Oudh Benchmark

As a perfumer I have benchmark samples for most my ingredients, these are the samples that I compare every new batch to, it is like ground zero. These samples are what I consider to be the best of that particular ingredient based on my individual experience and in most cases the collective experience of a close group of colleagues in the industry whose noses I consider reliable. Every year the patchouli is different, even though my supplier is the same company and same crops. Every the rose is different, every year the Jasmine is different and i could continue listing one natural ingredient after another.

The reason why every seasons produce is different is because no two seasons are the same, the level of nutrient in the ground varies, the amount of rain varies, the number of sun shining days and intensity of it varies. Therefore by definition nature will produce natural goods and they will vary. So how does one keep some level of consistency in their products and build on such constant changing dynamics. Bench marking becomes of utmost important. It is very easy to drift with the different smells from the different ingredients and an ingredient that smells like A few years later will start smelling like Z, when it is not suppose to smell like Z at all. How does one not get lost in that drift, bench marking, having a bench mark that you can return to and check your new purchase and ensure your olfactory library is aligned with your olfactory memories.

With this in mind I have done something that I would not otherwise do. I am aware that in the oudh world the scent of oudh is drifting away from what oudh used to be at a very fast rate. Some of the oudhs I smell today is nothing like the oudhs of yesterday. I don’t say this is a good or bad thing, i am simply pointing out the drift and for the purpose of understanding and being able to identify the drift one needs to have a set of benchmarks. Here i have developed a benchmark sample set that incorporates oudh oils of different regions artisanally distilled in house by Al Shareef. The Signature Sample set does not only include oudhs form different regions, but also oudhs distilled employing different techniques and methods. The Signature Sample Set also includes samples of wild and organic oudhs, providing you a wide cross section (8 samples) to have as a benchmark for artisanal oudhs.

It is very important to have such a benchmark as a beginner or even an advanced oudh connoisseur, this will assist you in your development and growth in both identifying scent drift and varying types of profiles based on distillation methods.