Aloeswood is the resinous wood from the Aquilaria tree, an evergreen tree native to china Hainan, Cambodia, Malaysia, Indonesia, and Vietnam. It’s scientific name is Aquilara Malaccensis Lam. or Aquilaria agallocha.
Aloeswood (Agarwood) is one of the most rare and precious woods in the world, prized for its rich and wonderful fragrance. It has been used for centuries in religious ceremonies, as well as in traditional medicine. It is believed to have both mental and physical medicinal benefits – with properties thought to balance the mind and body and relieve pain. Aloeswood is also believed by many to have aphrodisiacal qualities.
Aloeswood oil is known for bringing relaxation to the mind, warm the heart & calm the mind, it is a truly uplifting experience and open an avenue of peace and contentment. In early years, many noble women & men use Aloeswood oil and burn aloeswood chips to fragrance themselves, their clothes, rooms prior to attending important meeting, party, weddings, etc to stay attractive and having beautiful scents. And also acts as an APHRODISIAC.
Formation of agarwood occurs in the trunk and roots of trees that have been infected by a parasitic mould, Phialophora parasitica, a dematiaceous (dark-walled) fungus. As a response, the tree produces a resin high in volatile organic compounds that aids in suppressing or retarding fungal growth. While the unaffected wood of the tree is relatively light in colour, the resin dramatically increases the mass and density of the affected wood, changing its colour from a pale beige to dark brown or black. In natural forest only 7 % of the trees are infected by the fungus. High quality resin comes from a tree’s natural immune response to a fungal attack. It is commonly known as agarwood #1 (first quality). (Sources: wikipedia)
In the world, Aloeswood is the most prized of all incenses,,and the purest Aloeswood is pound-for-pound more expensive than gold! Aloeswood trees have sweet-smelling flowers, and are native to China Hainan , Cambodia, Burma, Malaysia, Indonesia and Vietnam. When an Aloes tree has fallen a dark resin forms within its heartwood. This resin forms as an immune response, and the heartwood is then harvested for incense and medicinal uses. The older the tree, the better the quality, and the more expensive the wood. Aloeswood incense is used for both medicinal and spiritual purposes. As a medicine, it is a remedy for nervous disorders. For non-medicinal purposes, it is used to help people get in touch with their spiritual side, and thus, it is in high demand as a meditation aid. Those who use aloeswood incense claim that it has a great calming effect on the mind.. But Aloes isn’t just for medical and spiritual uses. Many feel it is a powerful aphrodisiac, and in some cultures the women scent their clothes as well as themselves with it.
Hainan sinensis, the sweet aroma of rich, Hainan incense generally ten to three years to produce fragrance, and this old oil mainly concentrated in the trunk of the skin, usually the first part of the tree, Ah fork parts, parts are easily assembled wound from oil This incense is only suitable for medicinal or refined oils, incense in recent years, this low level is also available through artificial cultivation. Some have more than two hundred years old old trees, the oil was well assembled, and even the trunk of the core is also rich in oil, this incense is especially valuable, because the sculpture can be processed into a variety of crafts handed down to posterity, for VIPs collection, Hainan incense butter and black oil grid cell is one of the best incense. Hainan black oil incense box, drawing on Hainan Island Five Fingers of incense trees the first core material, the East Cave is the highest mountain above sea level Wuzhishan, year-round sunshine. Li and language, the “cell” refers to the wood of the core. The basic color of black oil cells are dark brown, slightly yellowish-white, brindle irregular flakes or lumps, as point-like pores, this feature is difficult to fraud by those who forged.
As a medicine, it is a remedy for nervous disorders. For non-medicinal purposes, it is used to help people get in touch with their spiritual side, and thus, it is in high demand as a meditation aid. Those who use aloeswood incense claim that it has a great calming effect on the mind. But Aloes isn’t just for medical and spiritual uses. Many feel it is a powerful aphrodisiac, and in some cultures the women scent their clothes as well as themselves with it.
It is a kind of valuable wood with good smell which is created inside the big oud trees because of the activity of some parasites.
Formation of Oud:
In some dense forests in the world, especially in the Indian peninsula and the south east of Asia, very big trees named Aquilaria trees have existed for thousands of years. These trees have the same exterior shape features as other trees, but their inside structure is different some how, since oud trees secrete inside their bark a substance which attracts a kind of parasites that feed on secretions produced by the oud trees in their internal bark, and then these parasites put its secretions out, thus making the oud wood.. Aquilaria is a genus of fifteen species of trees in the Thymelaeaceae, native to southeast Asia. They occur particularly in the rain forests of Indonesia, Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, Malaysia, Northern India, the Philippines, Borneo and New Guinea. The trees grow to 6-20 m tall. The leaves are alternate, 5-11 cm long and 2-4 cm broad, with a short acuminate apex and an entire margin. The flowers are yellowish-green, produced in an umbel; the fruit is a woody capsule 2.5-3 cm long.
