The Oud Journey
The distiller who sold his Ferrari (Part 3)
‘No food, at all?’ I asked to clarify.
I still found my own mentor’s injunction to fast two days a week pretty daunting, so I was impressed when the distiller declined a handful of cashew nuts one afternoon saying that food is another thing on his can’t-do list.
‘No, no. Just can’t eat anything after twelve (noon) until the next morning. Coffee, or any other drink is fine.’
Tough… but reasonable, I thought.
I collected the first cooking from the Kyara LTD Centennial after ten days, while he was away. As the time to collect the first drops draws closer, your anxiety runs higher and higher. You have to lie in wait for exactly the right moment when the incense note appears in the oud. If you overcook it… well, it’ll be a disaster.
100 year-old agarwood like this never gets made into oud oil. So, I was keen to compare how this distillation compared to regular ouds being produced, and arranged to have the Centennial run alongside a routine distillation. With a pen in my right hand and my nose on my left, I jotted down a few notes during the course of the distillation.
To be continued…
In case you missed out, here’s:
