Indian oud done Japanese style. That
ought to be pretty awesome, right? It is.
If you haven't realized this already, over the past two
years Agar Aura has slowly been 'training' your nose to
appreciate the more intricate nuances of agarwood which are,
for most folks, generally more elusive when heating raw
agarwood.
Done wrong, you'll just smell acrid smoke. Done right,
you'll smell the beautiful aroma of the precious oleoresin.
Done right repeatedly, for long enough, and you'll
experience something which others will not be able to
perceive because your olfactory receptors will be better
trained, and your olfactory 'eye' opened.
Enter stage, Sasora Jinkoh.
In our previous Indian oils like ZBH Oud and Mokokchung Oud,
you got a taste of the pure unwarped scent of Indian
agarwood in the form of oils, devoid of any foreign
elements.
And now, we present to you Sasora Jinkoh, the next
generation up and our first ever Japanese Monkoh-inspired
Indian oud.
The raw materials consisted of true wild Assam raw
materials, superior to any Indian materials we've ever used
before: the same grade as Pencerahan, which is quite a feat
considering the virtually extinct status of agarwood in
Assam.
It took almost 10 months to collect the raw materials due to
the scarcity of such wood in India, and it matched many of
the visual and aromatic properties of a unique sub-category
of agarwood from this region. I had a feeling this was the
Assamese agarwood the Japanese masters had referred to as
Sasora (佐曽羅), and when the oil finally poured out, the
premonition was confirmed.
From utilizing both copper as well as steel at the pot
level, optimizing each stage of extraction with precise
temperature control, to the collection of every single
fraction from the wood (as usual: in a glass collector,
unlike the typical Indian method of collecting the oil by
hand which introduces sweat and dead skin cells into the
oil), what you have here is literally the cleanest, purest,
and richest Indian oud you've ever smelled. Not just in
terms of the aroma, but also scientifically speaking due to
the superiority of Agar Aura's latest extraction techniques
in pulling the highest concentrations of aromatic compounds.
Every single fraction of this oud was extracted using
meticulously designed techniques to shape the aroma of every
stage of the scent evolution, to match the aroma of Sasora
wood found in Japanese Rikkoku-Gomi agarwood sets.
Imagine the rich creamy and spicy-woody heart of Indian
agarwood, add to it the perfect bitter-to-sweet balance of
Burmese agarwood, the sweetness of the liveliest Cambodian,
and now go beyond Cambodia to Vietnam for the blood-red
hibiscus core, and then add the ethereal airiness of the
most crystalline Indonesian oud... this is Sasora Jinkoh.
(translation: a breeze of cool mountain air, fleshy plums,
tart raspberries and cranberries, honey-sweetened hibiscus
tea, fennel, nutmeg, white pepper, sandalwoody creaminess,
burnt butterscotch toffee)
Considering how difficult it was to acquire the raw
materials for making this oud, we don't know when (and if)
we will be able to offer another Assamese oud like this
again.
Sasora Jinkoh. Japanese Indian oud.
This oud is remarkable for many
reasons, and perhaps the main one is how it is so many
things at once - light and shining, deep and dark, smooth
and creamy, tangy and piercing..
J.M. (USA)
I have been besotted by Sasora Jinko , consider my nose a
graduated student of Hindi oils :)
S.K. (Ireland)
The only thing it has in common with other Hindi oils is
the word Hindi. Period. This oud has the Kinamic ambience
along with the bright airiness of Bornean oud not to
mention zero barn and a decent dose of the agalocha
sweetness we crave everytime we smell the first whiffs of
a burning premium Indian wood.
A.J. (Saudi Arabia)
Sasora stucked me as it was the very first time I
experienced a zero barnyard oud and that is really
excellent. From the bottle I get the Indian dna but
without any barnyard smell associated with notes typical
of great quality cambodi oil which is indeed unusual. But
it becomes even more unusual as on skin it turns out to
become a borneo type as I get minty and anise notes which
evolves then more on to the cambodi type.
A.K. (France)
After re-reading your ouducation article about
Rikkoku-Gomi after applying Sasora Jinkoh it was a whole
new experience. Your description of your new oud oil
Sasora Jinkoh was so spot on and I could really appreciate
the effort and your expertise in distilling such an
amazing oud oil. It is amazing that their are
naturally so many fractions that can be extracted from one
Assam agarwood. Sasora Jinkoh is so beautiful and
actually it was hard for me to even believe was
wearing an Indian oud till the last part of the dry down
which I loved also.
Anyway just saying this one is turning out to be my
favorite out of all of the samples that you sent me but
then again I have to apply a second round for the
others. As it stands now I will definitely be buy a
bottle of Sasora Jinkoh!
U.A. (USA)
Very rich and delectable oil - creamy smooth Indian +
sweet and tastefully fruity/Camobi + spices.. It's like an
oudy pumpkin pie :P
Customer (USA)
This oud is simply indescribable.
S.P. (Canada)
The Sasora Jinkoh is all
adjectives, sweet, floral, intense, delicious, tart,
tamarind, candy.
C.C. (USA)
Very nice Indian without
the funkiness.. it’s the darker and more mature brother
of ZBH Oud ..
A.K. (Kuwait)
Sarosa...incredibly
different...yes!
What it transmutes to on
the skin is far and away different from how it smells in
the bottle. Definitely a hit!
S.P. (Canada)
Smelling this oil
immediately reminded me of the ZBH. However, there is
much much more to this oil. I am experiencing a richness
which extends far beyond… and a liveliness which gives
this oil a very inviting character. Inhaling deeply…I am
able to sense quite a diverse range of notes which I am
not used to experiencing with such intensity in Assamese
oils. Almost as if the fragrance is being directed
through a prism where all the finer notes are being
liberated and magnified exposing its full character in a
spectrum type fashion. Definitely worthy of being
categorized within the Jinkoh series and I feel that the
intention behind this oil really came through
beautifully. I never thought I would ‘feel Japan’ within
an Assamese oil.
T.G. (Dubai)
I couldn't agree more
with you. I find it hard to believe that it is Indian
Oud. I always thought you produced very elegant,
handsome oils no matter what the origin of the wood.
H.S. (USA)
Amazingly addictive profile - creamy dryness, bitter
woodiness, green incense - a paradox of ingredients.
C.G. (USA)
Wood.
A blast of wood in the
initial opener, raw and pure; zero smoke.
This quickly calms down
as noticeable, but not overpowering, camphor comes
forth; intermingling with the initial raw wood notes.
Give it a bit and one
will notice a steady build of sweetness, with muted
tones of pepper...and still the camphor swirls in the
background.
Taha, thank you very
much for this gift!
S.P. (Canada)