So here's the story behind the name...
One of our customers isn't too fond of traditional Indian ouds that have animalic and barnyard elements. So while describing the aroma of this oil in an email, I explained that its a 'zero-barnyard Hindi' oud, which ended up getting abbreviated to ZBH Oud and the name stuck.
Agar Aura first introduced this new genre of clean Indian ouds to the world, with the release of Aatma. That was followed by a few other Indian ouds of the same general category. But ZBH personifies the perfection of this genre.
Distilled from very high quality incense-grade agarwood harvested from 70+ year old trees from far-south Assam (first AgarAura oud from this region), we used our knowledge and experience from previous distillations to perfect the technique for crafting this oil. This oud is so clean and so delicious, that a newcomer to the world of oud would be shocked to know this oud is Indian. No barnyard, no fecal or animalic notes, and no harsh or abrasive synonyms that are commonly found in online reviews of typical Indian ouds. No, this is a different Hindi altogether.
As is the preferred practice for the production of AgarAura oud oils, we separated the most pristine fractions of the oil after the first few days of cooking. This first lot turned out to be *so* beautiful that the distiller himself had only 2 words to describe the subsequent oil extractions collected from cooking the very same wood: "very bad".
It actually wasn't all that bad, but everything is relative. And comparing it to immaculate aroma of the first lot - ZBH Oud - his reaction was understandable.
When you first apply the oud, you will see almost no resemblance to Indian agarwood whatsoever. It smells more like blueberries. Or to be more precise, thick blueberry jam. This is the first and only Indian oud I have ever smelled which is reminiscent of blueberries - a note which I have only detected in one other oud, and that was from far away Brunei. ZBH Oud's opening is so cool, breezy and camphoraceous, you might even think its a Borneo oud. Rest assured though, this is oud is 100% Indian.
Due to the use of clean, pure water for distillation, every scent note in this oil is crystal clear and every evolution in the scent as it develops on your skin is easily discernable and fascinating to follow. Just don't let others catch you walking around with your wrist glued to your nose!
The blueberry aroma starts to fade after a while, but its replaced by an equally mouthwatering combination of Chaunsa mangos, browned butter, and caramel. Imagine this lathered onto Indian agarwood chips and dusted with vanilla sugar, then heating the chips gently on low heat.
This is the stage where the oil starts to smell more and more like sweet smoke rising from Indian agarwood, and this is the dominant aroma that will last all the way to the end. The oil also gets 'drier' as it develops, bearing an uncanny resemblance to Mitti Attar which is the distillation of baked earth infused into sandalwood.
If you've been intimidated by Indian ouds so far, here's your chance to dive right in without having to put up with any challenging scent notes.
If you're already a diehard Indian oud fan, then ZBH Oud's Indian agarwood quintessence will give you a reason to rejoice.
ZBH really
does smell like blueberries at first before turning into
a nice creamy woody resinous oud!
C.S. (USA)
I
saw from your site saying that the opening of ZBH Oud
smelled like
blueberry jam, interestingly to my nose it smelled like
honey, the very
creamy kind, and very sweet. It had to be the most
delicious Oud oil
that I had ever smelled. I had smelled very similar
scent from heating
some small pieces of Agarwood before and it was what got
me hooked.
M.C. (Hong Kong)
Really
good description I immediately took your advice and
burned a Hindi wood
chip....finally I see the connection between the wood
and the oil
haha...I always wondered how that happened. But it
smelled almost
identical to the Bubbling wood.
T.G. (Dubai)
ZBH
wow... This is a luxurious smelling oud more so than
most. It's a
lasting oud that has tons of silage but not heavy and
dense. In fact it
has strong notes of Cork and Virginia Tobacco freshly
& finely cut.
I also get slight hints of Peach Necter and strawberry.
There is also a
black pepper vibe that is nice and it's a bright &
airy oud oil
also at the same time.
C.D. (USA)
Today
I put the ZBH again and just lovin it .... unbelievable
work Taha ..
simply fantastic! You have to at least save 1 if not 2
bottles for me..
I will purchase it as soon as I can.
S.S. (USA)
ZBH
is the only hindi that I put on for prayers or for
work.. just love it!
I don't know how you did it but it is truly zero
barnyard smell..