Age of Oud:
Studies carried out by scientists have shown that the age of oud goes back to Adam’s era (peace be upon him).. The studies have shown also that the oud tree started growing hundreds of years after Adam’s descending to the Earth (peace be upon him). The studies also proved that legend which says that when Adam (peace be upon him) was expelled out from heaven and covered himself with one of its leaves and descended to the Earth, that leaf dried because of the climatic factors on the Earth where its parts were scattered due to winds to the Indian sub continent and south east of Asia, and it began growing on the Earth through hundreds of years. Thus, it is absolutely impossible to grow once again the oud or to find its grains. It is a wonder that was finished forever.
Oud Homeland:
India is the original homeland of oud where it appeared for the first time, but it has started disappearing from it now. Oud can also be found in Cambodia, Viet-Nam, Laos, Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Thailand. It is found in dense forests where it is dark even during the day. These forests are very large and Man has known them since the beginning of life.
Benefits of Oud:
The good smell which changes the odor of the atmosphere just after its spreading gives the spot more refreshment, more spirituality, and more natural fascinating scent. And, unlike other frankincense and perfumes, oud lasts for a long time.
Reasons of Oud High Price:
It is known to everyone that forests are a milieu which contains various kinds and types of animals which live in harmony within this milieu. It is its homeland, especially predators which are the most dangerous ones in the world. These hard forests include most of the oud trees.
In these conditions, groups of neighbouring villagers prepare themselves and their tools to go on a trip to these forests. The aim of such trips is to search for oud trees and to extract oud wood from them for sale. In each trip, about 100 persons go out in this hard adventure. It should be noted that the survivals of each trip who return with oud wood is less than 25 persons in hard conditions.
Oud Quality:
There are many kinds of oud wood, and each kind has its own characteristics. Also, each kind has its own methods to know its quality, but there are many ways that characterize the good oud whatsoever its various kinds are.
The good oud tastes very bitter, and the more bitter it is, the more good quality it is. The color of oud (in general) is unified in its interior and exterior parts. If the colour is not the same, this means that the oud is painted, and cannot be called oud. The internal knots (stems) of the good oud are unified with its external knots, and the more the unification is visible, the better the quality of oud is.
There are various methods to know the good quality of oud which differs from one kind to another as mentioned before. The Cambodian oud has its own methods to know its quality, and so has the Indian.
Benefits of Oud Oil:
Oud oil is not less beneficial than oud wood, since one is the origin of the other. Oud oil can be easily transported and does need heat energy to be used like frankincense. Its strong fragrance stays on clothes for a long period of time and fills the atmosphere with a nice smell that dispels all the other odors around it. The oud oil is also used in the treatment of some diseases after mixing it with raw ambergris and musk of deer.
Reasons for the High Price of Oud Oil:
The high price of oud oil is due to the high price of oud wood. Indeed, oud wood itself is very expensive because of the reasons already mentioned. Moreover, 0.25 to 0.75 Tullas; that is, 3 to 9 grams of oud oil can be extracted from one kilogram of oud wood, depending on the quality of oud wood.
Oud Oil Quality:
The oud oil of high quality is characterized by its long duration on the skin in normal conditions. The scent of oud oil can stay on skin for a period ranging from 3 to 8 hours, depending on the quality of oud. It should be noted that the best and the highest quality of oud oil can not stay for more than 8 hours on skin in normal conditions, but can stay longer on clothes.
The scent of high quality oud oil does not appear at once, since its beginning is unpleasant, but after a short time of its use, its nice and strong scent starts smelling.
After the highest grades of wood have been put aside to be sold as incense chips, the remaining agarwood is used for distilling oud oil. But there’s more to it than just boiling heaps of wood.
The first factor that governs the quality of the final oud oil is the quality of the agarwood chips used for distillation. While it is unfeasible to use the highest grades of agarwood to distill oil – lower quality, but still incense grade, wood is used to produce the highest quality of oud oils. The more infected the wood is, the more the resin in the wood that can be distilled.
The age of the tree also has its mark on the final oil. Older trees have a higher resin content, and oud resin gets better with age, much like wine.
The wood is chopped up into small pieces for distillation, and the dust produced from polishing and finishing the incense grade chips is also collected. The wood is commonly soaked in barrels of water for some time to make it easier for the oil to come out when heated.
This is the second factor that governs the quality and smell of the agarwood oil.. Soaked for too short a period of time, the resin might not be as easy to extract from the wood. Soaked for too long, the oil will smell rotten and fecal. Expert distillers have fine-tuned this technique, and have deciphered how long a certain wood should be soaked.
After the soaking process is over, the wood is placed in large stills and has to be cooked at just the right temperature/pressure. This is the third factor that will affect the smell of the oil. Most distillers, in order to save money, cook the wood at very high temperatures and pressures. This is done in the hope of sucking out as much of the agarwood oil in the shortest period of time possible, to cut down labour, fuel, water, and electricity costs.
But the effect of this is clearly discernable in the yielded oil. Pungent, burnt and harsh are some words to describe such oils.
Using the traditional Indian hydro-distillation method, the wood is cooked for several days. The best quality oil comes out first, usually in the first 1-3 days of cooking. This is often referred to as the ‘first distillation’. After this, the wood is cooked further and the second grade of oud is extracted.
Since hydro-distillation is more time and resource consuming, some distillers prefer to use steam distillation.
