Al Kadrie

AL KADRIE – An amazing Oudh from a stunning location, Pontianak in West Kalimantan Indonesia, now here is something to sing about through the holiday location! Pontianak in Malay means ghost. Folklore has it that this region was occupied by a female ghost who would shoot spears at anyone who approached the area and no one would dare set foot there until Shareef Abdul Rahman Al Kadrie conquered the area and built a Mosque on that very spot. We have named this oil in his honour as it is indeed a conqueror.

Many of you have complained to me in private of how tired you are with all the pretty, airy, top-heavy saturating the market, you yearn for a strong resinous beast that isn’t going to get your house mortgaged and yes I hear you! It makes me wonder when I see vendors put incense wood into pots with heady oils coming out the other end with little to no OUDHY heart and base. All traces are gone within 2-3 hours with no trace of Oudh leaving you wondering what you are paying for..

Well here it is! Al Kadrie is Oudh the way it should be, Oudh how it was in the olden days; strong, lively, engaging and intriguing, with a character that makes you want to stay around and get acquainted. Unfortunately in todays Oudh world when you say strong Oudh people immediately think of dirty barn Oudh – where bad soaking habits have contributed to the scent. When I say strong I am referring to a strong Oudh juice, potent with no watering down with ice or milk. Think of a Turkish coffee vs a latte.

Now to the part that some of you Oudheads love – no fancy distillation equipment – this was all about the wood being juiced to the max. The pot was an upright cylinder – a very ‘Indonesian’ style system with the cooling coil sitting in a tank and the hydrosol pipe sticking out the bottom of the tank.

First whiff is a freshly picked beautiful green Arabica coffee, not the roasted coffee scent but the intense bean when it is green with a touch of earth and camphor. The opening is so deep and intensely red when you first inhale your eyes will water. The scent fills your nostrils and envelops you and you are transported to the middle of an Oudh field. The heart is woody, ambergris salty, with a snap bamboo back drop which settles into a dark, bitter, salty resinous strong OUDHY base. There is no barn in this oil only oudhy ooomph, the same scent you encounter when you put a fragrant wild piece to your nose and inhale.

Al Kadrie returns the right meaning back to Oudh, reinstating its reputation, character and legacy. Strong, bold, lively, engaging and full of intrigue. You could continue spending your hard earnt money on Oudhs that leave no trace after a couple of hours and smell no different to any average essential oil or you could start buying proper Oudh, Al Kadrie is true to the Al Shareef motto of bringing you real oudh.