Tag Archives: cambodian oud

Kambodi Kadeem: Old-School Cambodian Oud

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Ensar Oud’s Kambodi Kadeem is a special old-school Cambodi that has become my first choice for Cambodian Oud oil. A testament to the art and nuances of distillation, Kambodi Kadeem was crafted to capture the truest vintage Cambodi aroma–the aroma that defines “Cambodi”. For the sake of comparison, Ensar sent me a sample vial of a Cambodian Oud oil from 1976. I have found that Kambodi Kadeem is a true testament to this beautifully aged old-school Cambodian oil. In this review, I will compare the two oils, as I unravel the true Cambodi scent.

Kambodi Kadeem opens with a sweet woody note with dark ripe berries swirling in the midst. The initial aroma is somewhat mossy and possesses an “allure” and “lift” that reminds me of animal fixatives. It is a piercing, sharp, and very clear fragrance–the signs of a mature well-harvested tree and a finely aged oil. Each note is discernible and yet fully integrated into the whole of the aroma. Minutes later, a more pungent base note begins to show its colors. The top note teases tart. As a whole, the aroma is juicy and delectable, you want to keep breathing it in, receiving wave after aromatic wave. On the wrist, it has nice sillage, much more than I expected. It also has excellent tenacity and will not even enter the dry down phase for quite a while.

What really strikes me about Kambodi Kadeem is that the fruity notes are well-balanced. This is perhaps the first time I have smelled such a balance of fruit notes in a Cambodian oil. KK has those dark unctuous jam-like tones, but it is incredibly sophisticated about it. The vibe of this oil is at once luxurious and sophisticated, gentlemanly and vintage. Many Cambodian oils have a fruity aroma that is a bit untamed–it jumps out with a kind of excitement and overpowers the more subtle aromas present in the oil. But KK has a smooth and soft appeal. It is a finished product and boasts its aromatic integration with a regal flair. This is an Oud oil that is friendly to the Western palate, and also suitable for the most formal occasions. Rarely have I encountered both qualities in a single Oud oil. Indian oils are too pungent for social occasions and best utilized alone (at least in the US), and most Cambodian oils are too fruity for my taste. I feel funny wearing such a fruity fragrance in formal settings. In other words, Kambodi Kadeem has some real style–it is waiting to make you feel suave.

The dry down is equally as intriguing as the opening notes. This oil has a beautiful finish on the skin that I cannot quite describe. All of the woody, pungent, fruity notes blend together to create something new that has the most subtle hints of fine leather. An intoxciating and beautiful fragrance, Kambodi Kadeem is at once strong and delicate, earthy and flowery, old-school and completely new.

The 1976 Cambodi is one of the most beautiful Oud oils I have had the pleasure to smell. For me, it ranks with Oud Sultani. One thing I cannot emphasize enough about the ’76 Cambodi is age. The age of this oil gives it a unique quality and power, a maturity and depth of aroma that I have only smelled in the original Oud Royale from ’82. All of you private collectors out there: if you have any doubts about how well your Oud oil will age or if it will even significantly improve in the coming years, let me tell you that it most certainly will! Alongside giving me a peek into the history of Cambodian Oud, the ’76 Cambodi also shows me the true potential of aging Oud oil–the true meaning of “vintage”. It is this vintage quality in the oil that is so intoxicating. In terms of aroma, the scent is similar to Kambodi Kadeem in its balance, its subtleties, its utter sophistication. This oil reminds me of deer musk a bit and a little of Chinese Exclusive as well. Altogether, this oil is in a class of its own–I will be most curious to see how Kambodi Kadeem develops over the next 40 years! In terms of aroma, vibe, and quality the two oils are strikingly similar. A good nose will be able to smell KK’s future. But, in the present moment, there is no way to fairly compare two oils with such a tremendous age difference!

I can very clearly smell the “mood” of old-school Cambodis in both of these oils. I find it remarkable that KK even resembles the ’76 Cambodi as much as it does. The distillation of KK deserves some attention and appreciation on the part of connoisseurs. On the page for KK, Ensar has links for a 10-part series that shows the making of Kambodi Kadeem. I highly encourage everyone to watch these and witness the amount of work that goes into producing oils of this stature. Commendable and inspiring–my hat is off to Ensar Oud on this one.

