Kaliman Kala
Now a Legend
Final Bottle Sold
From 2007 through 2012 we ran more than twenty experimental Borneo distillations. Some of them so limited the yield came to no more than a few grams.
Each batch in the project contained only wild-harvested agarwood. We didn’t settle for just ‘wild’ either. We sourced a variety of aquilaria subspecies—not just malaccensis or microcarpas—to capture more of the complete Borneo scent spectrum. The challenge was that we had these 20+ unique, but expensive, distillations to account for…
One of the batches had a higher yield than the micro runs. The cost to produce was also a lot less. I was stuck. Should we offer a series of higher priced oils that very few would ever get to try, or… should we fuse the entire project into one Grand Borneo oeuvre, capturing all facets of Borneo oud in a single oil?
By synergizing all twenty batches into a single oil, what you get is a peerless bottle of wild Borneo oud already aged for close to three years. The stereotype Borneo scent spectrum was blown to bits with the oil’s dark, edgy, pine forest overtone. The profile is perfectly clean and clear. The quality of the raw agarwood and the distillation tweaks we employed were meant to amplify the herbaceous-incense dimension of the Borneo profile. So, the smell of gently heated Borneo oud chips is ever present, sizzling atop a nutmeg-mint chord.
Kaliman Kala is for all you Borneo-crazed appreciators. It’s for anybody who ever wanted to own a top-notch aged wild Borneo.
coffee + cocoa beans
antique musty books in old library
deep, damp woods spice
old wool sweater
antique wood furniture
rich moist soil by a creek
minty, balsamic cork
heavy brown hay
old wood treasure chest
musky, earthy, patchouli
old Franciscan monk cloaks
Dry down:
hint of resinous agarwood chips
hint of musky barn
heart warming
piney spice
old wood instruments – Joel, Cambodia
The Kaliman Kala is outstanding. Never before have I smelled a Borneo with such a deep, rich, camphor-minty accord. It is a dry, powdery, strong mint note that comes out about fifteen to twenty minutes after application. It lasts for almost half an hour then slowly morphs back to the scent of gently heated Borneo chips – very nice! I am happy to have this oil in my collection. – Thomas, Germany
The sample of Kaliman Kala you kindly sent me is delightful. I’d describe its aroma as camphorous shou puerh being brewed alongside a boshanlu billowing the smoke of a kyara rich coil. – John, UK
Perhaps my favorite Borneo ever – this oud brings intense, foresty exhilaration for me – there is so much complexity and energy here. Amidst the herbal forest though there is a lovely balancing sweetness in the background – this oud is at once wild and friendly. Indeed a darker scent than most Borneos, though the classic Bornean ‘yellow sunshine’ quality emerges in the drydown. – Josh, CA
