Filipino Blue 2019

There are some oils I bought to sell, and there are others I bought because the moment I smelled them, I wanted to keep them. This was one of those oils.

I found it around the end of 2019 through one of the biggest suppliers of Filipino oud I knew at the time. He was dealing with exceptional material from Leyte, including very high-grade, old resinous wood, and he distilled this oil himself in 2019.

I still remember smelling it for the first time. It was one of the first Filipino distillations that made me think, yes, this is Filipino oud.

The character is deep and dark. I describe it as dark blue, not because it smells fresh or aquatic, but because of the depth it carries. There is a dense resinous quality in the opening, with the unmistakable character of old Filipino oud.

But give it time.

Around fifteen to thirty minutes on the skin, the oil begins to show another side. The darkness starts to soften, a beautiful powderiness develops, and the profile becomes increasingly floral. At moments I find traces that remind me of both Cambodian and Ceyloni oud, yet underneath it all, the identity remains distinctly Filipino.

There is no barnyard character, no fermented smell and no unnecessary animalic harshness. It is clean oud, with depth coming from the wood itself.

Over the years I have distilled Filipino oud myself, and I would never compare this oil by saying it is better than my own distillations. It is simply different. Interestingly, I have found that some Arab oud lovers are especially drawn to this one. People who understand old Malaysian and Cambodian oils often appreciate its darker, heavier structure.

Today, what makes this oil particularly special to me is the material behind it.

The quality of Leyte wood available during that period was different. These were old, heavily resinous pieces from a time when extraordinary Filipino material was still being found. Even if I wanted to reproduce this exact profile today, I don’t believe I could.

Not because I couldn’t reproduce the distillation.

Because I couldn’t reproduce the wood.

And once that wood disappears, the scent it carried disappears with it.