• production: Distilled in June 2024 by a trusted artisan partner-distiller from a few fully mature Aquilaria trees growing together deep in the forest covered hills of Mondulkiri province, Cambodia. Copper still with glass collector.
• terroir: Mondulkiri province in Cambodia is famous for pepper, cacao, and other spice production and has its own special wild honey designation that is internationally recognized. This is the first time that we have encountered Agarwood trees or Oud oil from this region, and we are especially pleased with the unique features of this exquisite Oud.
• scent description: Right from the bottle the smooth delicious opening notes include finest smooth aged dark rum, fresh black pipe tobacco (without smoke), fresh palm sugar, and rubbed vanilla pod. On your skin the promised purple theme jubilantly emerges; offering intense grape and blueberry notes, grape jam, vintage port wine, blueberry pie, black fig, overripe black cherry, more vanilla, mixed berry strudel, cherry pie, butter melting in a hot pan, overripe strawberry, grenadine, syrup of cassis… Grape, blueberry, vanilla, and dark pipe tobacco form the leitmotif here, meandering through the top and heart of this sultry and sublime Oud oil. Deeper into the heart there is a luxury hardwood aspect that becomes more prominent; not antique wood; but notice newly cut and finished mahogany, rosewood, and ebony providing a deep and dignified sanctum in which the other notes can settle and luxuriate. You might also notice a very light aura of very well cooked sweet brown dessert spices in the background, like baked goods with a touch of cinnamon, cassia, and nutmeg. But this spicy aspect is light and never dominates. Deep into the dry-down theres a silky smooth palm sugar and luxury hardwood finish with a smudge of vanilla pod still lingering. A sparkle of grape must (wine must) or port wine sediment offers a refined connoisseurs touchpoint in the tenacious, but somewhat more dry and linear, final hours of wear. The thematic notes of this purple paragon will not suddenly evaporate, leaving you with a faltering finish of more common Oud notes; impressively the key notes remain present and quite dominant through most of the dry-down. (Notably absent or very minimally present, are the apple and sweet brown spice notes which are almost ubiquitous in Oud oils from the more famous western Cambodian Oud terroirs such as Pursat and Koh Kong. This oil is especially notable due in part to the absence of these classic Cambodian notes, and the particular intensity and richness of the purple and black fruit, vanilla, and dark pipe tobacco aspects.)
Ageing beautifully since June 2024, we are excited to see how this oil develops with additional ageing.
• notes of controversy: none. (No barn, no fermented notes, no smoke, no leather)
• species: most likely Aquilaria crassna, but unconfirmed. The special and rare scent profile of this oil is either a result of the unique growing region and/or the unidentified Aquilaria species at work in the scent profile. Sometimes it's simply not possible to be absolutely sure about the species when harvesting wild trees. We look forward to more products from this special terroir so that we can compare notes and get a better sense of it's special attributes.
DEEP PURPLE 2024 • rare terroir black fruit and vanilla wild Oud • Mondulkiri province, Cambodia
• production: Distilled in June 2024 by a trusted artisan partner-distiller from a few fully mature Aquilaria trees growing together deep in the forest covered hills of Mondulkiri province, Cambodia. Copper still with glass collector.
• terroir: Mondulkiri province in Cambodia is famous for pepper, cacao, and other spice production and has its own special wild honey designation that is internationally recognized. This is the first time that we have encountered Agarwood trees or Oud oil from this region, and we are especially pleased with the unique features of this exquisite Oud.
• scent description: Right from the bottle the smooth delicious opening notes include finest smooth aged dark rum, fresh black pipe tobacco (without smoke), fresh palm sugar, and rubbed vanilla pod. On your skin the promised purple theme jubilantly emerges; offering intense grape and blueberry notes, grape jam, vintage port wine, blueberry pie, black fig, overripe black cherry, more vanilla, mixed berry strudel, cherry pie, butter melting in a hot pan, overripe strawberry, grenadine, syrup of cassis… Grape, blueberry, vanilla, and dark pipe tobacco form the leitmotif here, meandering through the top and heart of this sultry and sublime Oud oil. Deeper into the heart there is a luxury hardwood aspect that becomes more prominent; not antique wood; but notice newly cut and finished mahogany, rosewood, and ebony providing a deep and dignified sanctum in which the other notes can settle and luxuriate. You might also notice a very light aura of very well cooked sweet brown dessert spices in the background, like baked goods with a touch of cinnamon, cassia, and nutmeg. But this spicy aspect is light and never dominates. Deep into the dry-down theres a silky smooth palm sugar and luxury hardwood finish with a smudge of vanilla pod still lingering. A sparkle of grape must (wine must) or port wine sediment offers a refined connoisseurs touchpoint in the tenacious, but somewhat more dry and linear, final hours of wear. The thematic notes of this purple paragon will not suddenly evaporate, leaving you with a faltering finish of more common Oud notes; impressively the key notes remain present and quite dominant through most of the dry-down. (Notably absent or very minimally present, are the apple and sweet brown spice notes which are almost ubiquitous in Oud oils from the more famous western Cambodian Oud terroirs such as Pursat and Koh Kong. This oil is especially notable due in part to the absence of these classic Cambodian notes, and the particular intensity and richness of the purple and black fruit, vanilla, and dark pipe tobacco aspects.)
Ageing beautifully since June 2024, we are excited to see how this oil develops with additional ageing.
• notes of controversy: none. (No barn, no fermented notes, no smoke, no leather)
• species: most likely Aquilaria crassna, but unconfirmed. The special and rare scent profile of this oil is either a result of the unique growing region and/or the unidentified Aquilaria species at work in the scent profile. Sometimes it's simply not possible to be absolutely sure about the species when harvesting wild trees. We look forward to more products from this special terroir so that we can compare notes and get a better sense of it's special attributes.
Additional notes on Oud from Aroma Sublime:
• Absolutely wild. When we say wild, we mean wild! All our “wild” designated agarwood and oil is from genuine 100% naturally occurring wild forest agarwood trees with no human interventions prior to harvest. Occasionally we might offer other options, but they will be clearly indicated as either “cultivated” (farmed) or “semi-wild” (agarwood growth influenced by human intervention in a natural setting). When we say wild, we mean wild!
• One-tree wonders. We strongly prefer single-tree agarwood harvests and single-tree Oud oil distillations. This has both environmental and aesthetic benefits, capturing the unique essence of a single, fully mature, agarwood tree. When this single-tree preference is not possible we strongly favor combining wood from only a few fully mature trees from the same geography, of known provenance, supplied by trusted and experienced harvesters. (the only exception would be in the case of carefully planned blends or co-distillations which we always describe with precision.) More and more you will see us moving toward single-tree productions. It’s part of our commitment to sustainability and our joy in honoring the individual aromatic “soul” of each tree we harvest.
• Beyond Words. We try to describe our Oud oils as accurately as possible using common vocabulary from a Western cultural perspective. There might also be some specialized technical or aromatic nomenclature as we seek also to educate and inform our customers. We hope to strike a balance; offering accessibility and straightforwardness while also providing some technical and specialized vocabulary when we think it is informative or necessary. Our Oud descriptions are subjective and may vary slightly over time due to the effects of aging on Oud's aromatic profile, however, Oud oils will generally only improve with age, and the key features of a particular oil will generally be quite stable over time. We try to repeat the assessment process and update the detailed aromatic description for every Oud oil in our catalog at least once every 12 months. We pride ourselves on detailed accurate descriptions of our Oud oils, and we are happy to receive your constructive feedback on this topic.
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