Yabaan

Our emails and messages have blown up from the number of enquiries we have been receiving about Yabaan and many of you felt that you missed out. The word got out that our Kyara oil was ready, and what I had intended for release was snapped up before we could even release it. Now whoever didn’t get some were upset because they didn’t know about it. So here is a chance for everyone…

YABAAN is the Arabic for Japan, the name granted to this piece of olfactory art that will be recorded in history as liquid Kyara. YABAAN is a thick, viscous, velvety oil that can really be felt on the skin. At first impression, it makes the top of my brain buzz or tickle. After this resides, I begin to realise the beautiful and dark powdery resinous top-notes, with plenty of the kynamic sweet-yet-dark coupled with clear mountain air. Some dark rum and a touch of medicinal vibe at the heart moves to pillowy, billowy clouds to cream, powder and balsamic resin. When comparing side by side with heating wood YABAAN followed an almost identical procession. I was surprised by the distinctiveness and purity of the opening kyara scent. There were seconds where it floats and refracts between the silver icicle ping of a triangle and burgundy viola notes…the singular kyara grace and clarity were as apparent and dynamic in the Oil as they were in the wood.

Habits are difficult to part with, even when change is good – as humans we avoid change due to fear of the unknown but to grow, flourish and advance we must regularly assess our practices, remove inefficiencies replacing them with more efficient and effective interventions allowing us to take our art to higher levels.

In 2017 when distilling LAM’AH we set the record for the first wild Kyara Oil to be distilled. The challenges involved were too many to list; from the cost of wood, to the steps being taken to the unknown. Fast forward 5 years as we embarked on another crazy undertaking of wild Kyara distillation, we had lessons from Lam’ah to build on; and that is exactly what we did.

To successfully distil Kyara Oil one must first understand Kyara is unlike other Oudh woods. Other woods are known by their Oil and Wood scent but Kyara is famous only as a wood utilised as an incense. This is significant as this parameter sets the path for future steps on how to capture this scent. The Japanese love Kyara as an incense aroma to heat in their kodo sessions. For those unfamiliar with the term, kodo refers to incense listening sessions prevalent in the Japanese culture. The question then arises, how does one capture the kyara kodo sessions in an Oil? There, we had to step away from habit. As I regularly mention my role as an artist is bringing forward to the collective subconscious what would otherwise be unimaginable… So this is where we step away from habit and innovate…and innovate we did. As many of you have seen on social media I designed a new apparatus commissioning the best glass blower in our city to bring life to the new designs.

We tested different methods to explore what brings the best representation of Kyara Wood to life in Oil form finding a combo-distillation + extraction method yielded the best results. YABAAN, our Kyara Oil of 2022 was born by employing the state of the art in distillation hardware. Utilising combinational distillation which involves hydro distillation principles forming part of the process and extraction principles that employs Oudh oil to further break down the Kyara resin and wood to extract the beautiful lingering heart and base notes of Kyara. Through this innovative method we capture the wholesome scent of Kyara, not just as an essential oil but as one would experience in a kodo session.

Here we faced another challenge; we had divided YABAAN to two parts, a portion was going to be made available to existing customers and a larger portion was going to an upcoming parfum. Before we could even release YABAAN on our website some of you heard of YABAAN and the 1 ml bottles sold out. Now the word is out, and our DM channels have been going nonstop. I understand some of you are upset having missed out so I am offering a limited number of 0.2 gram vials on a first-come first-serve basis. As a limited released there aren’t many vials so if you delay you will miss out, the rest will go to the imminent parfum as planned..

YABAAN…immerse yourself in liquid Kyara.