Betonamu

We were nearing the end of our Sultan Series distillations in 2014. Jian (the monk from The Distiller Who Sold His Ferrari) was working with us throughout the series, and I guess our escapades rubbed off on him…

Prior to seeing us grind up incense-grade batches flown in, in-person, from Malaysia, Brunei, and Papua New Guinea, Jian only knew his home-cooked ouds – Thai ouds.

The past two years were an eye-opening experience for him as he repeatedly saw and smelled the insanities dripping from the beakers in shades of blue and green he never knew could come from agarwood (i.e. Sultan Ahmet & Co.) and the crazy lengths we went through to fly the wood from across the seas, in boats and tuk-tuks. All he knew was the yellow-orange of cultivated crassnas distilled in Trat.

As we were wrapping up the Sultan Series distillations, he decided to take the plunge himself. 

He ended up going everywhere, meeting every contact he knew and after months gathered a batch of wild Vietnamese agarwood. His plan was to take that batch and implement what he learned the past couple of years. And that’s what he did: he invested big money into a batch of super quality Vietnamese oud and didn’t know what to expect. In fact, after seeing us getting as little as 0.6/7gr oud oil per kilo of agarwood, he assumed he had lost the plot – just as everyone told us we had. 

Well, he did it. He captured a stunning oud that’s on par with some of the best ouds I’ve smelled. As far as Vietnamese ouds go, this is certainly one of the most unique – naturally so, since it was distilled in Thailand using local well water, using what he learned through working with us on the Sultan Series. 

In oud terms, the scent is so dense it’s practically black – a stark contrast to his usual yellow hued Trats… The most interesting experience is the contrast of the Vietnamese oleoresin with the subtle chords you’d otherwise associate with vintage wild Thai ouds enshrouded in a fruity tone that’s half crassna, half sinensis, riding on a serene low-temp incense chord down from top to drydown.

He set out distilling Betonamu only for himself. He intended to keep the oil like a trophy, showing off what he was able to achieve. Besides, he said, who will ever pay this much for a bottle of oud? – His cost alone is more than what the most expensive ouds retail for.

In the end, he did decide to sell some of it. That’s what you have here today. Quality Vietnamese ouds are far and few between, and no other signed with Jian’s signature copper. I don’t know any distiller who could have done a better job with that long-gone batch of wild Guallam and highly recommend a bottle. 

Customer Reviews:

A Very Unique & Nice Addition

Over the past few weeks I have been coming back to Vietnamese oils over and over again. This recent interest was sparked by wanting to pick the right oils for a new Semi Bespoke I have in the works with the team. I had a few Vietnamese oils in my head, but with the wide variety of notes and complexities offered by oils from this region, I really wanted to make sure I got this one right.

I went through my collection of Vietnamese oils and started studying them as if I was learning them from scratch. I would swipe oils to catch all the nuances and see what similarities between the oils cancel each other out. These included the legendary Nha Trang LTD and Royal Guallam. I also embellished in the cherry tobacco notes from Guallam No 1 and the ever popular Kinam Rouge. I basked in the kinamic notes of Guallam Kilam and the sour medicinal notes of Blue Yunnan…

One oil I had yet to smell was Betonamu, and after reading through the description and speaking with Adam about it, I decided I needed to get my nose on this oil. I ended up getting it, and the description on the OudBar website is spot on.

This oil really surprised me. Its a combo hydro distillation and CO2 extract which before speaking directly with Ensar, didn’t really mean much to me but has now pleasantly become part of my oud educational experience. It is a very unique oil compared to these other Vietnamese oils.

This one opens with the honeyed yellow note of Guallam Kilam and then quickly yet fleetingly transfers to the dark deep cherry tobacco chords of Guallam No 1. It then is followed by a bright, light, sweetness that carries it through its progression. As it lightens up and sweetens up, it then starts to act like the sweet Thai oils such as Oud Yusuf but with much more depth and character. Adam describes it as a cream custard profile, I can see this, but I also get tart as well.

This definitely is reminiscent of a Sultan series oil. It doesn’t share any of the cool PNG (Papua New Guinea) chords or profiles but in just character and development, I can appreciate how this oil performs. This oil, with its wide ranged profile, has been added as one of the oils in my new Semi B composition and its definitely a nice addition to the collection.

P.S. I love the design almost as much as I love the oil.

—Abu Naeem / USA