Tamenglong Manipur 1899 "Ateek Series" Antique Artisan Oud Oil

Tamenglong Manipur 1899 - 19th Century Pure Hindi Oud Oil - Dehn al Oudh - Ateek Series - 10 Year Commemorative Anniversary

Jungle : Tamenglong, Manipur - India
Species : Agallocha
Class : Wild - a single, ancient tree - exact age unknown, but "centuries old"
Distillation : Traditional, Wood-fired Copper Deg and Bapkah - 12 Day Distillation

Although I started Rising Phoenix in 2011 with a launch of alcohol-based fragrances - 2014 is when the company launched in it's current format here in Etsy, just before the Christmas season.

The world has changed a lot since then ... we were the only Agarwood and Oud vendor on Etsy at that time. Look at everything we've since inspired !

As such, 2024 is a 10 Year Anniversary, of sorts, and I wanted to launch a few extra special oils as we gear up for the holiday season and our unofficial 10 Year Commemoration.

Now for a real doosy ... a pre-Independence pure Oud oil from 1899 !!

This is a relic distilled during the 19th Century 😱 

I have several oils from the 1800's that at some point I'll get up into the shop. This is the first, and "youngest" of them.

This oil is a unique historical relic that I acquired directly from the distillation family that produced it in 1899. I was lucky in that they still had some of the distillation details, which I included above.

I have several of my own operations in various locations, and my Indian operation has become finely tuned at connecting with *old old* family operations, or their descendants, in the case that the operation is no longer functional. It's gotten to a point that they are now seeking US out, which is great news for all of you. Lots of cool relics to find their way into the shop for years to come. 

In a country like India with such a long history of harvesting and oil production, it's amazing some of these historical finds from decades, even centuries past, that I've been able to be adding to the growing collection. It almost feels like an archaeological find !

“Ateek” - for those wondering, our English word for Antique has it’s roots in this word, which is the same word in both Arabic and Hebrew. It means ooooold ... a fitting moniker for this rare gem of an oil.

Regardless of the specific geo-location, it’s not often we get an uncut family heirloom that is 125 years old and counting. From just before the turn of the 19th to 20th centuries, no less. A Victorian Oud !!

Just consider for a moment how a good bottle of Scotch is valued. 16-18 years old is already getting rare. 20-25 years old, and maybe a fortunate few will get themselves a bottle. 30 years old? 50? Usually fewer than 100 bottles will be sold world wide. And to find an 80+ year old bottle - you could have a down payment on a house! A 100+ year old bottle might buy a neighborhood of them !!

Extremely old Oils like these are rarely, if ever, available to the public - let alone in small quantities. Even when I find them, it's "all or nothing" - take it all, or lose the opportunity. So it's quite a rare convenience being able to even be able to sample an oil of this caliber.

Usually these rare finds are vaulted in VIP circles where the opportunity to purchase them is by invitation only, and at that - at prices manifoldly higher than what I offer them for. I know of two such VIP vaults, specifically - and I say this with confidence as I have a few customers in that echelon that have told me quite a few stories ... and prices - with the added burden of minimum quantity thresholds. 

I only mention this to emphasize just how rare it is to find an oil like this made available to the public, at a price that is less than a really old bottle of whiskey - and at a price tag far below what you'd expect on a dram of a bottle that old. These are historical relics, juiced from ancient trees, at a time when all the best wood would have been tossed into the pot to make the richest, most excellent oils that simply are not possible to reproduce today in any kind of scalable capacity.

My Ateek Series collection of oils are curated by me, and are mine, and mine alone. They are not available anywhere else, and your access to them is exclusively through Rising Phoenix.

THE SCENT

First and foremost, I want to say that this oil smells ... ATEEK. It reeks of ancient awesomeness. Timeless old trees in primeval forests. Scents from another Time. Whispers of history long past.

Long before Cambodia became famous for Agarwood - or Laos or Malinau or Sri Lanka, for that matter - Manipur reigned as King. The most beloved and sought-after woods in the Gulf market came from Manipur. Imagine having the chance to smell an oil from the heydey of Manipuri production !

The scent on this is just gorgeous, and if you’ve been following my work, you know that these old traditionally-produced oils would have likely been made from the best grades of wood and fermented for some time, which, much like whiskey, the bite found in young productions fades and develops in to something that only Father Time can conjure. You can smell the Age and Character in this oil in a manner unheard of in youthful juice.

Hidden within the ancient depths, you may find hints of Preserved Cherries, Pipe Tobacco, Fortified Portuguese Liquors, and whispers of Ripe Summer Berries. There's an almost milkiness to it, like a Taiwanese Milk Tea made from the tender young leaves of ancient wild Manipuri tea trees. I wouldn't call this oil citrusy, but I also detect hints of what almost smells like lemon rind, floating atop the merest hint of smoke. To say it's an adventure to wear is an understatement.

These kinds of ancient scents are hard to be duplicated. Time and phenomenal raw materials are the only way to produce this kind of textural scent. If you’ve ever tried 50+ year old Scotch - you’ll have an inkling what I’m talking about. Now imagine an additional 75 years of maturing and you've got an idea of just how delectable this oil is. Time is the 5th Dimension.

1899 Tamenglong Ateek is an oil for the archives - a centerpiece on your trophy shelf. I imagine for those of you that like to commemorate special occasions with special scents, you'll want to swipe Tamenglong Ateek. For those that do, your future will hold garlands of rich Manipuri gold, gracing your memories for years to come.