Crassna 25-Yr Oud
Abdul Samad Al Qurashi

I decided to leave this 25 years old aged ou for a "second stage" of my approach with A.S.A.Q. scents, in order to get better in touch with the mood of the house and this Eastern way of composing and producing. I did not want to get it "wrong" or not be able to appreciate it at the fullest. I think I was right, now that I tested some other (great!) oils by this brand, I thoroughly enjoyed this exotic beauty. As the name says, Crassna 25 y.o. Aged Oud is an almost pure-oud oil rich in aged agar wood: I also smell a slight camphoraceous-salty note of amber gris, and perhaps a gentle addition of flowers, but this may all be due to the richness of oud. Which is obviously the prominent note, and as you can imagine by the quality of this house (if you are familiar with it), is beyond incredible. The opening is less "stinky" than I feared, not challenging at all; it's surely powerful and bold at first, but its woody, moldy muskiness manages to smell just utterly refined, evocative and rich like a Byzantine mosaic. Actually it's more musk and civet which smell sometimes unbearably "stinky" and indolic. The agar wood here is warm, woodier than wood, smoked (more than "smoky"), raw and organic, with a bit of "rancid" nuances probably due to aging, and a subtle salty aftertaste which as I said, smells a bit like ambergris. It's fun how here in Europe and USA we use the same name (oud) for, basically, depressing smoked rubber which has not the slightest resemblance with this material, in terms of depth, dimensionality, strength, evocative power. The evolution of this Crassna oil shows balsamic nuances which come and go, and again the "smoked" feel you also detect at the very opening - somehow similar to birch tar, a sort of smell of smoked ham. Not a complex scent, just a rich, archaic yet sophisticated harmony of notes: balsamic, dark, smoked, ambery, floral, salty... all in a raw, simple piece of black aged agar wood, stuffed like in a magic vase. After two or three hours the blend becomes increasingly softer and sweeter, more velvety and softer: notes of vanilla, amber and "warmer" woods make Crassna smell more cozy and mellow, always rich and smoked, just in a gentler and more understated way. The persistence is of course quite strong and long-lasting, you easily get a whole day of enjoyment with a small application of some drops on a small portion of skin - I guess that with larger quantities and perhaps applying them on clothes too, you get probably weeks of this heaven. Utterly refined and easily the best oud scent I have ever tried in my limited experience, I would consider this a mandatory "stop" for any perfume lover (a sample is enough and completely worth every penny: bear in mind these oils are pure concentrated power). A trip in space and time, perfect alone or great for layering with other oils.

9/10

If you like ouds but don't like the price, Crassna 25 is an incredible find. In fact, even if price isn't an obstacle, you probably still want to check out this oud. This Crassna oud oil is aged for 25 years and is unblended with other ingredients yet it's anything but plain. I get a combination of typical oud notes starting with a subtle animalic opening, and then some hay-like notes, followed by petrol vapory "ashy" aspects, and finally some incense quality smoke. Thus, this oud defies regional stereotypes of ouds and brings them together in a non-challenging but complexly interesting way. Despite the seemingly diaspora of notes, this oud is simply smooth! And compared to other oud oils on the market, this is incredibly affordable.

I've deliberately chosen Crassna 25 years aged Oud as my first approach with the Abdul Samad Al Qurashi compelling universe and I'm pleased of it, this is my world, this is my taste, this is exactly my hell of darkness and solitude, see wolves out of thick forests, vampire bat eyes shining in the black and a steamy gigantic Son Doong Cave blocking my way. This historical "Arabic" superb saudi-american brand is highly specialized in a superb work of alchemy implementing absolutely natural ingredients (especially veritable oudhs and incenses) enriched by the inexorable passage of time. The outcome is represented by "absurdly" rich magic potios probably too much rich of nuances for the common human noses. Most of the juices are in general oily, holy, sacramental and mystic, sometimes dark and bursting as a descent towards the bowels of hell. Sacre and esoteric seem merging in the body of dense essences, sometimes your mind is conveyed in a huge bhuddist temple where the resins burst while sometimes it seems you to deal with bizarre sorcerers and alchemist witches. This incredibly compelling 25 years aged oudh dominant potion smells about dark caves, coals in a stew, ancient sacristies, dusty basements, old massive books, boots polish, dusty storages. The dark/brown oudh is literally creamy on skin in order to finally evolve towards something drier, smoky, incensey, mouldy, leathery (ancient furs more than yet present stout leather) and impenetrable. The real ancient agarwood resin is a slobbering beast free to perform its kaleidoscopic show. This is a juice for people aware of what they are going to inhale (but is better to write....what they are going to live since dealing with such an arcane potion is an experience flying beyond the olfactory sphere in order to disgorge in a world of meditation, spirituality and magic). Enjoy this experience also in solitude, especially if the spectacle disclosing in front of your eyes is the huge misty chinese forest climbing over the appalling green-dark mountains.