Oud Thai Skank (5 YEAR AGED)

Adam Michael has this to say “This Thai plantation oud exudes a warmth in the top that is so intense, it is comparable to smelling chili oleoresin or that of eating an assortment of the hottest chilli peppers known to man. Beyond this, the opening has a similar DNA to what can be expected form a Thai Plantation of this price point, so cresole rich, a jungle of decaying woods, the smell of horse’s hair and those fruit notes that tease you due to being only a little visible in the top along with trace earth and trace tamarind nuances.

After about 25 minutes on the strip this material starts to morph in a sultry, moody dark woods affair, everything being so dry, a tad bitter and reminiscent to a Wild Cambodian oud I was looking at in 2020 from a respected producer and of which cost crazy money.

By the 40-minute mark this smell is comparable to a field full of dirty horses, a vat full of sweetened maple syrup and a sprinkling of orange rinds. As we enter the hour and ten-minute territory, I am picking up warm fruit notes mixed with leather and traces of crude amber and shoe polish. The woody notes at this point still dry but taking on earthy, mulch type qualities. Its important to add that this is an aromatic that doesn’t project like a fragranced bath-bomb or many of the yukky perfumes people buy of which leave a trail of suffocation behind them. This instead is a rather close to skin, one on one, intimate experience. The foody chili tonalities are present for the first few hours but eventually give way for varying sequences of all the other notes mentioned. The dry down, being all notes subdued with skanky animalic qualities is extremely pleasant to deeply inhale from the smelling strip. This said I am a Hindi Oud fan boy so maybe I am a tad biased when it comes to ouds displaying anything remotely skanky.

I would regard this material as a beginner’s oud, nothing too challenging to figure out, pleasant if you enjoy skanky animalic aromatics, a real work-horse, very price friendly as I have seen many ouds of this calibre fetch in the 18K to 20K ballpark per kilo, fair life span from a swipe and clear as day plantation Thai oud (once this material unravels properly) that will layer well with all the usual suspects, from sandalwoods, vetivers, deer musk, ambergris, castoreum, civet, tobacco, roses and so on and so forth. Highly recommended.”

Botanical Name: Aquilaria crassna

Origin: Thailand 

Plantation Material (5 Year Aged as of February 2023)