The ultimate Oud experience is smelling a “chip on low heat”. Many Ouds we have released contain this note to some degree however Oud Xiangshui embodies this experience from the start, middle to finish. Don’t just imagine any old chip but the finest piece of dense, dark king grade wood sizziling away kodo style on a heater. As each bubble of Oud pops, this is the aroma thats released. The beauty of just smelling this oil off the dipstick is one which will transport you in a time vortex with an Oud oil distilled a decade ago in China from old sinking grade Sumatran microcarpa wood which is very, very difficult to source.
Oud oils from this reigon, species and quality dont come around often and this is an oil everyone should try to get even a little of, a true benchmark of what top shelf agarwood has to offer.
The colour is a pristine pale yellow similar to that of Sandalwood, not seen often in Oud oils. Oud Xiangshui is in the threshold of similar oils which command a 2500$ plus price tag for 3g, at Habzoud as you all know you pay less for alot more, much much more…
The oil is difficult to describe and articulate into words but i will try and describe it as best i can. Once applied the oil hits you with a fizzy piercing almost equatic antique woody opening, theres wisps of gentle pristine golden incense, tangy grapefruit, white flowers with a powdery old woody drydown. The oil reminds me of the smell of a classic 60’s mercedes interior which took me back to my childhood! The whole experience from start to end is of a Kodo session. The oil projects well and lasts hours on skin. This oil is reminiscent of the finest Borneo oil and has a real oriental feel to it.
This oil is up there with Oud Alamin and Oud Caliph as one of the best Ouds Habzoud has offered. Not to mention again this is a decade old oil made from true sinking grade material.
No products in the cart.
Shawn –
If this oil wasn’t named after a region, I think a fitting name would be ‘PARADOX.’ This oil just doesn’t make any sense, and that is the beauty of it…
When you first get your vial, and you look at the low viscosity, very pale oil within, your first thoughts may be, “Did I receive the wrong thing?” or “How is this possible?”
When you get your first sniff, you may question if this oil is really for you and think to yourself, “This doesn’t fit the profile of oils I like.”
When you apply your first dab, you may be thinking, “This is such a light oil; there is no way this projects or lasts.”
I say this because these are all thoughts that came to mind upon my first experience with Xiangshui. Now let me tell you what came next.
A few days in with this oil, and all of my opinions on it have changed. I thought for sure this thin oil would absorb and vanish until I was proven wrong with the intense projection after application and the steady wafts of pristine oud I was getting throughout the day. I woke up the next morning thinking, “There is no way I can still smell the oil on my hand,” and I was proven wrong again!
I thought maybe this profile was not for me, and now I am craving it.
Habz reference to this oil bringing memories of classic car interiors is perfect. It is the smell of the materials that were used inside vehicles of that time period, but it is also in part due to the vehicles having carbureted engines, and the infusion of gasoline fumes which have permeated the interior over the years. Oh, how I wish vehicles still smelled this way.
If you have some of this oil and have not yet experienced the paradox it contains, I recommend giving it some time and revisiting it. Just don’t wait too long and miss the opportunity to buy more 🤣