Ensar Oud
Blue Kalbar
The Story
Blue Kalbar gathers twenty of the rarest materials Ensar Gül has access to, including genuine civet paste and vintage Mysore sandalwood, around blue lotus he sought out himself in the Thai countryside. Roughly three tonnes of those flowers yield a single kilogram of absolute, and regional output runs to about three kilograms a year.
Woody
Dry grain of cut timber
The smell of cedar shavings, sandalwood, and dry vetiver roots, a sanded, resinous warmth with a faint pencil-box rasp. It feels grounded and composed, the quiet backbone that makes a scent read as serious and lasting.
Animalic
Warm skin, musk and muscle
A raw, body-warm muskiness that reads of skin, hair, and fur, sometimes sweet and powdery, sometimes sharp and faintly feral. It feels primal and intimate, blurring the line between perfume and the person wearing it.
Floral
Petals in soft full bloom
The rounded, dewy scent of flowers in bloom, soft and slightly sweet with a powdery, nectar-like glow. It reads romantic and gentle, conjuring a garden in late spring and a feeling of lightness against the skin.
Blue Cypress
Dry evergreen breath of the Mediterranean coast
What it is
Cypress oil comes from Cupressus sempervirens, the columnar Mediterranean evergreen lining hills from Italy to the Levant. Fresh needles, twigs and small branches are steam-distilled, ideally in autumn when oil content peaks, yielding a pale yellow to greenish oil at roughly one percent of the plant weight.
How it smells
It opens crisp and terpenic, brighter and drier than pine, with a faint camphor edge. The heart turns clean and woody-green, less sweet than cedar, threaded with a smoky-mineral coolness. The drydown settles into resinous, slightly herbaceous wood, airy rather than heavy.
In perfumery
A top-to-heart modifier prized for dry structure and lift. It sharpens citrus openings, builds coniferous and fougere accords, and lends austere backbone to chypres and aldehydic florals. Some woody compositions place it front and center, and it threads through many incense and forest compositions.
Good to know
Across the Mediterranean and Persia the tall, slender cypress has long symbolized mourning and eternity, planted in cemeteries because its rot-resistant wood seemed to outlast death. Ancient Egyptians carved that durable timber into sarcophagi, and the scent still reads as solemn and meditative.
Lavender
Cool herbal blue from a sunlit hillside
What it is
Lavender is a woody Mediterranean shrub in the mint family, mainly Lavandula angustifolia, grown across Provence and Bulgaria. The flowering tops are cut at peak bloom and steam-distilled, the purple spikes yielding a pale essential oil; solvent extraction of the flowers gives a darker, richer absolute.
How it smells
Clean, herbal and aromatic, with a cool camphor lift over soft floral sweetness. The opening is sharp, green, almost minty; the dry-down warms into hay, faint vanilla and a powdery, slightly fruity calm. True angustifolia smells rounder and sweeter than the harsher lavandin hybrid.
In perfumery
A top-to-heart note and the backbone of the fougere family, pairing with oakmoss, coumarin and tonka in barbershop accords. It also softens citrus colognes and bright florals. It anchors the great pioneering aromatic fougeres and countless aromatic masculine scents.
Good to know
Provence lavender fields draw millions of visitors, yet much commercial oil is actually lavandin, a sterile hybrid yielding far more per hectare. A spreading bacterial disease, phytoplasma decline spread by sap-sucking planthoppers, has pushed true angustifolia plantings higher into cooler mountain altitudes.
Gallic Rose
The ancient apothecary rose, deepest when dried
What it is
Rosa gallica, the French or Provins rose, is one of the oldest cultivated roses, native to central Europe and western Asia. Its deep-pink to crimson petals are the fragrant part, processed by steam distillation into rose otto or by solvent extraction into a dark, concentrated rose absolute.
How it smells
A pure, old-fashioned rose: honeyed and deeply floral with a velvety, almost red-wine richness and a faint green, peppery edge. It reads rounder and more jam-like than the lemony damask rose. Unusually, the scent intensifies rather than fades as the petals dry.
In perfumery
A heart note bringing antique, full-bodied rose character, often blended with rosa damascena and rosa centifolia for depth. Its dried-petal richness suits chypres and orientals. The historic apothecary-rose facet anchors heritage rose compositions built on the Provins petal tradition rather than modern dewy rose.
