Quote:
Originally Posted by
jenson 
@ Igor - on a scale of 1-10 with 10 being top notch, how would you rate oudh from rk sons and
Oriscent
i have a oudh form rk sons which is insanely potent in the nicest way. i just dab a tiny pin point on my chest and it keeps going forever... however, it has a barnyard smell to it.. is this common with all oudhs...?
I am afraid I cannot answer your question in a way that will be of much help to you, Jenson. Generally speaking, Oriscent has the widest variety of different oud scent profiles and their oils' quality is very hard to beat or even match. Most of my personal favourites are from Oriscent but since I (much like everyone else) have my own preferences I don't necessarily enjoy all their stuff equally. Their Borneos are, in my opinion, absolutely unmatched, you just can't find anything like Borneo Kinam or Borneo 3000 anywhere, at any price. Their (now sold out) Kyara LTD and Royal Kinam are simply divine, way off the 1-10 scale. Kyara Koutan is also uber-beautiful and should get absolutly stunning when it ages a year or two. At the same time I am not a huge fan of their Cambodis which to me are overpriced and uinspired compared to say ASAQ's Thaqeel or even the much cheaper KSSS from Oudimentary.
The barnyard note you perceive in RK's oud is common to Indian oils with their staple (no pun intended) animalic or sometimes fecal aroma. I don't dig Indian ouds generally speaking, so the only three Indian oils that I bought were ASAQ Kalakassi and AgarAura's Indian Spice and Purana. Oriscent's Nuh is very good too but I don't wear Hindi's enough to justify another bottle of oil that will not see much use. RK's oils (they are all Indian) are of varying quality and appeal to me, their Double Super had varying degrees of barnyardiness across the different batches all of which were too much for me. The Kohinoor was much nicer but I much prefer a woodier, drier Hindi scent profile, like Kalakassi.
So, as you see, any ratings I can provide on Oriscent or others would range wildly across the different geographical groups and be completely arbitrary (i.e. useless to others). I am sure those who don't shy away from barnyard note are much better positioned to give a meaningful feedback on Indian oils from Oriscent or others. Because of my tastes, I wouldn't be cought dead wearing Oriscent's Assam Organic or China Exclusive, or even such highly acclaimed masterpieces of the Indian genre as their Sulaiman and Mostafa. I much prefer their softer and "prettier" oils like Kyara LTD, Kyara Koutan, Royal Kinam, Borneo Kinam, Burmese Kinam, Borneo 3000, Blue Brunei and Sheikh's Borneo. I guess different people will have different views on what a good oud is, my own theory is simple - whatever smells good to you and what you are comfortable about wearing in public (and can afford) is a good oud
Sorry for such an opinionated and unhelpful reply.
