Aceh Flora
From £26.00
A sensually green, zero-soak, wild oud oil from Aceh province in Indonesia, Oud Aceh Flora is a sweet, floral, and minty green beauty that reflects, in my mind, the flora of the jungle from where it hails, hence the name.
Swiping on the arm, it opens up with a strong blast of all shades of green: bright, grassy, mentholic, minty, jungly and vetivery notes, all accompanied by what reminds me of the powdery scent of rice flour, and perhaps a soft whisper of vanilla in the background.
Softening and sweetening as the scent progresses, this exquisitely bright, sweet and sour red cherry emerges, weaving in-between the soft vanilla and dark green jungles to produce what some may call a cola vibe that is simply beautiful.
Overall, however, this remains a dark green jungle-type oud which, alongside the gorgeous red cherry note mentioned earlier, also has floral, leathery, vetivery, mossy and even an almost dark, diesel-like facet to it which is hard to accurately describe, but makes it a fascinating oil in any collection.
Reviews (7)
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Choron
Hailing from the ancient cradle of oud, this is a special 2018 co-distillation of incense-grade oud collected from various regions of Al Hind and beyond.
Artisanally distilled, with a short soak, low temperature cook, and several years of ageing now, it’s transformed into a beautifully balanced and rounded profile over time: A very refined Hindi oud full of character and depth, and yet void of all things animalics and barn.
As a high-grade Hindi, this can easily be called Kalakassi, but that term is actually a misnomer: an inaccurately-used label that’s often attached to top-drawer Hindis nowadays for marketing purposes*.
*(Kalakassi actually refers to one of the shapes of Hindi oud (wood). When a piece of oud is large and concave, i.e. resembles the shape of a banana leaf, it’s classified as Kalakassi, but that has no bearing on its grade or how resinated it is, simply its shape).
And hence, I decided to forgo this name for Choron instead, the Bengali distiller’s name for oud shavings. And not any shavings were used here; but the highly resinated shavings of wild, incense-grade oud. And the result is this gorgeous beauty…
Ultra-smooth, buttery almost, and complex, it opens up with a waft of soft incense, spices, and gentle tobacco around its beautifully dark Hindi oudy core.
As the scent develops, it gains slightly in sweetness, molasses now perhaps, contrasted by tobacco, woods, spices and leather, with a hint of hay and a clean barn somewhere in the distance, before eventually descending into a soft woody and spicy drydown.
Choron is most definitely not a loud Hindi oud roaring with animalics and barn, but it also isn’t a squeaky clean new-gen lacking in complexity and depth. Instead, it’s perhaps what many of its namesakes would love to be: A beautiful, delicate, tightrope walk between the two that shows you what Hindi oud, done right, can be.
Golden Sylhet 2021
Every once in a while, you come across an oud oil that just stops you in your tracks. It demands attention. This is one of them.
As an oud oil distilled from old wild trees from Sylhet and nearby regions, you know it’s going to be a complex Hindi oud. What you smell however is not just complex, but a sweet, leathery, barny, and smoky Bengal powerhouse that is truly captivating.
The scent opens up with an intensely rich sweetness reminiscent of overripe fruits and honey, wafting in-between layers of strong animalic leather and barnyard.
As it progresses, the exquisite sweetness is replaced by a warm, spicy, smoky, and barny leather which comes to the forefront, holding centre stage before eventually reaching a sweet woody drydown.
Gorgeously warm and radiant, if this scent had a colour it would be gold. The sweet, golden, rays of sunrise penetrating the dense jungles of Sylhet, waking its inhabitants to another day in the wild.
Notes:
• Please note that is the new 2021 batch. The image will be updated shortly.
Sylhet Orchard
Hailing from the rolling hills of Sylhet in Bangladesh, a picturesque region resplendent with lush tea gardens and tropical rainforests, this is most definitely NOT Hindi oud as you know it.
For most of us, traditional Hindi oud means barnyard and animalics. Love-it-or-hate-it affairs that are simply irreplaceable to their seasoned fans, and just downright offensive to everyone else.