Oud Mostafa (No. 4)

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MostafaWhen I received a sample vial in the mail labeled “Oud Mostafa“, I thought it must have been a mistake. Why was Ensar sending me a sample of the legendary and long sold-out Oud Mostafa? He knows I have a full bottle–and I have already reviewed the oil and proclaimed it as one of my favorites for some time now. It was atypical of Ensar to make a mistake, to mislabel, or to just arbitrarily throw in a sample of an old oil. When I opened the vial to smell the oil, it was unmistakably similar to Oud Mostafa, which made me even more doubtful that the vial was mislabeled. I began to postulate that perhaps Ensar had extra Oud Mostafa and that he was just throwing it in for fun. There was nothing on the surface of the scent that distinguished it from the Oud Mostafa I have known and loved all these years.

Finally, I wrote Ensar an email expressing my bewilderment about this sample vial. He gave me a simple reply that it was actually a new Oud Mostafa. A new Oud Mostafa? I thought. You have to be kidding me.

Now, I opened the sample vial with an entirely new sense of vigor and wonder. I applied it to my skin and smelled its evolution over the next few hours. Right off the bat, it was clear to me that this oil had the signature Oud Mostafa scent: a pungent resinous aroma that wafts like incense smoke with the smell of mature ripe fruits floating atop, and a barely detectable but still tangible sweetness beneath. What I love most about the original Oud Mostafa is how sharp, penetrating, and diffuse the aroma is. In Mostafa No. 4, I found that exact sharpness, that same penetrating resinous pungency with ripe fruits that I had only known in the original.

I never would have guessed that this was not an Indian oil, until I saw Ensar’s formal launch of the oil with a description of its Cambodian origin! As if I had not been puzzled enough, this was the icing on the cake! Here I was enjoying the inexplicable similarities between Mostafa No. 4 and the original, and all the while, it is a Cambodian oil!

I decided I had to spend some time with this oil. However, even after having worn it many times, my conclusions and sense of the oil are still the same as when I first opened the sample vial. This oil possesses the signature aroma of Oud Mostafa–a synergy of notes coupled with an intensity, sharpness, and tenacity that I have not found in any other oils. I am, of course, ecstatic to have found all of these qualities duplicated in Mostafa No. 4, and with its own unique twist.

I will make a bold statement here and express my feeling that Mostafa No. 4 actually outdoes the original Mostafa in some aspects. It has a sweetness and balance to its funk that make it more wearable, refined, and elegant. The original Oud Mostafa is a real blast of a smell–it is the primal agarwood aroma, the scent that satiates, embodies, and exemplifies the purest and most intoxicating agarwood aroma. But I do not wear it too often. Why? Certainly I find myself in the classic dilemma of revering the oil to the degree that I do not want to deplete my one and only bottle too quickly. More significantly, I find Oud Mostafa to be overpoweringly pungent, and it has such strong sillage that I cannot really wear it too often, because I know its pungency will reach the nostrils of everyone around me–and not only that, it will leave a trail wherever I go! It is an oil to be enjoyed in solitude more than anything else.

In Oud Mostafa No. 4, we have a very wearable scent that still possesses my favorite notes from the original. For one, it is quite remarkable to me that this oil smells like the original. It is distilled from entirely different raw materials that are even from a different region. I honestly cannot account for what I smell in this case, and simply take it to be an example of true artistry. Another unique aspect of Mostafa No. 4 is that after a while, I can really smell the wood that went into this oil. I start to perceive the aroma of a densely resinated Oud chip being brought to my nose–the delectable resinous sweet depthful aroma that no one can really describe in its fullness. In this oil, the smell of Oud wood is truly exquisite, and it expresses itself with such finesse. In some sense, Mostafa No. 4 has a delicacy and balance that is not in its original predecessor. The original simply has more of a masculine and yang intensity, while Mostafa No. 4 shows a yin equanimity.

I’m very impressed with this oil. I don’t know how it ended up being so similar to the original Mostafa, but I’m quite happy about it, especially since it is only $350! I always regretted not buying a second bottle of the original, but now I can finally shed that regret. The original Mostafa was distilled from incense-grade wood from 80yr old wild trees. Mostafa No. 4 was distilled from cultivated incense-grade wood from Cambodia. How these two share the similarities they do will always be a mystery to me–but one that I happily embrace with each swipe of this oil. Having written this review, I still feel as though I’ve been modest in my expression of what this oil has to offer. It may be one of Ensar’s best distillations to date for its integration, balance, equanimity, and rich scent profile. Besides the original Oud Mostafa and Oud Sulaiman, I have never smelled this synergy of notes in another oil.

