Nha Trang

‘Bitter’ can be a deceptive word to describe a scent. Depending on what smell you’re using as a reference, bitterness could denote a kind of fermented twang (not a good thing), while to some it could just mean a scent that’s overly astringent.

But in oud nomenclature, this “bitter” note is highly sought-after and goes hand-in-hand with the most premium caliber agarwood.

If you’ve read my descriptions, you’d have noticed that “bitter” and “narcotic” tends to come up when talking about kinamic oud profiles because you can’t separate that bitter, medicinal glaze from the finest oud oils the same way you can’t separate sheer age from the most precious gemstones.

While there are many aromatics that have a facet of bitterness to them, there’s a single aromatic that embodies bitterness in a truly unique way – so much so that in perfumery, it’s the quintessential Oriscent chord.

I’m speaking, of course, about the peerless medicinal narcotic scent of top-end Nha Trang agarwood…

What if you could inject the exquisite thick, creamy yellow floral beauty of tuberose with the narcotic zest of Nha Trang oud? If you could take that fusion and lacquer it with carnation dipped in a pond reddened by saffron and juhi and filter that scent through a diffuser stuffed with old-school Vietnamese sinkers…

Beeswax sticky with the bitter bliss of Nha Trang resin. A power duo of pink lotus and narcissus softened by vintage roses decorated by henna – all pushed through a funnel thickly lined with Vietnam’s legendary agarwood…

Out comes a sweetness you can taste bursting with a floral-oudy mark branded in bold, still hot with the smoke of an oud that “is not of this dimension.”

NOTES:
Narcissus
Tuberose
Jasmine Juhi
Orange flower
Carnation
Saffron
Henna
Rose
Champaca
Pink Lotus

Nha Trang Oud (Oriscent)
Patchouli Infused with Musk
Black Ambergris
Bourbon Vanilla
Kashmiri Musk
Costus Root
Beeswax
Myrrh

I’ve been known, when asked what my favorite oud is, to reply without much thought: It’s Nha Trang.

And that’s the oud inside this perfume, and the scent it’s built around – the Nha Trang – NINE grams of it! (per 50ml). The overall concentration is ∼50%

That makes this not just the only perfume of its kind, but the only perfume of its kind I’ll ever be able to make – Nha Trang was distilled almost fourteen years ago and it’s impossible to make another drop.

Showcased with a solid-silver plaque plated in 18-karat gold, if a spritz of bitter narcotic kyara aroused by the world’s most elegant flower extracts sounds like a scent to remember, then here’s a bottle to keep that memory alive.

*Your bottle will also contain pieces of vintage Nha Trang agarwood.