Ibn Zamrak (Al Hashimi, 2017) Oud Oil Review

A Monolith of Mentholic and Spicy Incense

Region: Sabah, Malaysia

Wood used: Wild Aquilaria microcarpa (mostly) and some wild Aquilaria malaccensis shavings

House: Al Hashimi

Ibn Zamrak (2017) in Total Recovery Vial

I will try to write my impression a bit differently for this oil as I have lot to say about it. I apologise if some of it sounds repetitive as I’m yet to acquire the art of non-academic writting.

At the top I get a fleeting apple note – not sure about the variety though. Almost instantaneously (I used that word intentionally), Ibn Zamkrak (IZ) greets me with a very strong mentholic note with all sorts of wonder to follow.

It then reveals its earthy and hay notes. The hay is pleasant and sweet – a cross between recently dried hays from Bangladesh and a bit of honey/toffee like sweetness of Spanish hay absolute. The earthy note is not very powerful now. But I can sense its intensity getting stronger.

Then comes oakmoss absolute - one of the finest natural perfume ingredients I have ever sniffed outside oud, rose otto and sandalwood oils. Please note that I am not referring to the IFRA compliant toned down kerfuffle. In this area, this one is very similar to 'Ard', a beautiful Merauke oil from HabzOud.

I also get a citrusy note - specifically grapefruit (with the incense in the back ground) - and a hint of shatkora (aka, hatkora) fruit (Citrus macroptera), commonly used in Sylhet zone’s cuisine. FYI, Ajmal released an EdP highlighting this fruit, which I have never tried (the EdP). If you are near any shop that sells Bangladeshi fruit and veg, or owned by some Bangladeshi (especially Sylheti), you can smell this intensely greenish citrus fruit. Even better, try to get yourself invited for some shatkora flavoured beef/chicken curry!

Ibn Zamrak (2017)

The interplay amongst the spice notes is quite a new experience for me. I get cinnamon, saffron, fenugreek (more pronounced at dry down), and a few more spices that I am not sure of. The dryness is coming from the saffron note (according to my wife). I recently bought some Iranian saffron. I can see where she is coming from. She detected saffron before me even though I like saffron more than her! It also imparts a little bit of that trademark dry leather facets of saffron.

The woody note here is just as expected. Think of a thick forest with lots of very old trees and lots of dry leaves and small fragrant plants under their shadows during autumn. For the earthy note, you can add in post-rain cold and windy afternoon for your imagination!

Within the woody note, I get something herbaceous – a pronounced green tea note (immediately after earthy note). I could be wrong, but I think saffron- and green tea-like notes are playing tricks with me as they are so integrated! Now it is getting woodier and drier (saffron like) too.

30 Minutes: I get a smell of very dry earthy smell – very similar to one that I used to get in the May/June in our village house, when it is very hot (35°+ Celcius) and the soil is parched. Thus IZ compliments this ‘cool’ oil with some warm vibes. It is also partly due to the harbeceosus green tea, and honeylike hay notes.

1^st Hour: As the green and mentholic elements subside (though still quite strong), in comes beeswax absolute and honey. All of them stays until the end. However, the wood and incense notes have taken over - with menthol, hay, petrichor and saffron playing in the background and in that order.

2^nd Hour: It remains more or less the same like before. In the 3rd hour the spiced incense note is still quite potent. But now I get something musky that is similar to some facets of Yaqoot – a powerhouse from Al Sahreef Oudh. The musky note here is quite gentle though, slightly powdery, almost like ambrette seed abs (ASA), but without the presence of anything heavy at the start of ASA.

The saffron note is still there at the 4^th hour (along with other things cf below). Anyone who knows me will know how much I love saffron. Considering the powerful incense note, this has already become a favourtie oil of mine of Malaysia, along with Ard (HabzOud), Rose De Malaisie (La Maison Khenata) and Malay Encens (House of Misk).

5^th Hour: The beeswax, fenugreek are still there with cinnamon’s occasional appearance. There is probably curry leaf too, but not sure as I cannot recall the smell now. To me a weak labdanum like sweetness registers very late into my olfactive – hence it is lot less resinous, more incensy.

Somewhat related: There is no barny wood smell. I was telling Ahmad (from Al Hashimi team) that I get a plastic burning smell. In fact, it was not coming from there - rather from the table where I dropped birch tar eo few days ago, and my very own saffron tincture yesterday during filtering. Don’t ask me what else I have dropped on it. Interesting bit of information: 8-10 hours after I dropped some birch tar eo, the the varnished wood table smelled like barbeque sauce. I’m not joking.

It now has become a fusion of beeswax, gentle musk, and mentholic incense. I love it. I get all those notes until the 8^th hour. It then becomes a skin scent when the spicy, slightly musky, mentholic incense note with oakmoss greenness is still there.

 

I had my shower afterwards (around eight & half hours). I can still smell the sweet mentholic incense and something new, cardamom for the first time! This suggests I missed it earlier when I was smelling cinnamon. It could be due to the intensity of other notes at the earlier stages.

For the adventurous: Since it has that sharp green facet similar to oakmoss absolute, I speculate that it will go quite well in chypre and incense compositions. I am so tempted to do some experiments with birch tar, smoke tree, myrrh co2, luban, labdanum, European hays, rose, rosewood and sandalwood!

In short, if you like incense, honey/beeswax, Malaysian oudiness, saffron, mentholic/camphoric notes and sweet hay, this glorious oil is a must try. Ibn Zamrak is like a beautiful child of wild agarwoods from Assam and Borneo - a sweet, spicy, intensely mentholic incense - grown in the wilderness of Malaysia.

Important: Always sample (oil, solid or spray perfume) before committing to  a larger amount no matter whom it is from. This is particularly true for oud oils as they are the ultimate shape-shifters (on skin) in perfumery.