The type of distillation method used is the fourth factor that affects the smell of the agarwood oil.
Steam distillation entails cooking the oil under gauged pressure using steam instead of boiling water. Oil can be extracted using this technique in as little as one day. However, setting too high a pressure can result in the precious top notes of the oil’s scent acquiring a burnt tar note, so this too takes practice and experience.
The careful control of the pressure is the fifth factor that governs the smell of the oud oil, for steam-distilled oil.
While the traditional hydro-distillation method is commonly used in India, Thailand and Cambodia, steam-distillation is most common in Indonesia, but is also used in Thailand and elsewhere.
There are also other methods of extracting oud oil, like super critical CO2 extraction, but we have dealt with the two most common methods.
After the oil has been distilled, it is filtered, sunned, and aged for a while. The more the oil is aged, the better it will smell.
These were the ‘behind the scene’ processes that take place to produce oud oil.
Several years ago, in the perfume and incense market in the old city of Sana’a in Yemen, I caught sight of a large apothecary jar full of wood chips. The jar sat on a dusty shelf, tucked away in a dark corner of the stall owned by Mohammed Hamoud al-Kalagi. When I asked him to show me its contents, he placed the jar on the front counter and pulled out a chip of wood. Mohammed called the wood ‘ud (pronounced ood), a name I did not recognize, but it looked very familiar. I could hardly contain my growing sense of excitement as I examined it closely.
Mohammed placed a tiny sliver of the wood on the end of a lit cigarette. Within moments we were inhaling a rich, sweet, woody fragrance that I had first smelled in the Borneo rain forest 15 years earlier. At that time, I was traveling with a group of nomadic hunter-gatherers known as Penan. We were looking for herbs used in traditional medicine, but one day the Penan cut down a tree and collected pockets of fragrant wood from within the trunk and branches. They called these dark patches of wood gaharu. I rubbed a small piece of gaharu between my palms to warm it, and it smelled like cedar and sandalwood, but with subtle fragrance notes of roses and balsam. For years I had wondered what the wood was used for and where it was sent after leaving Borneo. The Penan thought gaharu might be used in Chinese medicine,, because it was the upriver Chinese traders that bought it, but apart from that, they were mystified as to why anyone would want to buy those gnarly bits of wood.
Mohammed al-Kalagi, who thought that ‘ud came only from India, was the first person to help me begin to unravel the long and convoluted history of this scented wood. He told me it was burned as incense throughout the Islamic world, and an oil was extracted from it that retailed for nearly $20 a gram ($500 an ounce) as a perfume.
When I told Mohammed that the gaharu collectors in Borneo considered the wood to have only a modest barter value, he laughed and recited lines that he attributed to the eighth-century Egyptian jurist and poet Muhammad ibn Idris al-Shafi’i:
Gold is just dust when still in the ground.
And ‘ud, in its country of origin,
Is just another kind of firewood.
A few days after my visit, I walked through the narrow streets of old Sana’a to the home of Yemeni friends. The family lived in a tastefully restored stone tower house in the Turkish Quarter, and during the meal that night I discovered that ‘ud has domestic uses beyond simple incense: A small chip placed amid the tobacco in the bowl of the mada’ah, or water pipe, sweetens the smoke and keeps the pipe fresh. And although ‘ud is generally considered more of a man’s scent, it is also used by women who place bits of the wood in a mabkharah, a small, hand-held charcoal brazier used to scent clothes; it is also used to perfume hair and skin. My host explained that at women’s get-togethers it would be considered strange not to pass around a mabkharah of smoldering ‘ud or other incense so the female guests could perfume themselves.
“When you walk by a woman on the street and you smell ‘ud, you know that she is from a good family,” the husband told me.. “It is a sign of wealth, good breeding, refinement and status.”
Similarly, when Yemeni men congregate, it is customary for them to pass around a mabkharah of ‘ud. Each man opens his jacket and censes his shirt and underarms, then his face and his mashedah, or head scarf, if he is wearing one. The mabkharah is always passed counter-clockwise, and each man wafts the smoke onto himself and says, “God’s blessings and peace on the Prophet Muhammad.” ‘Ud is burned ceremonially at weddings, too, and the oil is sometimes used to perfume the body of the dead before burial.
In Yemen, the price and quality of ‘ud varies considerably: At an average wedding party in Sana’a it is considered appropriate to spend about $30 to $50 by burning 50 or 100 grams (two or three ounces) of one of the less expensive grades of ‘ud, but for the well-heeled, 30 grams (a single ounce) of a superior grade can set one back $250 to $300.
Before I left the dinner party that night, my host placed a tiny drop of ‘ud oil on the front of my shirt and explained that the fragrance would survive several washings—which it did. ‘Ud oil is often placed on older men’s beards or younger men’s jacket lapels so that during the traditional cheek-to-cheek greetings its sweet, woody scent dominates.
