Kyara

Japanese treatment of agarwood in perfumery is completely different from that of Middle-Eastern perfumery, so let’s take a minute to re-set expectations. Since the 6th century AD, the Japanese have used kyara agarwood in the Kodo ceremony (the way of incense), which is the art of “listening” to scent. Kyara is a very special type of agarwood. It refers to wood from extremely old, wild-grown agarwood trees in mostly Vietnam, now rare to the point of being extinct. The word “kyara” is a description of a scent profile, but also used in grading to mean the highest quality of agarwood. Most authentic kyara pieces were sold to private collectors in Japan, which is how Di Ser came into possession of its own small collection of the precious wood. Kyara is normally heated gently over ash and mica plates as incense; due to its rarity and scarcity, it is never used for distilling oud oil.

Until now, that is. In an unprecedented move, Di Ser took the decision to distill oil from its own private collection of kyara. This was an enormously bold and risky undertaking, considering the expense of the raw material, the tiny yield, and the difficulty in extracting oil from such densely-resinated wood. Most oud oil fanatics will never have smelled genuine kyara, either in oil or incense form, so this fragrance, Kyara, is literally the opportunity of a lifetime. The holy grail of oud.

Kyara has a uniquely resinous, green aroma when burned, said to be calming and transporting in equal measure. The opening notes of this 100% natural fragrance are, in fact, pure kyara – verdant, minty, and slightly antiseptic, with the evergreen sting of camphor. Although recognizably oud, the note is as vaporous and clean as early morning mist in a Japanese forest -never dirty or smoky. A massive, gauzy rose note swells up behind the green kyara opening, fleshing out the kyara into a luminous rose-oud concerto against a spicy-woody backdrop that feels like powdered ginger root diffused in sunlight. In keeping with the Japanese classification of oud as rokkoku gomi (meaning "of six countries" and the bitter taste from “the five tastes of sweet, bitter, sour, pungent and salty”), the sweetness and powder is kept in check by the peppery, balsamic-vinegar underbite typical of Vietnamese agarwood. If you’ve grown weary of oud or simply dislike the more animalic, Arabic treatment of the material, then re-set your nose and give yourself a treat with Kyara, the Japanese silk screen of the oud world. Di Ser’s Kyara represents a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to smell authentic kyara agarwood in liquid form – do not cheat yourself of this experience!

Kyara grade agarwood, cedarwood, rose otto, patchouli, sandalwood