Scamming
Earlier in the year I posted my unfavorable review of some oud oils from a vendor named Encenser (formerly featured on the ouddict forum). They all smelled really off, so I performed a “water test” and was proven correct in my accusation of adulterated oils. After confronting the vendor, he apologized, removed his inventory and sent some agarwood my way as an apology along with a commitment to source better materials in the future.
Then, a few weeks ago the vendor reached out to me again, informing me of a new source and inventory of oils that he would like to send me samples of. I agreed to receive and over the past few days began to review them. Out of 9 samples only one smells of authentic, pure oud, which is the only one NOT from the “new source / distiller” he claimed to find, a plantation Assam, the rest are a mix of gyrinops and aquilaria from indonesia which again all carry some sort of off-note signature that is truly offensive. This time however they do not necessarily smell of synthetic adulteration but more like other essential oils used to dilute, that are not oud. I was hopeful that redemption was a possibility and that integrity could be repaired but sadly not in this case.
In our previous discussions, after initially telling me the off-note I was describing, simply belonged to oud oils of Indonesia, he claimed to simply be a naive “young entrepreneur” and that the sourcing truly came from his father who was truly at fault (both selling the same materials through different brand names, “Sultan Siak” on etsy). That was only after I showed him the water-test result (a milky-white substance appeared in addition to oil and water combined).
After confronting him on this second bad batch, his response was “these are newly distilled” and that he will “check with the distiller” but obviously dont believe its the just source’s issue here. The adulteration is so obvious to me that he would have to be so ignorant of oud in general, for it to get past him, for that to be true. Im actually not offended that he attempted to scam me with his product again but am offended as an oud lover. Do you think its possible for the seller to be NOT IN ON IT?