SQ Purple Cola

By this point the world of SQ oils needs no introduction. In fact, as each year goes by the number of them out there dwindles, with so many collectors keeping their precious stashes under lock and key, not even caring what the market price might be. These are the most precious and unique oud oils ever known. What other oud oils carry the pedigree of the Sultani oils, commissioned by a Sultan himself and gifted by the Royal court to their various owners? There is simply no other fragrance with its style. The dream of collectors today is an incense grade distillation, though much of what is sold as such barely qualifies, and a few dark sinking pieces of wood to call their own. Yet there was a time when a kilogram of sinking material was perhaps a few hundred dollars, against the one hundred and fifty thousand it would be today. With the limitless budget and logistics afforded by the power of a state treasury behind it, the wood collected for the SQ oils was nothing short of immaculate, and the largest artisanal scale operation of its time. Among the oils we have encountered and purveyed here at KYMYA are oils no doubt cooked from the finest sinking grade woods, and even woods containing kyara, a far more common find in the virgin forests during the 20th century. Today one of the most cherished categories of agarwood is soil wood. Agarwood that has had much of its formation in the ground, giving it a distinct powdery feel and very delicate fibres, the wood almost crumbling in one's hands. The aroma is more delicate still, requiring the slightest and most precise heating to release those magical and soothing aromas, which are unlike anything in the spectrum of traditional agarwood. In Taiwan nothing comes close to the demand and honour of soil woods, eclipsing even sinking grade. Yet in the Western world of artisanal oud, and even in the Middle East, it seemingly goes unnoticed, and indeed to be able to enjoy it properly is a skill in itself. The great thing about oud oil is that it captures the whole of a tree's aroma in a form you can simply wear, far removed from the ritual and complexity of heating the highest grades of wood. Drawing out those scent layers takes immense skill and is truly the preserve of the greatest distillers. Yet for soil wood, even today, we know of nobody capable of undertaking the distillation. Which brings us to Purple Cola. Soil wood of this calibre is difficult enough to find as wood, let alone in sufficient quantity to distil. What sits in these bottles is the meeting of the two things collectors chase hardest, the pedigree of the Sultani operation and one of the rarest categories of agarwood there is. Nothing like Purple Cola exists in the oud world. No other soil distillation is known, which makes this a one of one chance to own what may be the most unique oil released in years. Distillations like this do not come back around. There is no reserve stock, no larger batch held aside, and nothing to restock when the last bottle leaves. For the few who secure one, this is a permanent piece of oud history rather than a purchase to think over.