‘One swipe. That’s all it’ll take to give you déjà vu and land you back to 2005.
That vanillicious raspberry-glazed opening that epitomizes the great Malinau ouds…… 3000, Sheikh’s Borneo, and Borneo Kinam – that’s what you smell. Like you’ve gone back to 2005 and uncapped Borneo 4000 for the first time. That’s the swipe on your arm.
This creamy texture, the berries, and that emblematic cinamonilla tone that makes the scent delicious and regal at the same time, with a dry profile that gives the illusion of spices – but when it comes down to it, which spices exactly do you pick out? Aside from that quintessential cinnamon-but-is-it? hue that defines high-grade Malinau distillations…
As if sage got diffused through frankincense, mint leaves mixed into honey drenched in sandalwood. An opulent apricot, raspberry flavor, not sour, but not overly sweet either, that lingers for hours on my skin.
That’s one of the signs of quality here. The release is steady and is what makes this Borneo live up to its predecessors. Dry and spicy in an olde Mysore kinda way, while that sweet, not jammy but vanilla/cinnamon-like tenor persists even through the drydown. In fact, it is the drydown… so much a part of Malinau’s fabric, that dry-sweet combo never dissipates; instead, it simply quiets down until you take a fresh swipe the next day to reinvigorate the whole shebang again.
There are summer and winter ouds. Borneo Reborn is one of those ouds that’s equally wearable throughout the year. The opulent santal-dry spiciness gives it enough warmth for an excellent winter fragrance, while that… I don’t want to call it menthol, but this soft eucalyptic bite that’s citrus-like but muskier and way smoother, makes it shine in summer. Warm in the cold, radiant under the sun, with a ‘golden’ texture akin to 50K.
If you’ve heard of Borneo 3000 but never got to try it, this is the oud for you. If you’ve swiped your Borneo 4000 down to the last drop, here’s your sub. Oud that so accurately captures rare Malinau oud chips few get to savor, yet adds to the profile in the way only fine oud oil can; a swipe not only puts the scent of triple king super Borneo oud chips right under your nose, and under the microscope – it also lets you relish the aroma not for a fleeting moment but for hours on end.
Cultures where oud has a long heritage don’t recognize Borneos such as this as oud. A mixture of restricted access and rarity means few ever get to try oud like this. Just like the medicinal tone of Nha Trang doesn’t register because only one in many millions has the opportunity to try such olfactory luxuries.
But if you’re familiar with top-tier Kalimantan or Malinau agarwood chips – which is asking a lot, I know… not like you can just find them anywhere anymore – heated them up low temp or high, there’s no escaping it: This is that smell.’ – Ensar Oud
ENSAR OUD