BLACK DIAMOND - A Mesmerizing Artisan Cambodi Oud Oil (Wild / Single Tree)

The raw material to prepare this oil comes from one wild single tree ethically harvested in the lower lands jungles of the Kampot region, in Cambodia. Distilled locally late 2022 with craft by a trusted artisan, working with care, low pressure, and low temperature. The raw material consisted strictly of incense grade wood, no white wood was distilled. 

This oil is so vivid, that at the time of release (april 2024), after 18 months of curing, it still has the verdant energy of young oil, but it has already developed the body and the complexity of a mature oil. It will be very interesting to see it age and cure.

This oil is a great transformer, its complexity makes dozens of notes dance interwoven, but it also goes through very different long phases, bringing you to different places than where it started. The robe is deep dark brown (looks black in the bottle), the consistency is thick, and a little drop goes a very long way. The longevity is exceptional. 

The opening  be describe as "masculine" in a classic description (though I personally hold that perfumes have no gender). It has the formal elegance of a black tie evening and feels a little bit like an ad made in the 70's: single malt, peat, iodine (oceanic notes), dark tobacco, black tea, vetiver, a light mineral note and a discrete hint of smoke.

Beyond the opening, the great transformation dance starts and unfold over time. revealing a staggering amount of notes: black soil, sugarcane treacle, chamomile,  blueberry, bouquet of spices (cinnamon, nutmeg), suede, blonde tobacco, honey, gingerbread, raisins, blackberry jam, birch tar, vanilla, dark cherry, etc.

In the broad phases, after the beautiful deep opening, it become a bit more creamy (without being ever dominantly sweet) and also offers these staggering dark fruit notes and a light touch of clean leather / suede that will be present a long way during dry down. There is also a fresh note, slightly mentholic, appearing, disappearing and reappearing during dry down.

The dry down is all but linear itself and changes phases too: dried apricot - light suede, then a few hours later it is sandwalood and orris butter (and suede), many hours later is is sweet, spicy lightly mentholic, etc.

A truly mesmerizing oil, that will keep surpising you.