A bold chocolate oud heart, rich resins and animalic accents, with an overall gourmand‑oriental feel.

 

Ingredients: Russian Adam’s “Russian Oud II” eau de perfume, Vietnamese Agarwood, Opoponax resin, Tolu Balsam resin, Atlas Cedar wood, Storax bark, Nagarmotha root, all bound with organic honey

I have been following the work of Fragrance Artist and master distiller, Russian Adam, for many years.  I first became aware of Russian Adam through the Artisan Essential Oil Distillers on Facebook.  He posted very artistic and informative photos and videos of his distillations of materials, using techniques that were far beyond me.  Born in Russia, but having lived many years in Indonesia, Russian Adam developed access to some of the finest and most expensive fragrant botanicals in the world.  I marveled at his Agarwood distillation into White Lotus hydrosol, his civet and Indian sandalwood co-distillation and his Wild Sri Lankan agarwood distillation into Indian rose water.  Eventually, I learned that Russian Adam had started to make his own perfumes and marketed them through his high-end, niche house, Areej Le Doré.   From his website: “Through the use of nearly forgotten, rare ingredients of the highest quality, combined with innovative distillation techniques, Areej Le Doré aspires to return one to the ancient roots of perfumery, as well as revitalize the olfactory experience with a modern twist." Wow!   I found Russian Adam’s Youtube channel and interviews during Covid.  While he has an eccentric presentation, he never looks at the camera when speaking, his knowledge and ability to articulate are exceptional.  The videos gave me joy during those long, lockdown years.

So, when I found out that Russian Adam was releasing an incense, using his Russian Oud 2 perfume, over a base of Vietnamese agarwood, there was no way I was going to miss his incense, even if I had to break the piggy bank.

 

From Russian Adam:

Russian Oud is a gourmand oud lover's dream. It is a perfume built around a chocolaty agarwood oil distilled in India according to an old traditional method.

 

Top notes: a touch of natural deer musk and ambergris

 

Heart notes: cacao and Indian oud

 

Base notes: resins and cedar

 

“The true story behind the fragrance is this. I adore oud oil, and it offends me that many people just don't understand it. Many people are afraid of oud oil from the first inhale, and they do not try to go back to it and understand. Like, they think they know it all, that oud is just stinky, and its smell is disgusting. I wanted to make a non-scary oud fragrance so that people could get close to it, understand its smell, all its richness and its nuances. If a person wants to understand, understanding will come - I know that from my own experience. The idea was to combine oud oil and the gourmand accord of chocolate, cause people love chocolates - and for me Indian oud oil has VERY much cocoa and chocolate, I don't pay attention to the animal notes in oud oil anymore."

 

I was so excited when the incense arrived in its beautiful teakwood tube.  I took a stick out of the tube and inhaled the strong, but delicious, perfume.  I immediately lit a stick and placed it in a holder, stood back, and was smacked with a smokey hot mess with absolutely no fragrance nuance.  As quick as I had lit the stick, I put it out.  Disappointment does not come close to express how I felt.  I do not know for certain, but I do not think that Russian Adam closely designed this incense, but rather collaborated with a commercial stick maker in Vietnam.

 

Incense making and Perfume making are very similar arts, but they are not exactly the same.  Combustible incense is especially challenging because so much of the beauty of a material’s fragrance can be lost in the fire.  I felt that, although Russian Adam’s Russian Oud II perfume is richly aromatic, most of its charm were sacrificed in the flames of the incense sticks. As heated incense, I was sure that its perfumed voice would be set free to soar through the air.  And so, I decided to begin my own collaboration to make a complimentary incense base that would hold, but not overwhelm, Russian Oud II.

 

I scraped the incense dough off the bamboo cores and put a pinch on the incense heater to listen and learn.  The fragrance notes that a perfumer uses to describe their composition is not a list of ingredients, but rather the highlights of the scent journey.  Usually there are small additions of unlisted materials that contribute depth and elegance to the overall aroma.  Over time, I was able to pick out some of the materials that Russian Adam used that were not explicitly expressed in the notes description.  I knew I felt a fine Myrrh vibe.  I was puzzled by the powdery cacao notes-that were not coming from the oud—until I remembered Tolu Balsam resin. This material, beloved in the golden age of perfumery, so certainly dear to Russian Adam’s heart, has fallen out of common use today.  Together, Tolu Balsam and Opoponax resins make a rich leather and cacao base.  I added at touch more of amber to the leather by using Storax bark.  Then added some Atlas Cedar woods to accent Russian Oud II’s fruity undertones.  Finally, I wove all the ingredients together with Nagarmotha.  Voila!  The result is Burnished Russian Oud II nerikoh.  A gourmand oud lover’s dream on the incense heater.     

 

This price is for 5 pellets in a heavy glass container.