A few years ago, oud was the most popular fragrance, and there was no brand that did not release its own version on this wave. Nowadays, fashion has declined, and brands have switched to other ingredients (for example, tuberose). However, there are those who have made oud a part of their DNA. Who are oud hunters, and why is it impossible to determine from the appearance of the tree whether it is oud or not?
Translated from Arabic, "oud" means "wood". But in fact, it is not wood, not leaves, and not roots. Everything is more complicated. In the tropics of Southeast Asia, an agarwood tree (also called aquilaria) grows. Sometimes it becomes infected with a specific bacterium (phialophora parasitica). To fight off infection, a diseased agarwood tree produces a resin that impregnates the wood. This resin-impregnated piece of wood is the oud.
Aquilaria grows exclusively in the jungle. Oud is expensive, which is why people become hunters of these trees. Just imagine you are landing in the middle of the tropics, teeming with wild animals, snakes and insects, and you need to find some sick tree. Finding and identifying the correct agar is difficult. The infection spreads to the core of the trunk, and it is not clear from the outside tree whether it is healthy or not. You can wander through the forest for weeks. To understand whether this is the right tree, a thin tube is hammered into the trunk - if resin flows, then this is it.
The agarwood tree lives for 80-100 years. It can become infected at any moment. But the longer the tree is sick, the more it is impregnated with resin, and the more valuable it becomes. It happens that oud hunters come across a tree that has just got sick, and it still has little resin. You have to wait to get a good oud. About 15-20 years. It happens that this tree is located on someone else's territory. Then you can go to the owner of the part of the forest where the tree grows and conclude an agreement with him on the inviolability of the agarwood.
Only a few grams of oud can be obtained from one tree. How much depends on how long it hurt, and in what way the oil was then obtained. Moreover, since the resin is formed only in the core, it is impossible to cut down only one part of the tree: the agarwood is cut down completely. Nevertheless, it is a very intense smell. If you take a small piece of wood and set it on fire, the scent will fill the entire room.
All these troubles with the search, aging, and processing made oud more expensive than gold. The most precious is the one found in the wild forest. Some ancient rare specimens cost more than two hundred thousand euros per kilogram. But now people have learned to artificially infect trees. Whole agarwood plantations are planted and the bacteria are planted in them. Such oud is cheaper, although it is still a huge amount of money.
The oud is very different. The Indian is harsh, animalistic, even primitive. Indonesian is softer, noble, and sweetish. You can't even compare them - they are so different. If we talk about two trees that have grown in the same wild forest, the scent will also be different.
For Arabian perfumery, oud is the main ingredient. Such compositions are not suitable for the European nose. But oud is a great booster for other ingredients, it emphasizes and reveals their facets. Many perfumers add it for this very purpose, to show how different the fragrance can be. Then the aromas turn into a bridge between East and West.
In many countries, various slightly magical properties are attributed to oud. In India, Japan, and the Arab countries, it is believed to be good for health and is eaten, drunk, and used as incense. And yes, some people think that it works as an aphrodisiac. Probably due to the animalistic notes. But there is no evidence of this...
How do you feel about oud aromas? Which ones do you like? Share in the comments!
