Sultan Bakhoor (Rymer Shop)
These samples are part of a package my friend Povilas put together for me. He purchased them at Rymer, along with two other bakhoors, of which he also shared samples with me.
Rymer sells all their bakhoors in simple tin containers, which I, personally, appreciate. They also show the contents in their product pictures. As beautiful as some of the fancy bakhoor jars and containers are, one often wonders whether you’re paying more for the packaging than the actual product.
Currently, I see 18 different bakhoor varieties of Rymer’s assortment, priced between €8.29 and €20.79 for 25g each.
Rymer states that their bakhoors are local, Omani products, primarily made for personal use, either at home or in small workshops, mostly by women.
Sultan Bakhoor is a loose dukhoon bakhoor. The price for 25g is €8.29; about €0.33 per gram.
Michael Rymer describes the fragrance as follows: “An intoxicating combination of heavy floral notes with the velvety fragrance of honeysuckle and woody accents of sandalwood.”
The scent of Sultan Bakhoor makes me rather think of roses than honeysuckle. It’s a lush, very round flower bouquet, from which noses more versed in floral notes than I am, can surely pick out more.
Like the two Diqa Bulush varieties, Sultan Bakhoor is rather mild compared to offerings of other brands. Its aroma fills the room without completely taking it over.
The after-smell is quite short-lived.
Sultan Bakhoor seems high-quality to me; I don’t smell any soapy notes, nor does it evoke cheap perfume. I find the fragrance very pleasant, although overly floral fragrances aren’t exactly my thing. This is probably due to its unobtrusiveness.
Note about Rymer:
Although the ordering process was somewhat complicated, I really wanted to order from Rymer because I’m really impressed with their range. Not only when it comes to incense sticks but also loose incense.
The shop’s system only allows orders within the Czech Republic and Slovakia, so I asked if they would also ship to other EU countries, which they were happy to do upon request.
Michael Rymer, the owner, was very helpful and responsive throughout the process (in English). I was told to enter my real address in the note field at checkout and select the Czech Republic and 54401 as the postal code to complete the order.
Payment options include bank transfer and a few others – no PayPal.
A while after receiving the automated invoice, I was sent a second invoice with the actual shipping costs. Originally, shipping was supposed to cost €20 – which I found quite high but accepted nonetheless. Later, Mr. Rymer sent me another email informing me that it had cost less than expected and offered me a €6 refund. So, the actual shipping costs were €14, which was roughly what I had expected.
He could have just said nothing and kept the money, but he didn’t, and I think that’s very decent.