Enter Sylhet Orchard, an artisanal distillation that showcases what high grade, wild Bengali oud can actually smell like. Gathered predominantly from the jungles of Sylhet Division and distilled using a special setup with zero fermentation, this oud firmly closes the door of the barn behind it and takes you on a summery sunshine-filled stroll amongst Sylhet’s fragrant orchards and hills.
Remarkably similar to excellent Thai or Cambodi oils, the scent opens up with a warm concoction of dark stewed fruits, honey, cinnamon and plums with a delicate tanginess reminiscent of green sultanas and hay perhaps, all streaming out together like the sun-ripened harvest of a luscious, fragrant orchard.
As the scent progresses, the green sultana-like tanginess comes to the forefront alongside a leathery facet, balancing out the profile beautifully against the sweet stewed fruits, before eventually reaching a light minty and sweet woody drydown.
Despite being a Bengal distillation, it’s amazing how Cambodian and Thai-esque this smells, but with a warm and radiantly yellow hue to it, and a beautifully rich and intense profile unlike many of today’s cultivated offerings from those regions.
Distilled in the first half of 2021, Sylhet Orchard has been ageing with me for several months now and already its profile has become a lot more beautiful and rounded, with the harsh edges disappearing and its profile becoming sweeter and richer, and it will continue to mature with time of course.Â
So, if you’re in search of an outstanding and unique distillation that will challenge your perception of what a Bengal oud can be... or can’t be, or you’re simply looking for a gorgeously pretty oud masquerading à la perfume to wear on the London Underground or NYC’s subway, I would highly recommend you try this.
Sumbawa
Perhaps one of the darkest ouds I've come across to date, this gorgeous Gyrinops Versteegii comes to you from Sumbawa island in Indonesia, part of the Lesser Sunda Islands chain that also includes Komodo, the land of Komodo dragons.
Largely forgotten to history, Sumbawa was once witness to one of the greatest natural events of the modern era, and yet one that few know about today.
On the 10th of April, 1815, Mount Tambora, a volcano on the north side of Sumbawa island erupted. It was one of the most powerful volcanic eruptions in recorded human history, and one of only several such VEI-7 eruptions in the last 2,000 years.
Such was the intensity of the blast that it was heard 2,600 kilometres away, and triggered a period of global cooling known as the "year without a summer" in 1816, causing failed harvests and extreme weather conditions worldwide. Anyways, a fascinating history that I thought was worth sharing, but back to the oud.
Almost as if still living in the shadow of Mount Tambora's volcanic eruption, this ultra-thick oil opens up with a broodingly dark, wet and smoky earthiness; like the pitch black silence of a charred jungle floor; balanced by a lightly vanillic and spicy undercurrent, which together combine to create an incense-like quality that is simply beautiful.
As the scent progresses, it becomes more spicy and woody with a hint, perhaps, of the deep, dark and soily water of Southeast Asia's water-logged mangroves. Largely, however, it retains its vanillic, spicy, woody and earthy heart with a hint of smoke through to the drydown.
A zero-soaked, artisanal undertaking with no barn or fermentation notes, Oud Sumbawa is the older brother to Borneo Tarakan, but without the former's green-tinged heart and instead slightly more smoke, spice and earth. A gorgeous oil for those in search of dark, incensey and ultra-jungly ouds.
Les –
Anonymous (verified owner) –
This oud is cooler than Tarakan and more green. Seller was very easy to communicate with. An excellent shopping experience!
Muhammad Ahsan Pervaiz (verified owner) –
So this is the one that is floral, green, sweet, mysterious and lovely and have a very unique scent profile. One of the best from Ashworth Oud
Olga (verified owner) –
Perfectly described by the owner – phenomenal product with delightful nuances!
Bardissan isho –
Great great great stuff couldn’t believe what I was smelling at first really piece of art.
Kevin Augagneur (verified owner) –
So special and best quality
Augagneur Kevin (verified owner) –
Comme d’habitude, un délice et une originalité surprenante. Un incontournable pour votre collection
muhammadashworth (store manager) –
“As usual, a delight and a surprising originality. A must have for your collection”.
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Thank you very much, glad you enjoyed it!