Although the southern Arabian Peninsula has been long identified with aromatics, few Westerners are familiar with ‘ud, a word that means simply “wood” in Arabic. This obscurity is partly due to ‘ud rarity and cost, but it is also a matter of varying taste and differing cultural traditions. During the Hajj, for example, Muslim pilgrims from around the world come to Makkah and Madinah, where many are introduced to the scent of ‘ud, which is burned in the Great Mosque as well as in many other mosques throughout Saudi Arabia. ‘Ud produces a fragrance that is not soon forgotten, and for this reason small packets of ‘ud chips are a common souvenir to take home from the Hajj.
In various other places in the Islamic world, ‘ud is burned to help celebrate the important events of everyday life. In Tunisia, for example, ‘ud is burned on the third, seventh and 40th days following the birth of a child, a time when the mother traditionally remains at home while female relatives and friends come to visit.
Throughout Malaysia and Indonesia, ‘ud is called by the name I first heard in Borneo, gaharu, a Malay word derived from the much older Sanskrit term agaru, meaning “heavy.” The scented wood was given that name because, indeed, a high-quality piece of gaharu will sink in water. The Susruta Samhita, one of the “great three” texts of Ayurvedic medicine, describes how people of the Ganges plain used smoldering agaru for worship, as perfume and to fumigate surgical wounds. In those times, agaru came largely from the tree Aquilaria agallocha, which was found in the foothills of Assam.
In the 16th century, the Portuguese, who were actively trading in Goa, Malacca and Macao, adapted the word agaru to pao d’aguila, or “eagle wood”—which at least had a meaning in Portuguese, though there is no connection between eagles and ‘ud. In the English-speaking world today, the most common terms for ‘ud are aloeswood or agarswood; this last word preserves a clear link to the original Sanskrit.
The best grade of ‘ud is hard, nearly black and very heavy. In general, ‘ud becomes inferior as it appears lighter in tone, flecked with diminishing amounts of resin. The only truly reliable way to test for quality, however, is to burn a small bit and evaluate the complexity and richness of the smoldering wood. ‘Ud oil can be taste-tested: Touch a bit to your tongue, and a bitter taste points to high quality.
Historians are uncertain when ‘ud first reached the Middle East. There are several references to “aloes” in the Old Testament, and estimates by historians of China Friedrich Hirth and W.W. Rockhill put the date as far back as the 10th century BC. This was when King Solomon began trade with the south Arabian Sabaean kingdom, which was already trading with merchants on the Malabar (western) coast of India. (See Aramco World, March/April 1998.) Written accounts of Arab and Chinese travelers and merchants that mention it date to more recent times, approximately the first century of our era, a time of accelerating trade among the Arabian Peninsula, the Malabar coast and China that was made possible by the exploitation of the seasonal monsoon winds across the Indian Ocean. At this time, frankincense and myrrh from Oman and the Hadhramaut region of southern Arabia were being traded in the Far East, so it seems reasonable to assume that a reciprocal trade in ‘ud would have traveled on the same maritime routes.
The Chinese role in the ‘ud trade has been significant since the Han Dynasty (206 BC-AD 220), when Imperial perfume blenders used it along with cloves, musk, costus-root oil and camphor. Like the Indians, the Chinese named the wood for its density, calling it cb’en hsiang, “the incense that sinks in water.” In those days, ‘ud was sorted into as many as 20 different grades. Responding to the increasing domestic and international demand for ‘ud, Chinese traders ventured into Annam, now part of Vietnam, where they found top-quality trees in abundance. This new source of supply allowed them to become wholesale dealers and middlemen, and to this day they retain this position worldwide.
Arab and Persian traders had established settlements on the outskirts of Canton as early as 300, and a Chinese traveler named Fa-Hien noted the riches of the Arab ‘ud traders from the Hadhramaut and Oman who lived comfortably in Ceylon. The Greek geographer Cosmas Indicopleustes, writing in the sixth century, also noted that the China-Ceylon-Middle East trade included large shipments of ‘ud.
In his book Silsilat al-Tawarikh (Chain of Chronicles), Zayd ibn Hassan of Siraf (now in Iran) tells of the experiences of two mnth-century traders, one Ibn Wahab of Basra and another named Suleyman. Although they traveled at slightly different times, both reported that the price and availability of ‘ud in both Basra and Baghdad was much affected by frequent shipwrecks and by pirate attacks on trading ships. Their roughly similar routes went from the Arabian Gulf to the Maldives, Ceylon, the Nicobar Islands and then on to Canton by way of the Straits of Malacca and the South China Sea. At the time, the round-trip took at least two years, for the traders had to wait for seasonal winds, and customs formalities and the complexities of doing business in China consumed a good deal of time. Hassan relates that in Canton, Suleyman saw Arab and Persian traders playing a board game that appears to have been similar to backgammon: Occasionally the playing pieces were made of rhinoceros horn or ivory, but most commonly they were carved from fragrant ‘ud.
Reading up on the history of the 12th- and 13th-century Arab-Chinese sea trade, I also came upon the Chu-fan-chi, a trade manual written by Chau Ju-kua, who was a customs official in the southern Chinese province of Kwangtung in the mid-13th century. In the text he mentions that the search for ‘ud had intensified to the point that it was being collected from Hainan Island, parts of present-day Vietnam, lands about the Malay Peninsula, Cambodia and the islands of Sumatra and Java. By this time, he observed, it had become an established custom for well-to-do Muslims to wake up, bathe and perfume themselves with ‘ud smoke before going to the mosque for the morning prayer.
