Oud Thai Fruit-Spice E.O (FOUR AND A HALF YEAR AGED)

Adam Michael has this to say “As I type on the 8th May 2022 this is a two and a half year aged plantation oud from the province of Trat in Thailand. I regard this as a classic intro-level Thai plantation offering, comparable to our Prachin and Thai Royal offerings. Like the two ouds mentioned, this is mega concentrated and in this instance opens in a spicy through to borderline chilli spiced fashion with the usual heavy cresole and dark wood tonalities, finishing with fiery shades of tanned leather.

Once we approach the hour mark on the strip, the dark woody and leather aspects intensify further, the cresole softens off ever so slightly and gives way for the early detection of a more prominent sugary sweetness, sticky ripe fruits and liquorice candy traces. Despite all these aromas feeling very obvious of a classic cost-effective Trat oud, I think the spiced character is sufficient to create a unique experience (with regards to what we have in our collection) as the aroma actually takes me back to Malaysian night markets, smells of charred wood, spiced foods, slurping super sweet slush puppy style drinks, the aromas of the people, the night air, it’s all somehow encapsulated within this scent profile and again I suspect it is due to how this spiced quality interacts with all other components.

Next, after the two hour mark and not exceeding the six hour mark, I encounter a note profile that made me greatly question my sanity. You see every so often during this time frame I find the routine profile morphs momentarily from dark wood and tanned leather power into a dry woody sweet powdery form comparable to children’s plasticine and Iris pallida butter/e.o. This is again a fleeting experience but such that I have held this release back by over 6 months (in my possession since November 2021) so I could sporadically re-evaluate to be as sure as I can be of this note profile. Sure enough I pick it out every single time, it starts with me sensing something vanillic plasticine (think vanilla Tahitian and pompona) and very cold orientated, and then sure enough I think I am smelling Iris pallida. Maybe I am insane as Eleonora is not spotting this, but I would be curious to know if anyone who does try this, also picks out this fleeting aroma profile.

Beyond this though, normal service resumes and the aroma is still detectable on my skin type at just over 9 hours and present on the strip for approaching a week. From the 5 hour mark onwards this aroma profile becomes a straightforward sticky fruity dark woods profile with some foody-aspects throughout.

Gloopy dark-red to red-black subject to volume and a must for those wanting real oud in their compositions at a cost-effective price.”

Botanical Name: Aquilaria crassna

Origin: Thailand

Plantation Material (Four and a half years aged as of May 2024)