I also want to say that as a rule I never read Ensar’s descriptions of the oil before writing my own. This is because I do not want any descriptions influencing my mind and unconsciously filtering into my own writing. I saw that Ensar had released this oil, and I scrolled down far enough past the old description to see that it was Cambodian and then I closed my browser, mouth agape! I will now read the full story behind this oil and see if my nose has led me in the right direction or not…

Oudimentary: Super Assam, Thai Super, Thai Old

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Since Oudimentary is having a summer sale with everything marked down 25%, I’ve been getting requests to finish my review of their Oud oils. So here we go:

 

 

Super Assam

Super Assam

Super Assam. When it comes to Indian Oud, I never know what to expect. There is such a diversity of fragrance when it comes to Oud from this region. Super Assam is a brown-reddish colored oil with decent viscosity. In its opening, the oil wastes no time in expressing that classic Indian funk–but not for too long. The funkiness is not very potent. It is more of a sharp top note that soon merges into the body of the oil. This oil does not have a “fecal” or even a very strong “barnyard” aroma. Instead, imagine woods and hay with notes of dry tobacco, chocolate undertones, and a hint of fruit. But it is the woodiness of Super Assam that stands out to me. I think the oil is likely distilled from the Assam chips that Oudimentary offers, because the oil smells identical to those chips. At its core, it is a woody aroma paired with the smell of sweet hay, accented with cinnamon. With Super Assam, I really enjoy the dry down of the oil the most. It is not as diffuse as other Indian oils I have worn, but it does have excellent tenacity. Super Assam would blend beautifully in a  perfume because it lacks an overpowering aroma while presenting clean notes of wood and hay. For $187.50/3ml, it is the cheapest Indian Oud I have smelled that is still good quality. I would consider using it in my perfumes and also wearing it when I’m in the mood for an Indian oil that is not too loud and fecal.

Thai Super opens with a sweet woodiness that immediately draws me in. Characteristic mineraly Thai notes. Slightly fruity, but mostly sweet. The woodiness is very nice and captures something of the smell of burning Oud chips. This is one of Oudimentary’s higher quality distillations, to my nose. Moderately diffuse with an average tenacity, but it makes for a nice wear.

 

Thai Old

Thai Old

Thai Old stands in contrast to Thai Super, immediately exhibiting peppery notes amidst tobacco leaf. It is much more lively than Thai Super. Thai Old’s cigar-like aroma carries itself quite well, making for a more diffuse aroma with a moderate tenacity. Notes of fruit mingle in the body lending some complexity to the aroma. This oil is also an organic distillation. It is hard to choose between Thai Old and Thai Super. Thai Super certainly has a more mature aroma and its woody notes are beautiful. But Thai Old has a little more kick. It depends what you are in the mood for. They are both good Thai oils, although I no longer see Thai Super available on the Oudimentary website. At $74.25 for 3ml, Thai Old gets the award for the most affordable Oud oil of good quality.

Crassna Cha: Oud For Tea Connoisseurs

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Tea drinkers rejoice! The Oud oil you have been waiting for has finally arrived. Have you ever considered treating yourself to a swipe of the finest Oud oil while sipping exquisite China Green tea? Maybe you already have a few Oud oils that you feel pairs nicely with your tea. Maybe you have thought about swiping some Oud with your tea, but never found a way to realize your vision. With Crassna Cha, you no longer have to wonder anymore. The Oud for tea connoisseurs is finally here.

The name of this oil is a give-away. Crassna Cha. I was, of course, curious to see if the scent lived up to its name. Could an Oud oil really smell like green tea? What would that really smell like? I couldn’t imagine it. I knew green notes in Oud, but nothing that resembled tea green so far. Undoubtedly, Crassna Cha is the first oil in which I have smelled a true tea green note, and surprisingly in a Cambodi.

When I first applied a swipe, I began to quickly perceive what Ensar was talking about when he described Crassna Cha as possessing the “cleanest, greenest scent” he’s smelled in any Oud. Somehow, it does smell just like a fresh steeping of high quality green tea. It is that bitter green aroma with a kind of buttery finish. As a testament to the power of aroma, as I smelled the aroma of Crassna Cha, my teeth actually began to lightly clench, as they do when I have a strong cup of green tea. My body was temporarily put under the illusion of having taken caffeine!

I was now ready to combine Crassna Cha with my favorite green tea. It was a beautiful harmony–the green tea and swipe of Crassna Cha became perfect complements, as the aroma of Oud began to exalt the experience. Having Oud oil with your tea adds a totally new dimension to the experience, and I can’t recommend it enough. Best in the morning with some fruits–the breakfast of Royalty.