In the early 14th century, Ibn Battuta described a visit to Ceylon where during a visit to Sultan Ayri Shakarwati he was shown “a bowl as large as a man’s hand, made of rubies, containing oil of aloes.” Ibn Battuta also mentioned that in Muslim lands every ‘ud tree was private property, and that the best trees grew in Qamara, or Cambodia. (See Saudi Aramco World, July/August 2000.) In Saudi Arabia today, ‘ud kambudi—Cambodian aloeswood—is still usually the most treasured and costly variety.
Isaac H. Burkill, in his 1935 Dictionary of the Economic Products of the Malay Peninsula, described ‘ud in scientific terms. It is an aromatic resin deposit found in certain species of Aquilaria trees, especially Aquilaria malaccensis, whose species name recalls the days when the ‘ud trade was centered in Malacca and dominated by the Portuguese. Burkill explains that the resin is produced by the tree as an immune response to a fungus (Phialophora parasitica) that invades the tree and, over many years, spreads through it. It is these diseased sections of the tree that are collected by people in the jungles of Southeast Asia.
To better understand the modern trade cycle from Southeast Asia to Middle Eastern homes and mosques, I returned to Borneo and traveled upriver to talk again with the Penan tribesmen who make their living collecting ‘ud, which they call gaharu.
The Penan, I learned, recognize seven types of gaharu. To collect it they paddle up small tributaries by dugout canoe, and then climb the slopes of remote mountains to locate the best trees. A gathering journey can take a week or more. Once a likely looking pohon kayu gaharu (a “gaharu-wood tree”) has been found, they make a series of shallow, exploratory cuts into its trunk, branches and roots; they cut it down only when they are persuaded the tree has the fungus and will yield a reasonable amount of good gaharu. If the tree contains only low grades of gaharu, they will often let it grow for another few years before retesting it. If they do decide to cut it down, they will spend days extracting the gaharu and cleaning it with smaller knives. Traditionally, the Penan used gaharu themselves to treat stomach aches and fevers, and as an insect repellent, but now they sell or trade all they find.
In the backwaters of Borneo, the Penan sell the very best gaharu for about $400 a kilogram, or approximately $12 an ounce. They usually sell to local Chinese traders who stockpile it until they have enough to send to wholesalers and bigger middlemen in Singapore. The Penan claim that gaharu is getting more difficult to find because large-scale logging operations have destroyed many of the hill forests where the gaharu trees are found. If a Penan group has good luck, it might collect a kilo (35 oz) of average-quality gaharu in three or four days—but it is increasingly common for them to return with nothing, or with only the lowest grades.
Thirty years ago Hong Kong played an important role in the ‘ud trade, but today the international hub is Singapore. There, the wholesale business is dominated by Chinese traders who receive ‘ud from agents scattered across Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Burma, Thailand, Borneo, Hainan Island and, most recently, Irian Jaya, Indonesia. C. P. Ng, owner of Buan Mong Heng, a emporium on North Bridge Road, is Singapore’s undisputed ‘ud king. He tells me that his best ‘ud sells for $5000 to $10,000 per kilogram ($2275-$4545/lb). At present, the rarest and most expensive type, known as Keenam, comes from Vietnam; it must be stored in a cool place to keep its scent from deteriorating. In Irian Jaya alone, he says, more than 50,000 part-time collectors supply some 30 collection centers. Throughout the Chinese community in Singapore, he says, people use ‘ud as incense in the home, for worship and during marriage ceremonies. He also explains that it can be taken with herbs to cure a stomach ache, and that the sweet smell is a cure for insomnia. “A tea made from ‘ud will warm the body and restore youthful vigor to older men,” he says.
In Singapore, ‘ud is graded in descending quality from Super AA, which is weighed out on a jeweler’s scale, to Super A, Super, and lesser grades numbered 1 through 8. The lowest quality, called kandulam in Malay, is used to make incense sticks; it sells for roughly three cents a gram ($1 per oz). The value of ‘ud shipped out of Singapore each year has been estimated to exceed $1.2 billion.
In the Middle East and in Borneo I never saw more than small amounts of ‘ud, amounting to a few pounds at most, but Singapore was different. There I visited the Nk Kittai warehouse, where cardboard boxes packed with ‘ud reached tall ceilings and wheelbarrows and shovels were the tools of choice to move quantities that perfumed the entire surrounding neighborhood. The owner, C. F. Chong, waited on buyers from India, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Oman and even Japan. In Japan, ‘ud is used in a complex fragrance guessing game called koh-do, part of the ceremonial appreciation of incense adopted from the Chinese, who still use the expression wenxiang, “listening to the incense.”
The fragrance in the hot warehouse was overpowering, and as I wandered the narrow aisles surrounded by a fortune in scented wood, I saw ‘ud logs as thick as my thigh and nearly three meters (10’) long. Workers sat on the floor cleaning up pieces of ‘ud with modified rubber-tapping knives. When I remarked that it must be a risk to store so much ‘ud in one place, Chong replied that he, like other dealers, kept his very best ‘ud locked up in vaults.
