Oud Wild Tabak (Quadruple Co-Distillation)

Adam Michael has this to say “This is top-tier, holy grail, no expense spared oud coming in at a quarter of a million Euros per kilo. You don’t buy an oud like this for any other reason than to enjoy and to impress. Elitism all over but let’s cut to the chase, this costs a fortune because it involves the best of everything, and it took over 6 months from talking through the idea to turning it into a reality. This was a project I decided to undertake because I am at a time of life whereby it feels evermore now or never, it would be so easy to offer the plain boring obvious that anyone else offers, whilst it is such a big risk to explore different paths, but if I get it right, I lay the foundations that in time further alters the conversation, and that is an immensely rewarding feeling not just for Hermitage but for me personally.

Now this ambitious project involved obtaining four types of wild wood from three states, Assam, Meghalaya and two locations in Nagaland. The age of the woods used is estimated at 50 years with an average 4-year resination (time from infection to distillation), a 30-day soak time and the distillation took 22 days using a steel pot. Colour tang amber-red to dark red-brown subject to volume and of a slightly thick but pourable viscosity.

The opening, from the bottle, on strip or applied to skin is dark oud wood, sweet rose-jam, Atlas cedar, amber in a somewhat cola-labdanum theme with ppm diluted trace fossil crude amber – minus any smoke. Follows with huge clouds of mind-bending incense, trace of Cuban cigars, dried-tobacco leaves, sticky fragrant copal resin, powdered black Turkish storax and a melody of non-specific warm floral tonalities. This is the profile; I get 7 hours of solid wear applied direct to my skin and it lasts for nearly 35 hours on the strip. The only noticeable difference is found in the dry down, a nuance comparable to walking in a lush green garden after a Spring-rain.

Beyond this the profile is consistent and this is the aromatic that has both delivered my first ever otherworldly – I have died and gone to fragrant heaven experience – along with educating me further on the mind-altering brain tingling high effects I have read about. From inhaling this aroma I feel super human, exhilarated, as though I could jump off a high rise building, fly to the moon and play a guitar solo like a bad-ass on the beach of Rio de Janeiro to a million people, despite the fact I can’t play a good solo if my life depended on it. My brain is consumed with total happiness, zero anxiety, zero worries, everything simply feels so possible. A phenomenal experience taking this oud far beyond the realms of its sensational aroma profile.

I fully appreciate this aromatic will be out of reach for most, but I needed this in my collection to make it crystal clear as to how committed I am to the world of Artisan oud. 10 out of 10, a million out of a million, whatever the numbers, this is aromatic perfection and I tip my hat with respect to the god-producer behind this masterpiece.”

Botanical Name: Aquilaria agallocha (All four wild woods used)

Origin: India

Alcohol Soluble: Yes

Oil Soluble: Yes

Wild Material distilled in 2021