That is the other aspect of Crassna Cha’s scent profile–fruits. It takes some time for the fruitiness to become completely clear, but eventually Crassna Cha begins to resemble the characteristic fruitiness of Cambodian oils. After a while, I smell peaches, apricots, and honeydew all on top of the tea green base. And from the onset, Crassna Cha has that background mineral note that is present in all the Thai oils I have smelled so far.

What I really like about Crassna Cha is that it develops quite nicely. It is always a pleasure to stay with an oil that shows you something different throughout the day, and not all oils have that quality. For that reason, I have to say that while Crassna Cha might be slow-developing, it defies the conventions of being a linear oil. On top of that, it is a very young oil. I am anxious to see where Crassna Cha goes within a few years. Additionally, Crassna Cha reveals an interesting woodiness in the dry down. Almost musty, it is like the aroma of old wood shavings, or an aged book.

I recommend Crassna Cha to all tea drinkers, and to anyone who has not yet encountered a tea green Oud. Additionally, Crassna Cha is an interesting story of organic cultivation, and demonstrates what artisanal distillation can do to the wood of a mature Aquilaria tree.

Oud Kampuchea: Wild Cambodian Oud Oil

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Taha of Agar Aura kindly sent me many samples for me to review, and I first and foremost want to thank him for that. It has been a true pleasure to get to know his oils more, and I want to say that his current offerings are no less than spectacular. I have not yet had the chance to get to know all the oils yet, as I am focusing on each one, one by one, and getting to know each Oud is a unique process, unique to each oil. Some of my favorite oils have taken me weeks to write a review for, whereas others I’ve even written reviews for within the same day of first applying. Oud Kampuchea is certainly of the latter!

Oud Kampuchea has fascinated me for some time now. Kampuchea is a wild-harvested Cambodian Oud oil, from the Roneuam Doun Sam forest in Western Cambodia. The resin formation in the heartwood was estimated at being 7-9 years old, which is remarkably mature. As everyone has learned, more significant than the age of the tree is the age of the infection, which indicates how long the precious aromatic resin has been forming for. The longer the resin forms, the more potent, complex, rich, and deep its aroma becomes. Therefore, the estimated age of the resin formed in the heartwood that was later distilled into Oud Kampuchea is astonishing to me.

We have two miracles here. A wild Cambodian Oud oil distilled from the heartwood of a tree with a significantly mature infection. Upon learning these facts, I had to go through a process of skepticism, before I finally opened up to the possibility that Kampuchea is the remarkable oil that the facts alone indicate it should be. Nonetheless, I have to admit that the price tag of $205 left me wondering how that could really be so. I feel that part of my skepticism also came from the very expensive and intriguing experiments that Ensar was involved in at the time, most notably the Khao Yai Experiment. However, it is important to remember that the Khao Yai Experiment was conducted using incense–grade Oud wood, from which it is very difficult to distill Oud oil, for the reason that the resin formation hardens and is difficult to coax into a significant yield of oil via distillation. Low yield = pricey bottle of Oud. Incense grade distillation = ecstasy in a bottle. Since the price of the wild Oud wood used in the Khao Yai Experiment was so high, I could not understand how Agar Aura procured wild Cambodian wood and was able to offer an oil at such a low price.

I finally got past my skepticism, especially after I got to know the intricacies of incense-grade distillations, and their rarity. Nonetheless, the Kampuchea wood could not have been anything less than amazing, given its 7-9 years of infection. So how did the oil turn out?

Oud Kampuchea opens very fruity. Essence of plum and nectarines circulate in the midrange of this oil. Kampuchea sings the classic Cambodian sweetness right from the beginning. This oil is luscious with sweetness. It is a fruity blast at first, but it also has a sweetness that does not hold a comparison to anything tangible. It is just incredible delicious sweetness. You know it when you smell it! But the fruity-sweetness of the oil would not have been enough to leave me satisfied, given the nature of the raw materials. I wondered where this oil was going to go, if it would develop more, or if it would end-up only displaying typical average Cambodian characteristics of a mid-range linearity.