Out on the warehouse floor, buyers specified the type of ‘ud they wanted by region and quality, and then a worker would dump a pile at the buyer’s feet so that he could hand-select the individual pieces. “This is an on-the-spot business,” said Chong. “Each piece has to be evaluated.”
Each buyer’s selection was weighed, and as all of the buyers that morning were old customers, only a minimal amount of haggling led to an agreement on a price. Nobody, it seemed, bought more than he could easily carry by hand, and each parcel was tied up for stowage as in-flight baggage. The visits concluded with tea and soft drinks in Chong’s air-conditioned office.
Before leaving Singapore, I went to visit Haji V. Syed Mohammed. His shop, V. S. S. Varusai Mohamed & Sons, is just across the street from the Sultan Mosque. The store sells ‘ud, perfume, money belts, cassette tapes, shawls, skull caps and highly decorative incense burners made in Bangladesh. While we were talking, he told me of one of the most renowned ‘ud dealers in Dubai, in the United Arab Emirates: Ajmal’s Perfume Manufacturing & Oudh Processing Industry. It was a fortuitous meeting, for Dubai was my next stop.
In Dubai, there are entire streets lined with shops selling ‘ud. Among them, the family-run Ajmal company is one of the largest dealers in pure and blended ‘ud perfumes in all of the Middle East. From their 22 shops throughout the Arabian Peninsula, they sell ‘ud oils from Laos, Thailand, Cambodia, and Vietnam, and their most extravagant creation is a blend of aged ‘ud oils called Dahnal Oudh al-Moattaq. The price: $850 for a 30-gram (1-oz) bottle. This is out of the reach of all but the most affluent, but nearly everyone can afford to buy modest amounts of ‘ud chips for daily use, rituals and ceremonies—which might include driving, for Dubai automotive shops sell clip-on electric braziers that plug into a car’s cigarette lighter.
Because of the popularity of ‘ud, its high price and the difficulty of collecting it from the wild, several companies in peninsular Malaysia and India have begun to look into the possibility of artificially introducing the ‘ud fungus into Aquilaria trees in hopes of creating commercial ‘ud plantations. Thousands of trees have been inoculated with the fungus and people are waiting to see if the ‘ud will start to grow, and if perhaps they can even harvest it without cutting down the tree.
Nearly a year after my visits to Singapore and Dubai, another trip took me back to Borneo. I ran into a group of Penan friends at the riverside shop of Towkay Yong Khi Liang, a Hakka Chinese trader on the upper Limbang River in Sarawak. The Penan had just traded a kilo of low-quality ‘ud for a few sacks of sago flour, a replacement part for a chainsaw, some cartons of tinned food, some rolling tobacco, several pairs of cheap tennis shoes and soft drinks for everyone present.
As we stood on the dock, the Penan asked me if I had ever found out what the people in the Middle East did with the gaharu. I told them what I had discovered about the history of its trade, and then I explained the long and complicated journey it makes before arriving on the other side of the world. I described the networks of middlemen, the refined grading techniques and the marketing efforts that multiplied the price 25 times or more before it reached the final customer. They listened patiently to these facts, but what they really wanted to find out was what people did with the wood after spending so much money on it.
I suspected that they wouldn’t believe me, but I had to reveal the astonishing truth: I told them people buy ‘ud so that they can take it home and burn it.
There are two main reasons for wearing oud: for one’s personal enjoyment, and for others.
It is an absolute delight studying the evolution of the complex smell of oud on your skin for hours, for your own enjoyment. Many specimens of oud evoke olfactory memories, and it often becomes a fun exercise trying to identify them.
For one’s personal enjoyment, it is recommended to apply the oil to one’s outer forearm,, 2 – 3 inches above the wrist. Even a tiny amount, the size of a cumin seed, will be sufficient. This is then gently dabbed below the jaw line.
Needless to say, oud oil is so potent that even this tiny amount you apply can scent the entire room you are in.
It is important that you do not rub too hard. There should be a sheen remaining on your arm, after applying to the neck. The skin is highly absorbent, and rubbing too hard will make the oil (and the scent) disappear much faster. It can also damage the scent molecules.
Moisturizing your skin will also ensure that the smell lasts longer.
For the ultimate ‘broadcasting’ effect, there are two ways to use the oil:
Applying to your clothes, bracelet, or other item: This will give you the longest lasting smell as the oil will not be absorbed by the skin. For clothes, it is best to apply a bit to the shoulders, and some to the chest and back of your shirt.
Applying to the skin: while this will not last nearly as long, in most cases the smell will be much more appealing due to the unique chemistry between the skin and oud. Apply the oil just below your outer wrist, then smear it onto your neck. Once again, remember to keep a sheen remaining so don’t rub too hard!
About 1 – 2 healthy swipes of the dip stick should be used if you want to share the beautiful smell of oud with those around you.
Don’t forget that others might not be accustomed to the smell of oud like you! So do not over apply, even if you yourself can not detect too strong a smell. Remember that one’s own nose gets quickly accustomed to the scent due to olfactory fatigue. It’s usually a good idea after applying oud, that you wait about 15 minutes before meeting someone.