Good to know
Rosa gallica var. officinalis was literally the apothecary's rose. The town of Provins near Paris built a medieval economy drying its petals into medicines, conserves and rose preparations traded across Europe, putting the bloom on its coat of arms. It also fathered countless modern garden roses.
Thai Blue Lotus Absolute
The sacred water lily of pharaohs and dreams
What it is
Blue lotus is Nymphaea caerulea, the blue Egyptian water lily, a star-petalled flower rooted in Nile mud and ponds across North and East Africa. The blossoms are solvent-extracted with hexane into a concrete, then ethanol-washed into a thick, dark absolute that preserves their delicate aromatic compounds.
How it smells
Sweet and honeyed with a green, watery floralcy and soft fruity, lychee-like undertones, edged by an earthy, slightly spicy warmth and a waxy, powdery backbone. It opens cool and aquatic like a pond at dawn, then dries down resinous and balsamic, more meditative than bright.
In perfumery
A heart note prized for an exotic floral character bridging aquatic freshness and warm sweetness, typically dosed below five percent given its strength. Rare and costly, it appears in niche compositions and amber-incense accords built around ancient Egyptian and meditative themes.
Good to know
Ancient Egyptians revered the flower as a symbol of rebirth and the sun, depicting it on tomb walls and steeping it in wine for its mild psychoactive effect. It opens through the morning and closes toward dusk, a daily cycle that tied it to resurrection myths.
Kewda Attar
Honeyed tropical bloom with an aquatic whisper
What it is
An aroma drawn from the fragrant male flowers of Pandanus odoratissimus, a screwpine of coastal India and Southeast Asia. The blossoms, known as kewda or kewra, are hand-plucked at dawn and hydro-distilled by the traditional deg-and-bhapka method, the resulting vapor often captured into a sandalwood-oil attar.
How it smells
Sweet, heady and floral with a honeyed, rosy warmth and a distinct green, slightly aquatic coolness. There is a fruity, almost hyacinth-like richness over a soft watery freshness. It opens lush and intoxicating, then mellows into a smooth, balmy floral sweetness with a faint spicy edge.
In perfumery
A heart note prized in traditional Indian attars and incense, where it adds a tropical, honeyed floralcy distinct from rose or jasmine. It blends with sandalwood, saffron, rose and oud in oriental and attar compositions, and appears in niche florals seeking an unusual, exotic blossom signature.
Good to know
The flowers lose their scent within hours of opening, so harvest races the dawn, and only male inflorescences are used. The Ganjam kewda of Odisha, which supplies most Indian production, is distinctive enough to hold a Geographical Indication, and the attar consumes vast numbers of blossoms.
Mimosa
Powdery golden pompoms, honeyed and soft
What it is
Mimosa in perfumery is Acacia dealbata, a winter-flowering tree with fluffy yellow pompom blossoms, originally Australian but cultivated on the French Riviera and in Morocco and India. The fresh flowers are solvent-extracted into a concrete, which is rinsed with alcohol to produce mimosa absolute.
How it smells
Mimosa is soft, sweet and distinctly powdery, almost dusty, over a honeyed straw-like warmth. Facets of almond, violet, cucumber-green freshness and faint beeswax weave through it. It reads gentle and airy rather than sharp, drying down into a comforting, cosseting powder.
In perfumery
A powdery floral heart with mild fixative power, mimosa adds naturalness, lift and soft golden warmth, pairing with iris, violet, heliotrope and carrot seed. Soliflore mimosas are a clear modern showcase; other classic compositions build instead on the related cassie (Acacia farnesiana).
Good to know
Though Australian by origin, Acacia dealbata naturalised so thoroughly on the Cote d'Azur that Mandelieu-la-Napoule holds a mimosa festival each February, and in 2018 the perfume know-how of the Pays de Grasse, mimosa among its named flowers, was inscribed on UNESCO's list of Intangible Cultural Heritage.
Nutmeg
Warm baking spice with a hidden narcotic edge
What it is
The dried seed kernel of Myristica fragrans, an evergreen tree native to Indonesia's Banda Islands and now grown in Grenada and Sri Lanka. The hard brown seed sits inside an apricot-like fruit, wrapped in red mace. It is ground for spice or steam-distilled for oil.
