Journal
Ensar Oud Decants and Samples
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- Updated
A sealed 15 ml bottle of Ensar Oud Purple Rain: Maluku is $1,500. A millilitre here is $100, the exact bottle rate, no surcharge. That is the sane way into a house whose bottles run to four figures.
Ensar Oud has been distilling since the 1990s and treats agarwood the way a vintner treats a single hillside of old vines. The extraits are dense, slow and deeply serious: aged ouds, grey ambergris and animalic musks most people have only read about. Sultani grade oud and true deer musk are the calling cards.
A drop blooms for hours, shifting from smoke to resin to something warm and skin close. Thirteen pours make it the largest house on our shelf.
Every decant is poured from a bottle bought at full retail directly from the house, never the grey market, drawn to order with lab grade Socorex syringes and sealed the day it ships.
The nine we pour, ranked by performance
| Fragrance | Character | Logged longevity | Sillage | Decant from |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| EO2 Tonkin | Tonkin musk with pepper and cumin up top | 10 to 12 hours | Strong | $44 (1 ml) |
| Jamaican Ambergris: Purple Sultani | Vintage ouds over decades old grey ambergris | 10 to 12 hours | Strong | $95 (1 ml) |
| Oud Sultani: Kannan Koh | 7.75 grams of aged oud in every bottle | 10 to 12 hours | Strong | $95 (1 ml) |
| Purple Rain: Überblau | Blueberry and iris over triple the oud load | 10 to 12 hours | Strong | $95 (1 ml) |
| Mongolian Musk | Cinnamon and honey over Mongolian deer musk | 8 to 10 hours | Strong | $44 (1 ml) |
| Kyara de Kalbar | Kyara, the highest grade of agarwood | 8 to 10 hours | Strong | $84 (1 ml) |
| Musk Yusuf | Oud Yusuf infused with Tibetan musk | 8 to 10 hours | Strong | Sold out |
| Blue Kalbar | Thai blue lotus and twenty rare materials | 8 to 10 hours | Moderate | $46 (2 ml) |
| Borneo Trifecta | Three oud distillations layered as one | 4 to 6 hours | Moderate | $44 (1 ml) |
The ouds
Kyara de Kalbar is the education: three Bornean ouds built around kyara, the highest grade of agarwood, distilled from Brunei wood that commands thousands of dollars a kilogram. The bitter sweet kinamic bite at its centre is how collectors identify the grade. $84 for 1 ml.
Oud Sultani: Kannan Koh carries 7.75 grams of oud per bottle, 1.5 of them a grade the house considers unreplicable today. A record of what those materials once smelled like. $95 for 1 ml.
Borneo Trifecta layers three oud distillations, including rare Irian oil from Green Papua, over Mysore sandalwood and Tibetan and Tonkin musk. The softest wearer here at 4 to 6 hours, and the gentlest way to study pure oud. $44 for 1 ml.
The musks
Mongolian Musk is the one to start with: cinnamon, carob and honey over genuine Mongolian deer musk, easy to read and easy to love. $44 for 1 ml.
EO2 Tonkin runs on Tonkin musk, brighter and cleaner than the Mongolian or Tibetan grades, a modern structure carrying a raw animalic material. Our longest wearer at 10 to 12 hours. $44 for 1 ml.
Musk Yusuf infuses the house's own Oud Yusuf distillation with Tibetan musk, apricot and peach up top. Sold out at this writing, so watch the page.
The florals
Blue Kalbar gathers twenty rare materials around Thai blue lotus, a flower so scarce that three tonnes yield a single kilogram of absolute. The quietest pick here, rarity without volume. $46 for 2 ml.
Purple Rain: Überblau is a limited rework of Iris Ghalia carrying roughly three times the oud load, blueberry and cherry brightening a cool iris heart. $95 for 1 ml.
The ambergris
Jamaican Ambergris: Purple Sultani lays vintage purple ouds over grey ambergris aged for decades in a royal patron's private collection, salty ocean air turning warm and skin close. The deepest thing on this page. $95 for 1 ml.
How to start
Begin with a 1 ml of Mongolian Musk, $44, and wear it across a full day: these materials unfold slowly and the drydown is where the money went. Add EO2 Tonkin for the animal brighter and louder, or Kyara de Kalbar when you are ready for the top grade. Then size up to the one you keep reaching for.
Ensar Oud decants: the practical questions
How much does an Ensar Oud decant cost?
Decants start at $44 for 1 ml of Mongolian Musk, Borneo Trifecta or EO2 Tonkin and run to $95 for 1 ml of the Sultani series. Blue Kalbar starts at $46 for 2 ml.
Which Ensar Oud should I try first?
Mongolian Musk. Cinnamon and honey over genuine Mongolian deer musk, logged at 8 to 10 hours with strong sillage, and a 1 ml decant is $44.
How long do Ensar Oud fragrances last?
In our wear logs, EO2 Tonkin, Jamaican Ambergris: Purple Sultani, Oud Sultani: Kannan Koh and Purple Rain: Überblau run 10 to 12 hours. Most of the rest run 8 to 10 hours, and Borneo Trifecta is the softest at 4 to 6 hours.
Are these decants genuine Ensar Oud?
Yes. Every decant is poured to order from a bottle bought at full retail directly from the house, never the grey market, drawn with lab grade Socorex syringes and sealed the day it ships.
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