But Kampuchea has been nothing but full of pleasant surprises to me. As the oil develops, its fruity-sweet notes are shaded by a deeply resinous undercurrent that is so beautifully intoxicating. It took me some time to put words to exactly what I was smelling underneath the sweet notes of fruit, but then it finally struck me. It is the deep resinous notes that I have come to recognize in some of the most mature oils that I have, and by “mature” I mean oils that show evidence of being distilled from wood with a significantly developed infection. The evidence of Kampuchea’s estimated 7-9 years of infection is absolutely present in the oil. It is deeply resinous and exhibits its maturity unabashedly.

I initially felt that Kampuchea’s fruitiness was almost exactly the same as the fruity notes in Cambodi Caramel. I was so sure of this that I even pulled out my bottle of Cambodi Caramel to compare. There is some resemblance in the notes of plum and in the way that Kampuchea’s fruity notes are deep and somewhat dark, much like Caramel’s dark and bold tones. However, as the oil wore on, I was suddenly struck by a more apt comparison. Oud Mostafa.

Remove all Indian notes from Oud Mostafa, savoring only its sweet fruity notes and resinous core. Put it in a bottle, and you have Oud Kampuchea. I was very surprised to note this, and questioned myself thoroughly before facing the realities before my senses. The fruity notes of Oud Kampuchea are very similar to the fruity notes in the high range of Oud Mostafa. Kampuchea also has the same resinous undercurrent that is at the core of Oud Mostafa, and is one of my favorite notes in the oil. Oud Mostafa was distilled from incense-grade wood, and although I do not know its estimated age of infection, it certainly exhibits a very mature character and scent profile, and its deeply resinous core is a sign to me of an infection that was rather mature.

Oud Kampuchea is an absolutely beautiful oil. I am stunned in the wake of its magical splendor and diversity of character. Very deep, and one of the most complex Cambodis I have come across so far. There is plenty going on with Kampuchea to play with my senses and leave me intoxicated in its aroma. Kampuchea is surprisingly bold too. It is not a quiet or totally linear Cambodi. It asserts itself, unafraid of showing its true colors with real confidence. Kampuchea’s maturity also lends to a feeling of seriousness that I often do not find in Cambodian oils. It is deep. It is still. It draws one into contemplation of its radiant resinous core, sweetly penetrated by notes of fruit. It is a true Oud oil that invokes a sense of the sacred.

Taha had commented on how similar Kampuchea is to Oud Yusha. I encourage my readers to buy both oils, not only because they are incredible oils, but because they each represent something significant. Oud Yusha represents a sustainable approach to Oud distillation–the world of organic Oud. And what does Oud Kampuchea represent?

To me, Oud Kampuchea proves that it is not necessary to harvest wild Oud wood in order to produce the highest quality Oud oils. Kampuchea does not exhibit anything that is not achievable via organic cultivation efforts and proper distillation methods. If a tree is allowed to mature sufficiently, and if the resin formation is significantly mature, and the distillation process is approached with care and artistic integrity–then it is totally possible to distill oils of this quality, or even better, depending on the nature of the raw materials and what they have to offer. However, it is also interesting to note that the wild Oud wood used for Oud Kampuchea could have produced a mediocre or even low quality oil, had the materials not been distilled properly. Wild Oud is not a guarantee of quality. Cultivated Oud is not necessarily lower in quality. Both have the potential to be superior quality oils. Kampuchea does not exhibit anything that I would not expect from a high quality organic cultivated Oud oil. Kampuchea simply shows the signs of a mature Oud oil from high quality raw materials that were distilled properly. And it is a real gem. The fact that Kampuchea compares to an oil like Oud Mostafa is also significant to me. By “compare”, I do not mean that it mimics the scent profile of Mostafa, or that they are similar oils. They are very different, make no mistake. But Kampuchea shares something with Mostafa. It shares depth, sophistication, maturity, and power.

Do not let the low price-tag initiate your skepticism! This is an incredible oil that I highly recommend. An incredible value if you really examine the offering: wild Cambodian Oud oil (wild Cambodian wood is statistically extinct), from a tree in which the resin formation in the heartwood is estimated to be 7-9 years old. $205. The proof is in the pudding!

The Future of Oud Pt. 6: Wild Cambodi vs. Cultivated Cambodi

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Although wild Cambodian Oud is  (statistically speaking) extinct, the Oud world currently has at their fingertips a wild-harvested Cambodi from Agar Aura, and a cultivated Cambodi from Ensar Oud. I would highly encourage my readers to grab a bottle of both, and to engage in an experiment. Can you smell the difference between Oud oil from cultivated trees and Oud oil from wild-harvested trees? Do a blind test, and see if you can locate the bottle of wild oil, and the bottle of organic oil. If you do a blind test, do it early,  before you can identify the fragrances by nose! Furthermore, if you are interested in taking the experiment to another level, try both Oud Yusha and Encens d’Ankgor for a direct experience of the art of distillation.

