A Missed Oud
In my blog I hope to entertain you and myself with reviews of the grand to the peculiar in fragrance, trotting through entire houses or genres of perfume in sometimes off-beat fashion. No doubt Yasmin will show up, my captive Sassanian princess, now Sultana to her kingdom's conqueror, the handsome Arab, Sultan Walad. Their hijinks began over on BN in my Jasmine Sniff-Fest and continued in the thread, In Search of Most Divine Incense.
Today I'm exploring the house of Agar Aura.
These folks contacted me with an offer of samples and I accepted on the condition I could review them honestly, or not review them as I chose. They readily agreed and the oils arrived a few weeks ago. Woe is me for the delay because when I finally smelled them and went to buy the one I like most, it was sold out. Now they're closed until March 20! That'll learn me. I don't know the going cost for oud oils, but to me these are fantastically beautiful and outrageously expensive scents. Here's my take on them:
Baghdad - It's no longer on their site, but in case it shows up again, Baghdad is a sweet joy and perhaps the least oudy of these ouds. If I didn't know better, I'd think it's a woody floral, heavy on maybe patchouli, cedarwood and musk. It's really lovely.
Kencana - a blast of fresh hay, along with dense fruitiness, honeyed over. Beneath it is the knock-out oud.
Kristana Pa - This one's my gentler favorite. It smells a bit like Somali Incense with florals.
Manipura - They call it the most precious Indian oud you can lay your hands on. Picture being halfway between a stable and a lemonade stand and you've got it.
Sempurna - They say it's sinking-grade agarwood (whatever that may be) from an almost 100 year old tree. What can I say? It's sweet and really oudy.
Having explored the incense genre, I'm impressed by these. Thank goodness they offer affordable 0.15g vials.
Now, as it happens, Yasmin and Walad have just returned from their honeymoon on the Island of Cypress (Chypre). Having sniffed a total of 54 incense perfumes on Cypress, she narrowed her favorites down to a list of 14 personal loves and 10 she longs to smell on Walad. In the final sniff-off, she couldn't choose a favorite. It was a tie between the magical Blackbird from the House of Matriarch and Jovoy's hypnotic La Liturgie des Heures. Now Fizur, Walad's personal guard, enters their lotus courtyard with bad news. Someone has absconded with all their favorite incense perfumes! Tears fill Yasmin's eyes, but Walad cannot bear to see his bride weep. "You still have your Jasmines," he points out. "Yes, but I've already smelled them all," she pouts.
Walad claps his hands and gives orders for his merchants to return to Cypress and collect every chypre scent they can get their hands on. Yasmin is relieved to explore a new genre. I solemnly promise her that in the next post I'll resume Learning Chypre, and she can be its star.