If you like your ouds spicy, Pedu
should be on your shortlist. This is about as spicy as an
oud can get.
Over the years, I have remarked many times about the unusual
flavor of food (and oud, and pretty much everything) in the
tiny bottle neck region lying between mainland Asia and
peninsular Malaysia. Pedu is from the south (Malaysian) side
of the border; the last jungle after which you reach
southern Thailand (literally separated by Lake Pedu).
And in this oil, the unique bitter-spicy flavor common to
South Burmese, South Thai, and far-north Malay oud is more
blatant and vivid than any other oil I have ever smelled.
The star of the show is of course 'The' unusual
flavor which, until just moments before I started writing
the description, had me stymied. And then I sniffed my wrist
and it hit me: it smells like paan! The infamous
combination of moist tobacco and crushed betel nuts wrapped
inside a betel leaf, a bizarre but oh-so-satisfying chew
common in South and Southeast Asia.
The paan flavor is most dominant in the opening, followed by
a growing moist tobacco presence together with pink pepper
and a touch of cumin. The rugged woodiness starts to get
stronger, along with a most unusual sweetness. Not honeyed,
not floral nor fruity, rather, something like palm sugar
sweetened ginger tamarind candy - another uniquely SE Asian
oddity. As the oil evolves some more, the aroma of spiced
date juice joins in. The drydown is a carbon copy of
Northeast Malaysian raw agarwood - not heated. but rather
the aroma of the raw wood fresh out of the jungle.
Wow such a beautiful oil. It
comes from the region around Lake Pedu which is bottle
neck between Malaysia, Thailand and Burma. It has the
bitterness for those who chase bitterness in Oud’s and
spicy-ness which is not in your face spicyness but very
airy and beautifully captured.
M.M. (USA)
The Pedu was my favorite. I got cinnamon and sugar on my
skin. That one is a very yummy scent.
T.J. (USA)