Different ouds have different scent lives, and different chemistries with the skin. You may find, for example, that you like your Indian oud best applied to the skin, while you like to have your Cambodian oud scenting your clothes.
What is oud?
Also known as agarwood, aloeswood and jinkou, oud is nature’s most exquisite fragrant offering.
Deep in a Far Eastern jungle, an evergreen tree is attacked by an infection. Much like our bodies’ immune system produces white blood cells, the tree starts producing a substance to combat the infection.
Over the years, the infection grows – as does the substance the tree produces. This is agarwood.
There are few natural aromatics that have as complex a scent spectrum as agarwood (oud). Natural ambergris, musk and rose also rank as some of the most valuable natural fragrances, but none come close to oud in the sheer transcendence and sublimity its fragrance boasts.
More than just a scent, oud can be mentally and spiritually engaging. In fact, specimens from different regions also seem to have an effect on a person’s emotions.
What is the difference between oud and attars/mukhallats/perfumes/colognes?
Attars, mukhallats, perfumes, colognes and other commercially sold fragrances are a combination of different ingredients.
In contrast to the above, with regard to its composition, pure oud oil is itself the fragrance, not being blended with any other ingredients.
This was in regard to the composition. As for the difference in their scents, then none of them can be compared to oud. While many attars and other fragrances can be quite pleasant, oud is more than just a scent, and it engages the one wearing it on many different levels.
Can I combine oud with other fragrances?
Absolutely.
If you are new to oud, you might find that you like it better blended with a cologne, attar or mukhallat because oud itself has a very powerful smell. You might want to tone it down a bit.
However, once you get more and more accustomed and addicted to the fragrance of pure oud,, you might become more reluctant to mix it with anything else.
And that is, in fact, giving oud its due right!
I heard oud is very strong, and I’m afraid I will be overwhelmed
It’s true that oud has one of, if not, the most powerful smell in the world of perfumery. But it is usually the initial hit after application and smelling it right out of the bottle that can be overwhelming for the unexperienced nose. That is why, we strongly recommend starting off by applying very tiny amounts, and not smelling the oils directly.
Over time, as your nose gets used to the smell, you will find the smell of oud an absolute delight in its entirety, from application to the dry down.
Which oud will I like the most?
We recommend you get samples of the different ouds. Many people absolutely love the earthy, barnyard and slightly fecal quality of Hindi (Indian) ouds, while others are all for the sweeter, more ethereal Indonesian specimens.
Ultimately, you may find that you like ouds from all the regions since they all have something unique to offer, even if they all vastly differ in their characters and scent profiles.
Why do different ouds smell so distinctive?
The climates the trees were grown in, the age of the trees, the distillation and aging techniques all have an effect on the smell of different ouds.
How long will the scent last on my skin?
Different oud oils have different scent lives on the skin. You will find some ouds that are of very high quality whose smell will fade before that of much lower grade specimens. The same oil, however, might be incredibly long-lasting if applied to clothes, bracelets, etc.
In general, every oud oil, should be discernable to your nose for a good 2 – 3 hours. After that, your nose may get used to the scent, but those around you will still be able to smell it for hours to come.
How long will a bottle of oud last?
The short answer is: it depends on how frequently you use the oil, and how much you apply.
Used for personal enjoyment, a bottle could last you a whole year or more with daily use. Oud, however, is generally not used as an every-day scent and so a bottle will probably last you much longer.
Is oud gender specific?
Absolutely not.
In the Gulf countries of the Middle East, where oud oil is most celebrated and used, men use oud for special occasions, parties and things of that sort. In Yemen, a gift of oud is an expected part of the dowry that the bride receives from the groom.
Oud is more than just a ‘scent’, which could be classified as masculine and feminine.
Rather, it has so much more to offer, and gender requisite is not a condition to be able to enjoy the offerings of this precious gift of nature.
When should I use oud?
You may initially find that you want to use oud for special occassions.
However, as is usually the case, you may find yourself loving oud so much that you will want to use it daily. In fact, some people even use it several times a day because they can’t get enough of it!
Where do Oud Oils get their distinct aroma?
Oud Oils owe their distinct aromatic scent to naturally-occurring organic compounds called terpenes and terpenoids.
Chemical composition of Oud Oils
A terpene is an organic compound which is widely produced by a variety of plants. These terpenes can be found in the essential oils and resins of plants as well as in the scent glands of flowers, and often are characterised by their strong smell and aromatic qualities.
Chemically, a terpene is an unsaturated hydorocarbon which consists of a combination of isoprene units (C5H8) and have the general formula (C5H8)n. Simple terpenes can be modified chemically through the natural process of oxidisation (reaction with oxygen in the air) to produce more complex compounds known as terpenoids. These natural terpenes and terpenoids are the major constituents of the essential oils of many plants and flowers.
