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Notes04/14/2021
PallasCC
3 Reviews
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PallasCC
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Not your usual oud
Here Ensar has once again brought out something very fine. Not for nothing has the Hailam Kilam oil found their place in the Oriscent range, because it differs very clearly from the normal range, although there are some parallels to the "Blue Yunnan" (about it in the other comment).
How does the Chinese Oud smell? As Caligari has already correctly noted, it has very little to do with our idea of what oud should be. After all, is it even possible to say that oud should smell like anything in particular? Having studied many wild ouds, I have to say that when you talk about oud, you are talking about a very wide range. The region, age from the wood, steeping, distillation technique etc will have an impact on the end result. Thus, Hailam Kilam is very different from oils like Aroha Kyaku (organic), Oud Yusuf (organic) and other popular candidates that have made Ensar Oud so well known in the community.
Hailam Kilam started off quite medicinal, as if you were in an ancient Chinese medicine shop. Dry herbs hang on the walls. The old wooden counter has a myriad of jars of various concoctions. In the corner, one is brewing a Lapsang Souchong tea. It smells so realistic, it's as if you can actually see the texture of the tea clearly in front of your eyes. A light smoke (not black, but dark green) fills the room. But that was just the beginning.
After some time (about 1 hour), the scent becomes fuller, rounder and sweeter. It now reminded me of dark honey and fused resins. Not cloying, but sweet. Pleasant. As the sweetness peaked, you could actually smell caramel with a heavy dose of cream. As if the Werther's Original candies had been placed on a hot pan and melted there. This process was very slow, as if you had experienced it in slow motion. The phase lasted about 30 minutes before another transformation occurred. This time, it was not the aforementioned Lapsang Souchong tea, but a redbush with vanilla. Light to medium brown woods could be detected in the background. The light smoke was also present, but this time it had red-brown tones.
In the later stages (after hours), one was transported to a forest where one was greeted by a warm forest floor. There was everything: moss, greenery, trees and tree bark with a very subtle minty haze intertwined with the forest smells. And that was just the first encounter with this unique oil.
P.S.: Of course, unfortunately, there's no way to describe the entire 12 hours here, but hopefully this summary helps portray the main facets of what the oil is like.
How does the Chinese Oud smell? As Caligari has already correctly noted, it has very little to do with our idea of what oud should be. After all, is it even possible to say that oud should smell like anything in particular? Having studied many wild ouds, I have to say that when you talk about oud, you are talking about a very wide range. The region, age from the wood, steeping, distillation technique etc will have an impact on the end result. Thus, Hailam Kilam is very different from oils like Aroha Kyaku (organic), Oud Yusuf (organic) and other popular candidates that have made Ensar Oud so well known in the community.
Hailam Kilam started off quite medicinal, as if you were in an ancient Chinese medicine shop. Dry herbs hang on the walls. The old wooden counter has a myriad of jars of various concoctions. In the corner, one is brewing a Lapsang Souchong tea. It smells so realistic, it's as if you can actually see the texture of the tea clearly in front of your eyes. A light smoke (not black, but dark green) fills the room. But that was just the beginning.
After some time (about 1 hour), the scent becomes fuller, rounder and sweeter. It now reminded me of dark honey and fused resins. Not cloying, but sweet. Pleasant. As the sweetness peaked, you could actually smell caramel with a heavy dose of cream. As if the Werther's Original candies had been placed on a hot pan and melted there. This process was very slow, as if you had experienced it in slow motion. The phase lasted about 30 minutes before another transformation occurred. This time, it was not the aforementioned Lapsang Souchong tea, but a redbush with vanilla. Light to medium brown woods could be detected in the background. The light smoke was also present, but this time it had red-brown tones.
In the later stages (after hours), one was transported to a forest where one was greeted by a warm forest floor. There was everything: moss, greenery, trees and tree bark with a very subtle minty haze intertwined with the forest smells. And that was just the first encounter with this unique oil.
P.S.: Of course, unfortunately, there's no way to describe the entire 12 hours here, but hopefully this summary helps portray the main facets of what the oil is like.
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