Pushkar Temple – Ruhe Oud
I bought this 50g bundle at the end of 2022 from Pilgrimbazaar, an eBay shop in England. They cost £3.49 (€3.99). The price has since increased to £4.15 (€4.82). The 9″ (approx. 23cm) long sticks are relatively thick; this pack contained about 35 pieces. At the new price, that’s €0.14 per stick. (Of course, shipping and possibly customs fees would be additional).
The stated burn time is 30-45 minutes.
I wondered what ‘Ruhe’ could mean. Silver, my Indian friend, suspects that it refers to ‘rooh’, which means ‘essence’. So Ruhe Oud would mean something like ‘the essence of oud’.
When I first received Ruhe Oud, I briefly lit a stick to test it, letting it burn down maybe a centimetre. That was enough to see the smoke lingering in the room through the light shining in from a window, and it stayed visible for quite a while even after I’d extinguished the stick.
In terms of scent, Ruhe Oud are incredibly potent. Shortly after lighting it, I went outside into the garden and could still smell it on myself. In the room I burned it, I found the scent overpowering, but what had spread out into the hallway smelled very intriguing.
It was clear to me that Ruhe Oud were definitely not indoor incense for me, so I set them aside with the other varieties for the summer season to burn on the balcony, also hoping they might lose some of their immense potency by then.
About half a year later, I tried them outside again. Even in the fresh air, I found the scent still impressively strong. It’s dense, attar-like, and quite masculine. I used them two or three more times, but just couldn’t handle their intensity.
Another year passed, and Ruhe Oud aged well in that time. By now, I can even use them indoors again without feeling overwhelmed by the scent.
Ruhe Oud have a heavy fragrance, but there’s also a peculiar freshness to it.
The scent is musky and dark in a certain way. I smell tart, leathery, and tobacco-like notes, accompanied by a rather subtle sweetness. This sweetness is similar to what I find in Chocolate.
The after-smell is very pleasant, like a milder version of the scent while burning.
For me, Ruhe Oud doesn’t necessarily reflect a scent I associate with oud, or specifically natural agarwood, but I’m still exploring its fragrance range.
To me, it’s an attar scent or one I might expect from bakhoor. Certainly interesting and pleasant, but something I need to be in the right mood for, otherwise, it’s simply too much.
There’s also a review of Ruhe Oud on ORS.