There are references and photos of batches of Aroha Kyaku from 2011/2012, 2014, 2016, 2018 and 2020.
‘Incense addicts, listen up! Copper connoisseurs, come even closer. How to de-fruitify copper distilled oud oils seems like an impossible job – especially if you’re distilling Aquilaria Crassna. It’s like trying to turn apple juice into Earl Grey.
But why on earth would you want to tone down the fruits in the first place?
Crafting artisanal oud oil isn’t about clinging onto tradition, nor is it about designing new distillations set-ups. It’s about discovery. Whatever it takes. If it means using old school equipment, so be it. If we need to inaugurate new distillation methods, we’re all on board.
To craft Aroha Kyaku we used a traditional distillation set-up from which nobody would expect anything but honey and fruit. We fired up gas heated copper stills and ground up some of the finest Crassna. The only problem…. I mean…. discovery…. was that…. WOW! We must have distilled Crassnas from another planet!
Alright, I’ll confess. Maybe the set-up wasn’t all that traditional. The crazy introverted dark incense profile we unlocked in what otherwise should have been a playful breed of Thai fruitiness might have something to do with the water we used for distillation. Instead of using a single water source, we used earthwater from a selection of different local wells. Then again, it might also have to do with us collecting Crassnas from several distinct mountains. Or was it the addition of glass filtering to compliment the copper? The use of two different sets of condensers must have played a role too, I’m sure.
At the end of the day it wasn’t about toning down the fruits at all. It wasn’t just about trying new distillation tweaks either. All we cared for was to crack open unchartered scent profiles – olfactory notes that lay dormant in a copper pot, nestled in a Crassna crust – to bring you artisanally crafted organic oud oil that goes so hard against the grain you can literally smell the friction!
The (lack of) fruits of our exclusive distillation techniques is an oud fragrance that breaks all the rules. There are no fermentation notes, nor any metallic undertones. No dustiness, no fresh-off-the-still twang. You’ll smell spicy oud smoke instead of dried figs, purple berries infused with bubbling agarwood resin instead of apricot jam. The scent progression is smooth and gradual and the sillage unintrusive.
This Aroha contains incense-grade shavings of the same level as Oud Yaqoub, and what it does contain that Yaqoub doesn’t is high-grade kyen, pure Maroke agarwood resin, liquified and heated a la EO’s unparalleled technique.
Chock full of unfruity-smoky, spicy-sweet surprises, in Aroha Kyaku you’ve got one bedazzling bottle of oud!’ – Ensar Oud
‘For me, the new one (2020) is better than the old one. Projection, longevity and the ‘smack in the face’ quality is better in the 2020. Both are similar in a brotherly kind of way but also distinctly different.
If you write out the notes and work out the scent transitions meticulously, you will see similar things for both oils. On skin each of those notes is more prominent for 2020.
One key difference between both is that the 2018 is a sniff your wrist kind of oil. It has an addicting and warm aroma that will make you aimlessly sniff your wrist throughout the day.
The 2020 is a scent that envelops you completely. For me it’s a direct substitute for fumigation. The initial smokiness is very comparable to oud chips on coal.’ Muhammad Ali
ENSAR OUD