How it smells
Warm, dry and spicy-sweet, with a soft woody body and a faint terpenic, almost camphoraceous lift on top. Beneath the familiar baking-spice warmth runs a slightly resinous, balsamic depth and a cool medicinal edge. It feels cozy yet subtly sharp and pine-like.
In perfumery
A top-to-heart spice adding warmth, lift and a gourmand-ambery glow without overt sweetness. It pairs with vanilla, tobacco, lavender and woods. Nutmeg anchors spice-and-ginger pairings and forms the classic warm-spice signature of barbershop fougeres.
Good to know
Nutmeg contains myristicin, a compound that is mildly psychoactive and toxic in large doses. In the 1600s the Banda Islands were the world's only source, and control of that trade sparked colonial wars between the Dutch, Portuguese and English.
Orange Blossom
White petals between honey and bitter green
What it is
The flower of the bitter orange tree, Citrus aurantium, grown mainly in Tunisia, Morocco and across the Mediterranean. Hand-picked white blossoms yield two materials: neroli, steam-distilled from the fresh flowers, and orange blossom absolute, solvent-extracted from the same petals into a richer, waxy concrete and then absolute.
How it smells
A sweet white floral with honeyed nectar at its core, lifted by a clean bitter-green edge and a faint metallic coolness. Neroli reads brighter and slightly soapy; the absolute is warmer, more animalic and indolic, carrying a soft, almost musky depth underneath the sweetness.
In perfumery
A heart note bridging citrus tops and floral or musky bases, adding radiance and fresh sweetness. It anchors classic colognes and modern florals alike, from diffusive, sparkling neroli accords to the plush, indolic blossom threading through bold white florals.
Good to know
Neroli reportedly takes its name from Marie Anne de La Tremoille, 17th-century Princess of Nerola near Rome, who scented her gloves and bathwater with the oil. Distilling one kilogram of neroli takes roughly a tonne of freshly picked blossoms, making it costly.
Frangipani
Tropical petals breathing coconut and almond cream
What it is
Frangipani is the flower of Plumeria, a small tropical tree in the Apocynaceae family grown across the Pacific, Caribbean and India. The waxy five-petalled blooms keep releasing scent after picking, so the aroma is captured by solvent extraction or CO2 into an absolute, occasionally by traditional enfleurage.
How it smells
A creamy, sweet white floral with a pronounced coconut-and-almond lactonic softness, ripe peach or apricot fruit, and a green, slightly spicy edge. Less indolic than jasmine or tuberose, it reads sunny and milky, opening fresh and petalled before settling into warm, custardy sweetness.
In perfumery
A heart note bringing solar, tropical creaminess to white-floral and beachy compositions. It blends with coconut, ylang-ylang, jasmine, sandalwood and vanilla. Soliflore and sun-warmed compositions explore its lactonic, solar character.
Good to know
Yields are brutally low, well under a tenth of a percent from flower to concrete, so true frangipani absolute is scarce and most commercial accords are reconstructions. The name is widely traced to a Renaissance Roman noble family whose almond-scented perfume was used to perfume leather gloves.
Civet
Animal warmth that makes flowers bloom indecent
What it is
A glandular paste from the African civet, a nocturnal cat-like mammal secreting it from a perineal pouch, historically scraped out by hand and tinctured in alcohol. Modern perfumery instead uses synthetic civetone, a large-ring ketone whose macrocyclic structure was elucidated by Leopold Ruzicka in 1926.
How it smells
Raw and undiluted it is shockingly fecal, pungent and indolic, edged with skatole and sour butter. Diluted to traces it turns warm, honeyed and slightly leathery, with a tobacco hum and skin-like radiance. The shift from repellent to alluring happens entirely through dilution.
In perfumery
A base-note fixative valued for radiance and carnal warmth, lending florals a living, skin-like glow. Classic alongside jasmine and rose in animalic chypres and orientals. Trace civet shaped many vintage aldehydic florals and ambery orientals before synthetic civetone displaced the natural material.
Good to know
Civet farming confines wild-caught animals so the gland can be scraped repeatedly, and it continues on a reduced scale in Ethiopia even though synthetic civetone has displaced the natural material almost everywhere in perfumery. This perfumery civet is not the Asian palm civet behind kopi luwak coffee, a different animal in the same family.
