really hit it off with the strong odors of Indochinese Oud. Fresh is the word I was looking for. A foresty leafiness that almost verges on mintiness.

Far from farmland or pasture, this Oud promises the tropical breezes of the Indonesian island it originated on. Aboriginal, wild, uncut and green, Oud never smelled more pristine than Green Papua Agarwood. You must own this one, if you care for Oud.

Note: The only way to experience Green Papua is to buy Archipelago, which is largely composed of Green Papua (as well as other species of Indonesian Oud found on the many islands of that country.) Archipelago is a multifaceted and complex bouquet of prime quality agarwood oils from one of the newest and most pristine sources for agarwood in the world.

Tags: Arabian Oud, Gyrinops, Indonesian Oud, jungle, mukhallat, Papua