An Ensar Oud Cambodi?!

Oud collectors have been waiting since 2004 for us to launch a Cambodian Oud. They have complained to me in person and in public about my reluctance to launch a ‘Cambodi’ on Oriscent. This whole time, I have maintained that the so-called Cambodi oils that are marketed by the Khaliji Oud conglomerates tell the story of how the name ‘Cambodi’ has come to be associated with poor, low grade Oud oils.

Sad but true. Due to increasingly cheaper methods of production, the distinctly rich, inviting sweetness unique to Cambodian oils has been all but watered down to death. This is the rule, with almost no exception. Time after time we had to hear of how Saudi dealers come to Cambodian artisans demanding significantly cheaper oils. This means that you’re getting mixed, synthetic, bad quality ‘Cambodis’.

I have personally met the heads of two of the largest Oud corporations in the Gulf, people who actually supply the likes of Abdul Samad Al-Qurashi and Arabian Oud. I’ve seen the facilities where these enterprises are run and I have witnessed the blending, cutting and watering down that takes place in the production of so-called ‘Oudh Cambodi’. These men have actually confessed that their Cambodi Moattaqs, Ateeqs, Kadims, their Koh Kongs and their Prachin Burys are mixes, blends and all sorts of olfactory concoctions – not pure, single extraction Cambodian agarwood oils.

Another way to acquire so-called Cambodi Oud is to order it via the internet, which is what Oriscent’s competitors do, and which you can just as easily do yourself. You can contact suppliers from the Far East, including Cambodia, and they will eagerly send you their samples, hoping to do business with you. Oriscent has received countless samples from different players in the Cambodi Oud market over the years, and our reluctance to put the Oriscent label on any of them should be sufficient in conveying what we thought of them. These samples, even though from sources closer to home, were in fact poorer, more fake, more watered down and synthesized than the ones on offer from the Khaliji houses.

It wasn’t until early this spring that I decided enough is enough, and took it upon myself to visit Cambodia. I wasn’t expecting much. But things got off to a good start. As we stepped foot into Phnom Penh, we were greeted by its sticky humidity. And it couldn’t be a more welcome embrace because we knew that this is the weather that produces oud oil. Lo and behold, there might yet be reason to rejoice. But it wasn’t all smooth-sailing. I sifted through many a jar of vetiver, DOP, and even pig fat-laced Oud oil as we went from supplier to supplier in both Phnom Penh and the district of Koh Kong.

The majority of oils I was presented with were all thoroughly tried and sampled only to find that they were mere adulterations or synthetics. Since Oriscent commissions its oils to be distilled to very exact specifications, we realized the prospect of finding our Cambodi looked rather bleak. Nonetheless, we were determined to return with no less than what we set out to collect.

After many days of disappointment, we walked into the backyard distillery of two remarkable artisans, and that deep syrupy wallow instantly made our mouths water. We knew this was it – that hallmark Cambodi sweetness. You wanted an Oriscent Cambodi…. Behold! This oil is rich, it’s delicious, it’s Cambodi Caramel.

The excitement and the anticipation aroused by Oriscent’s trip to Cambodia was the cause of most of our stock selling out even before it hit our website. Everyone who tried this oil invariably ended up ordering it; we’ve had people write us to say that this is the finest Cambodi Oud they have ever experienced.

Myth: Cambodi Ouds of high quality are very thick. No Oud possesses a thickness like that associated with high quality Cambodi oils that is not tampered with; even if ‘tampering with’ means oxidizing the oil to death. Agarwood oil is an essential oil, after all. And as a rule, the lower the quality the thicker it gets, until it is actually solid at room temperature. (Cambodi Caramel is a clear viscous oil with some of the most addictive scent characteristics we have ever experienced in any Oud oil).

Unlike the typically linear Cambodi scent, Caramel’s intense flavor plays with your senses from start to finish. Unmatched in its fruity sweetness by any other Cambodi available on the market, Cambodi Caramel is guaranteed to quench your deepest Oud crave.