Ambergris
Sea-aged whale gold breathing warm salt air
What it is
Ambergris is a waxy substance formed in the gut of the sperm whale, thought to coat the indigestible squid beaks it swallows. Produced by perhaps one percent of whales, it is expelled and drifts for years at sea, oxidizing under sun and salt before washing ashore as lumps.
How it smells
Fresh ambergris is fecal and marine; aged, it turns sweet, animalic and softly mineral. The scent is warm and skin-like, with tobacco, dry seaweed, old wood and a salty, faintly sweet musk. It reads less as a sharp odor than as warmth, diffusion and breath.
In perfumery
A prized base note and fixative, it lends warmth, diffusion and a luminous skin effect while slowing evaporation of lighter materials. Its bulk constituent is the near-odorless triterpene ambrein, whose oxidation products ambroxide and ambrinol carry the scent. Most fragrances now use synthetics like Ambroxan; rare real tinctures appear in bespoke work and vintage chypre and oriental compositions.
Good to know
Though salvageable in some countries, ambergris is illegal to collect, possess or sell in the United States, protected as a sperm-whale product under marine-mammal and endangered-species law; India bans possession and sale as well, while Australia restricts only its commercial import and export. Single boulder-sized finds have sold elsewhere for hundreds of thousands of dollars, earning the nickname floating gold.
Mysore Sandalwood
The creamy gold standard of fragrant wood
What it is
Heartwood of Santalum album, a slow-growing semi-parasitic tree historically prized from the Mysore region of Karnataka, India. The dense inner wood and roots are chipped and steam-distilled. Fragrant oil concentrates in the heartwood, which begins to scent the wood at around ten years and deepens with age; a tree is seldom worth taking before fifteen or twenty.
How it smells
Soft, creamy and milky, with a rounded woody-sweet body and a faint sour-buttery edge that turns almost lactic. Warm rosy and balsamic facets sit underneath. It opens smooth and unfolds slowly, drying into a quiet, skin-like, persistent woodiness without sharpness or smoke.
In perfumery
A base note valued for long, smooth tenacity and its power to fix and round other materials. It pairs with rose, jasmine, violet and oud. Mysore-rich sandalwood defines the great vintage milky-woody orientals and lends a creamy woody heart to countless smooth, skin-like compositions.
Good to know
Indian sandalwood was over-harvested nearly to collapse; standing trees and trade fall under strict Indian government license and auction control. Genuine aged Mysore oil has grown rare and costly, pushing perfumers toward plantation-grown Australian Santalum album and synthetics like Javanol.
Virginia Cedar
Dry pencil-shaving warmth from the eastern redcedar
What it is
Oil from Juniperus virginiana, the eastern redcedar, a juniper rather than a true cedar, growing across the eastern United States. Sawmill shavings and wood waste are steam-distilled into cedarwood Virginia oil, rich in cedrol and the cedrenes; the same wood traditionally made lead pencils.
How it smells
Dry, soft and woody, smelling distinctly of freshly sharpened pencils and cedar closets. It opens clean and faintly sweet with a balsamic edge, then dries into a smooth, mildly resinous, pencil-shaving warmth, gentler and rounder than the sharper Atlas or Texas cedars.
In perfumery
A versatile base and heart note adding dry woody backbone, fixative power and structure to chypres, fougeres and masculine woods. It blends with vetiver, sandalwood, rose and citrus and underpins countless wood accords; crystalline cedrol is isolated from it for cleaner woody touches.
Good to know
Eastern redcedar oil long repelled moths and insects, the reason cedar chests and closet liners are cut from it. Its abundance as a pencil-mill and sawmill byproduct makes it one of perfumery's most affordable and sustainable woody materials, distilled in large industrial volumes.
Sri Lankan Oud
Ceylon's green, spiced agarwood from a different tree
What it is
Sri Lankan (Ceylon) oud is distilled not from the Aquilaria trees that yield Hindi, Cambodi, and Borneo oils, but from Gyrinops walla (locally called Walla Patta), a slender hardwood endemic to Sri Lanka's wet-zone forests, including the protected Sinharaja rainforest. Genuine artisanal versions are true single-origin hydro-distillations of resin-suffused heartwood, not reconstructed accords. Because resinous wood appears in only a small fraction of mature trees and the species is under growing conservation pressure in Sri Lanka, the material surfaced commercially for a brief window and is now scarce.