The reason I am against any barnyard smell in my Oud is
because I feel
the Oud or perfume I put on should please people around
me.. that way
inshAllah it becomes a sadaqa! And ZBH is obviously one
of them.. not
only it is the best hindi I ever smelled but it is
probably amongst my
top 5!
Customer (USA)
Juste
un petit mot concernant ZBH Oud , que je porte en ce
moment : superbe !
( comme les autres huiles que je vous ai déjà commandées
,
d'ailleurs...) Et finalement , plus présent , plus
affirmé que ce que
je pensais au départ . Mais , effectivement , d'une
manière amicale
pour les autres. ;) . Avec cette huile , je peux être
généreux dans
l'application: en mettre sur les poignets , le creux des
coudes , le
cou , la nuque et même le torse , sans que ce soit
dérangeant pour
l'entourage !
Le départ est miellé , confituré , mêlé à une note très
fine que vous
avez identifiée comme note de bleuet , dans votre blog.
Après 2-3
heures , je perçois une note de foin qui me semble
caractéristique des
Ouds que je connaissais.
On devient vite addict de cette huile ; l'envie d'en
remettre
régulièrement et de renifler ( en cachette) le col de sa
chemise ou le
poignet.;)
Par hasard , l'odeur s'est mêlée avec celle d'un parfum
à dominante de
musc présent sur une de mes chemises.Or , il s'est avéré
que le mélange
s'accordait fort bien. J'ai donc l'impression que ce Oud
peut
facilement s'ajouter à d'autres parfums , afin d'en
souligner leur
caractère et de leur rajouter 1 touche
personnelle.(Qu'en
pensez-vous...?)
En conclusion : très satisfait de cette huile que je
porterai sans
doute régulièrement au cours de la période estivale qui
arrive.
J.S. (France)
I am loving ZBH! I
tend to crave Hindi's when it's cool...and can't wait
for the next fall
and winter (a crazy thing to say after the mini ice age
we've just had)
to fully appreciate its warm, sweet, clean un-Hindi
Hindiness
:) I still can't believe that an oil this
young can come
across as such a dignified and accomplished aroma with
its elements
un-obscured by any fresh still notes. It's
complex, balanced and
very pretty - a remarkable feat for an un-aged
oil! My favourite
part is the perfect marriage between the ethereal
vapouriness we've
first seen in your Aatma and the confident yet aloof
woody basenote
that gives the oil such a well-rounded character - its
crown is up in
the clouds but the roots are firmly planted in the soil,
and at no
point does it come across as just any one of those
things but always
the sum of all. The other thing I admire about ZBH
- how it
manages to stay a Hindi while projecting a very
archetypal "oudy" aroma
without constantly reminding you about its geographical
origin, it's a
very rare quality in oud oils as I am sure you know
:) I knew I
had to have a bottle the minute I first sniffed it from
the applicator
stick, that hardly ever happens to me... I think
this is your
best oil to date, Taha - I am happy to see that your
hard work on
accumulating knowledge, seeking out the best material
and equipment and
working on fine-tuning and perfecting the distillation
methods has paid
off in such a spectacular oil, thank you!
I.T. (Canada)
ZBH has a certain sub-note (for the lack of a better
word) that pushes
one of my favourite oud buttons - it's not just the
woodiness but a
particular moist, soft, sweet and at the same time
slightly bitter
woodiness. It's not Kyara, even though it sounds
similar. I
can only describe it as a soft woody radiance with a
hint of vetiver
and the scent of a night breeze over a forest lake.
I.T. (Canada)
There is still the Hindi
quality that I love with NO dairy farm at all.
C.G. (USA)
I've had the ZBH on for a while now. Starts off with
hints of fruit,
reminding me of Thai oud but never quite getting there
in that you
expect the fruity notes to expand and develop but they
don't, they just
linger, never getting out of first gear. About an hour
in I'm getting
lots of smokey incense. The fruity lingering has died
down further. At
this stage it really reminds me of Malaysian ouds! I'm
getting a note
very similar to Cantik Candan. Upon application I did
pick up hints of
a Malaysian vibe. This is manifest more so past the hour
mark. Very
nice and I'm well pleased to have this in my collection
:)
Z.H. (USA)