One man’s journey into the world of Agarwood
Posted in Ensar's Oud Notes on May 15th, 2009
Borneo is the only island that spans three countries. The eastern part is Kalimantan, Indonesia. North Borneo is Sarawak, or the eastern half of Malaysia. At the northern tip lies rich Brunei.East Borneo oud has been made famous by our rare Borneo 3000 and Borneo 4000 oils, both of Indonesian origin. Sheikh’s Borneo also comes [...]
Posted in Ensar's Oud Notes on Apr 10th, 2009
We’ve found a secret jungle in Assam where wild growing agarwood trees exude an oil that’s unlike any other Assam oud we’ve come across. This Assam is not animalic, barnyard, or fecal. It’s simply sublime.
Now you can enjoy the bliss of Assam Oud even if you were initially turned off by its so-called barnyard smell. [...]
Posted in Ensar's Oud Notes on Mar 26th, 2009
We all know what leads to green Oud. The newly discovered species of agarwood known as Gyrinops, which grows on Papua Island. From Gyrinops, you get Green Papua.
Yet, although home to the newest, greenest Oud discoveries, Papua Island is also home to the legendary Oud Royale. The only difference is that Oud Royale was distilled [...]
Posted in Ensar's Oud Notes on Jul 2nd, 2008
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 [...]
Posted in Ensar's Oud Notes on Jul 1st, 2008
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 [...]
Posted in Ensar's Oud Notes on Apr 12th, 2008
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 [...]
Posted in Ensar's Oud Notes on Feb 24th, 2008
Some years back, I was experimenting with combinations of essential oils. This was partly from simple curiosity and partly from the enjoyment of the various fragrances. I had narrowed my supplier down to one company in California which was justifiably known as the best source for high-quality essential oils. One day on their web site, [...]
Posted in Ensar's Oud Notes on Feb 17th, 2008
If you’re a seasoned connoisseur who won’t wear anything but Indian Oud, no. In your book, Indian Oud is ‘Oud’ and ‘Oud’ is ‘Indian Oud.’
Many agarwood maniacs will swear by what a newbie may term ‘fecal’ in Indian Oud. To the agarwood oil partisan, Oud is Indian – and the fecalness of Indian Oud is [...]
Posted in Ensar's Oud Notes on Dec 26th, 2007
Dear Lee,
To quote one of my scent mentors’ words of advice to me when I first embarked on my Oudissey:
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 [...]
Posted in Ensar's Oud Notes on Dec 26th, 2007
Dear John,
Whew! That took a while. I left New York at the end of October for my new Oud venture to the East, and was only able to return this last Saturday.
Flonia has emailed me regarding the complications you faced, and I was following the story line along with you, even though in [...]