How it smells
This is the bright, zesty, sour-fruity face of oud: lighter, higher-pitched, and more aromatic than the heavy oils of the mainland. Real Ceylon distillations open green and almost tropical (fresh frangipani and cooling mimosa over a faint marine salinity), laced with a dry, ambiguous spice that sits somewhere between cinnamon and pink pepper. Beneath the lift runs a clean resinous core with flickers of lemon blossom and a touch of medicinal bitterness, never the fecal funk of Hindi nor the syrupy sweetness of Cambodi.
In perfumery
Ceylon oud is prized as the radiant, transparent oud, a way to carry agarwood's depth without its weight, ideal for green-floral, citrus, incense, and marine compositions where a Hindi or Thai oil would smother everything. Artisanal houses pair it with frankincense, iris, or fir resin, or co-distil it with other woods (Sri Lankan walla patta with Moluccan filaria, for instance) to amplify its anise-and-fennel piquancy. Its zestiness makes it a top-to-heart performer rather than a brooding base, lending lift and brightness instead of animalic gravity.
Good to know
Distilling Walla Patta is technically unforgiving; it demands precise control of temperature curves and condenser design to preserve the volatile green-citrus top, which is why poorly made Ceylon oils smell flat or sour-off. Treat it as a collector's curiosity: Gyrinops has sat on CITES Appendix II since January 2005, and since 2012 Sri Lanka has banned the export of the tree's timber, tissue and extracts, so almost nothing new leaves the island. If you love oud but find Hindi too barnyard or Cambodi too sweet, this is the bright, spice-and-fruit oud to seek out.
East Indian Oud
The untamed Assamese funk in a bottle
What it is
East Indian Oud is distilled agarwood oil from the Aquilaria trees of Northeast India, the Assam and broader Brahmaputra-valley belt that gives the world its benchmark "Hindi" oud. In artisanal distillation it is genuine single-origin material, often soaked and fermented in the traditional Indian manner before hydro-distillation in copper stills, the method that produces oud's oldest and most ceremonial scent signature. It surfaces across a range of Assam distillations (early-grade, aged, and organic lots among them), each a different distillation of the same regional terroir.
How it smells
This is the legendary Hindi funk: a deep, fermented, animalic core of warm barnyard and hay, soaring stark leather, dried fruit and a backbone of chai-like spice (black pepper, cardamom, cinnamon and clove over sweet Assamese resin). The opening is famously challenging, even fecal and pungent, before it mellows into smooth aged "barn," tobacco and a smoky leather-oud heart that can run for many hours. It is austere and intensely deep rather than pretty: the smell oud has meant for centuries.
In perfumery
Hindi oud is the anchor note for serious oud connoisseurs and a defining material in traditional Arabian and South Asian attars worn ceremonially and to mosque. Master distillers manipulate the result through fermentation length and even the mineral content of the distilling water, coaxing a single Assam batch toward honeyed sweetness or leaving its raw barnyard intact. It pairs classically with rose, leather, tobacco and saffron, and a single drop dominates and outlasts almost anything beside it.
Good to know
"East Indian" signals provenance, not a brand of perfume; it tells you this is Assamese Hindi oud, the most divisive and the most revered of the regional styles. Where Cambodi oud is sweet, fruity and honeyed, Borneo turns camphoraceous and fruity over a clean woody base, and Thai oud runs leathery, medicinal and dry-smoky, East Indian oud goes further still: deeply fermented, barnyard and animalic. If you are new to oud start with a Cambodi or Borneo; come to a genuine Assam once you crave the real, untamed thing.
Fragrance Character
Blue cypress and lavender open together like wind crossing a cold meadow, resinous and clean. The heart blurs gallic rose and blue lotus into something between jam and rain, warmed by nutmeg and lifted by the pandanus breath of kewda, with mimosa, orange blossom and frangipani sweetening every edge. Mysore sandalwood and two ouds, one earthy Sri Lankan, one darkly resinous East Indian, then settle into civet and ambergris, creamy and animalic and as close to skin as skin itself.
Longevity
how long it stays on skin
This gauge reads the expected wear time, how many hours the fragrance keeps speaking on skin before it fades. A marker near the low end means a few fleeting hours, while a marker pushed to the far end promises a scent still present from morning into night.