If you have already done these experiments, or if you are going to, feel free to post your thoughts and conclusions in comments to this post. If significant enough reply is received, a new post could be made featuring the conclusions of the noses of Oud connoisseurs!

We are currently witnessing breakthroughs in the world of Oud oil, and lucky to be participating in this historic moment! Speaking of breakthroughs and experiments, Ensar is currently in Thailand conducting an experiment of his own. He has acquired wild incense-grade Cambodian Oud wood, which he is going to distill into oil. He is doing this to see if his recent organic distillations can compare to the wild distillation, and to see if the wild holds anything that is missing from the organic distillation. A very intriguing, brave, and expensive experiment, Ensar once again demonstrates his characteristic fervor and devotion to discovering the nuances of everything related to Oud oil. Please enjoy the video below:

Sylvan Nectar

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Still cradled in Cambodi Caramel’s sweetness, I simply could not resist wearing another Cambodi today. I have a sample vial of Agar Aura’s now-sold-out Sylvan Nectar that I had been wanting to get to know better. First I had to tip the vial upside down so that I could get some on the applicator stick. This Oud gets the award for stickiest and most syrupy Oud. It has the consistency of honey. When I apply it to wrist, its stickiness is remarkable, like sap, or maple syrup. I attempt to lightly rub my wrists together, only to find that they nearly stick together! Somehow, I find the syrupiness to be pleasurable.

Sylvan Nectar opens very sweet, but its sweetness is more horizontal than Caramel’s. This Oud is truly nectarous. I feel that I am smelling the nectarous core of a blossoming flower, ripe for pollination. My vision turns to flowers in a wild garden being pollinated by a round honey bee. In the next moment, this Cambodi takes me to the hive. I smell the alchemy of nectar as it transmutates into the deep floral sweetness of fresh and wild honey.

This Oud has three very pronounced phases. The first is its sweet syrupy opening. An hour later, I began to notice a smokiness surrounding Sylvan’s floral core. A delightful surprise. It is a light smokiness, not dense or heavy. A little bit later, and my wrist truly smells of maple syrup. Sylvan perks up again with new notes of sweet suede, subtle enough to make an appearance before melting back into its syrupy heart.

A very light Oud that is full of surprises, Sylvan Nectar is amusing and incredibly sweet. This Oud stands nicely in contrast to Cambodi Caramel. Where Caramel is dark and bold, Sylvan is light and quiet. Sylvan is an early morning Oud, giving me visions of dawn, the sunrise, and the beginnings of life. Caramel is more brooding, a full moon, a journey into the deeper mysteries of life as they climax in a fullness of energy that rises high above the body and mind.

The Oud of Luxury

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Cambodi Caramel opens with a burst of berries–a delectable blend of blueberry and raspberry with a hint of strawberry. Unbelievably sweet! With every breath I feel that I am even swallowing and tasting the luxurious sweetness of this Oud. Cambodi Caramel has a sweetness that is so deep and rich…intoxicating. In a fullness of breath, the sweetness closes my eyes, as I allow myself to become lost in this Cambodi’s enticing aroma. Even then, I feel that a single breath alone is not sufficient to fully perceive and receive the depth of Caramel’s sweetness. Truly, I have not encountered a sweetness of this stature in any other Oud.

Cambodi Caramel is bright and deep. It is bold and confident, unashamed of being fearless and sensitive at the same time. Incredibly smooth and so soothing, Caramel is the most nurturing Oud I have come across. The fragrance is so deep and conscious that I cannot accurately say it is linear. It is strikingly alive.

There is no disappointment as Caramel dries down. I am surprised to find the same clarity, depth, and intensity of sweetness as I did in the opening. Wow! I return to my wrist to find that same incredible sweet fruitiness still so present and clear, and now there is a fine woodiness that has become evident. What a surprise! With exceptional sillage, Caramel maintains itself  perfectly, and that alone makes it one of my favorites. Even some of the finest Oud oils do not have this kind of clarity in the dry down. Caramel is aromatically articulate, an inspired musical phrase rich with color and clarity of tone.

Cambodi Caramel is the Oud of luxury–evoking an opulence that makes it a truly aristocratic Oud.

Cultivation: Koh Kong
Crafted: March 2010
Yield: 25 tolas
Status: Legend