Sillage
the size of its scent trail
This reads how far the fragrance reaches beyond you and the trail it leaves behind. Low sits soft against the skin, an intimate whisper noticed only up close; high climbs through moderate and strong toward enormous, filling a room and lingering in the air after you have left it.
Experimental
For the bold and curious
Unconventional, boundary-pushing scents for someone who wants to provoke a reaction and stand apart. Suited to artistic, challenging compositions: inky tar, rubber, fermented fruit, metallic or animalic facets that defy easy liking. On this wheel a glowing coin means it rewards the adventurous nose, a dim one means it plays things safe.
Office
Polished but never overpowering
Close-quarters professional settings where a scent should be noticed only by those near you. Suited to restrained, clean compositions with modest projection: tidy citrus, soft musk, pale woods that read competent and considerate. On this wheel a glowing coin means it works in shared workspaces, a dim one means it carries too far.
Evening
After dark, turned up
Dinners, drinks, and nights out when a fragrance can deepen and project with confidence. Suited to richer, warmer compositions: ambers, resins, smoky woods, or plush florals that bloom under low light. On this wheel a glowing coin means the scent comes alive after sundown, a dim one means it stays better suited to daytime.
Romantic
Close enough to be felt
Intimate moments and date nights meant to draw someone nearer. Suited to warm, sensual compositions that hum against skin: creamy florals, vanilla, soft musk, a touch of spice or amber that invites closeness. On this wheel a glowing coin means it sets an alluring mood, a dim one means it leans more practical than seductive.
Formal
Refined for the occasion that matters
Weddings, ceremonies, galas, and dressed-up affairs that call for composure and elegance. Suited to polished, structured scents with quiet authority: smooth woods, refined florals, soft leather, nothing loud or playful. On this wheel a glowing coin means it carries the right gravitas, a dim one means it feels too casual for the room.
Casual
Easy comfort for unhurried days
Everyday wear with no agenda: errands, coffee, friends, a slow weekend. Suited to soft, approachable scents that feel clean and natural, like fresh citrus, light woods, or a gentle skin warmth. On this wheel a glowing coin means the fragrance fits these laid-back moments, a dim one means it asks for more.
Day to Night
where its mood naturally falls
This slider reads the hour the fragrance was made for. A marker to the left leans luminous and bright, easy in daylight and open air; slide it right and the character turns deeper and warmer, the kind of presence that belongs to evening and candlelit rooms.
Winter
Warmth that carries through cold air
Cold air mutes and slows a fragrance, so winter rewards the dense and the warm: resins, smoke, vanilla, leather, and ambered spice that radiate heat against the chill. The bar shows how strongly this particular scent holds up and glows in cold weather.
Spring
Fresh blooms in mild, rising warmth
Mild, humid air lifts lighter compositions beautifully, so spring favors dewy florals, green stems, soft powder, and transparent citrus that feel alive rather than heavy. The bar shows how well this particular scent matches that fresh, gently warming season.
Summer
Bright and airy in real heat
Heat amplifies and projects scent hard, so summer calls for cool, crisp, breathable things: sharp citrus, salty marine air, aromatic herbs, and watery freshness that refresh instead of cloy. The bar shows how comfortably this particular scent wears in real warmth.
Fall
Spiced warmth for cooling days
As temperatures drop, richer materials read clearly without smothering, so autumn suits dry woods, warm spice, tobacco, amber, and golden fruit that feel cozy and contemplative. The bar shows how naturally this particular scent settles into crisp, cooling days.
Best Worn
An easy, unhurried floral-woody for fall and winter, the blue cypress and lavender soft against the cold, equally at home in relaxed daytime wear and worn close in intimate evening moments.
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The Vibe
The Nose
Composed in-house.
The Maison
Ensar Oud
Pure artisanal oud, the real resinous thing, poured from the source bottle into your vial.
Ensar Oud treats agarwood the way a vintner treats a single hillside of old vines. These are dense, slow, deeply serious extraits built around aged ouds, grey ambergris and animalic musks most people have only read about. A drop blooms for hours, shifting from smoke to resin to something warm and skin close.
- Origin
- Southeast Asia
- Founded
- Distilling since the 1990s
- Known for
- Sultani grade oud, true musk
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