Terpenes are structurally diverse and may take on different molecular structures despite having similar chemical formulae. Subtle variations in the basic terpene molecular structure have resulted in tens of thousands of unique terpene profiles present in our natural environment, each possessing its own unique chemical and aromatic qualities. Some plants may possess a particular terpene profile which gives the plant its distinct flavour. Other plants, on the other hand, may possess an endless variety and combination of terpene profiles, resulting in these plants having a wide diversity of possible aromas and flavours.
Why are Oud Oils so diverse in aroma?
Precisely because of their chemical composition (above). Different terpene profiles can be found even within the same species of agarwood tree. The type of terpene known as sesquiterpenes is an active compound in agarwood. The possible sesquiterpene chemical structures of each extracted agarwood essential oil are endless and coupled with the various rates of oxidation, would result in an even wider diversity of Oud scent profiles.
Factors which may affect a particular Oud Oil’s chemical composition and scent profile includes the age and quality of the agarwood tree’s fungal infection, the age, species, environmental conditions and geographical location of the agarwood tree, the age of the extracted oil and the amount of its exposure to air and sunlight (this affects oxidisation), the type of distillation used and the purity of the oil (blended v. pure, diluted v. undiluted).
Terpenes and terpenoids are known to contribute to the scent of eucalyptus, cinnamon, citrus, cloves, ginger, and menthol, among others, which are just some of the scent notes typically found in Oud.
A good oud can be known by its characteristic. Ouds all differ but one thing remains consistent amongst all the different species and that is the deep note.
When trying to understand the deep note of a quality oud you have to place a drop on the back of your hand and leave it for an hour..Then after an hour you should put your nose on the back of your hand and breathe out through your nose, then immediatly breathe in.
The smell should be continuous and take you on a journey that does not stop.
A fantastic oud will give a story of where it has lived and you can truely imagine the enviroment it grew in. Oils normally float on water but oud oil sinks because of its density. If an oud retails less than £100 it is usually not pure, it almost likely has been cut from a pure source. the reason being is that it takes 1kg of oud woodchips to extract 1ml of oud oil, plus delivery, distillery costs etc, so the cost of the process is a good sign to indicate any oud that retails less than £100 is cut.
Properties of Agar-wood
The fragrance of Agarwood can be described as intriguing and pleasant, with few or no similar natural analogues. As a result, Agar-wood and its essential oil gained great cultural and religious significance in ancient civilizations around the world, being mentioned throughout some of the world’s oldest written texts.
It is said the unique ability of the Agarwood is to gently touch your body, invigorate your mind, purify your spirit and calm your soul. Traditional Chinese medicine is known to use powdered Agar-wood as a treatment for cirrhosis of the liver. Agar-wood is aphrodisiac, thus often used as a cleansing agent of the body organs and boost one’s energy. The diaphoretic property of the wood qualifies it as an effective detoxification agent.
Benefitting from Agar-wood
Indisputably pervasive, the aroma of Agarwood can be described as rich and sentimental, sometimes balsamic and at times vanilla-like sweet. As such, they are extensively used as a ‘protective shield’ against negative energies. Where a space is sometimes ‘afflicted’ the use of Agar-wood is often used to maximum impact as a cure. This could be at home or in the office.
The most beneficial use of Agarwood remains its health returns and healing properties. Its holistic approach towards healing, improving mental capacity, calming of minds, meditative assistance and clearing mental blocks have been proven over the centuries. Insomnia, hyper-activity, disturbed sleep and difficulties in winding down could be easily solved with a small chip of Agar-wood no bigger than 2cm in a special burner in your bedroom. Children unable to focus will also benefit.
Agarwood or eaglewood is the most expensive wood in the world in many cultures for its distinctive fragrance, and used extensively in incense perfumes. Agarwood is the occasional product of two to four genera in the Thymelaeaceae,, with Aquilaria agallocha , Aquilaria crassna and Aquilaria malaccensis the best known species. The wood is formed as a result of the immune response to fungal infection. The odour of agarwood is complex and pleasing, with few or no similar analogues. As a result, agarwood and its essential oil gained great cultural religious significance in ancient civilizations around the world.
Formation
Formation of agarwood occurs in the trunk and roots of trees that have been infected by a fungus. As a response, the tree produces a resin high in volatile organic compounds that aids in suppressing or retarding fungal growth. While the unaffected wood of the tree is relatively light in color, the resin dramatically increases the mass and density of the affected wood, changing its color from a pale beige to dark brown or black. In natural forest only 7 % of the trees are infected by the fungus. A common method in artificial forestry is to inoculate all the trees with the fungus.
Trade and use
Also known as aloeswood, eaglewood and gaharu, agarwood is a highly- prized wood and is used primarily for medicine, perfume and incense. Agarwood has been used for medicinal purposes for thousands of years in traditional East Asian medicine. Agarwood perfumes comprise agarwood oil mixed with a carrier such as sandalwood oil. ‘Attar oil,’ for example, is a water-based perfume containing agarwood oil that is normally used by Muslims to lace prayer clothes. Agarwood essences have also recently been used to fragrance soaps and shampoos.
Agarwood is used in Arab countries (especially in the Persian Gulf) as incense. Agarwood (Aloeswood) was used by the Ancient Egyptians for embalming dead bodies. Agarwood extract is rarely used in western perfumery due to its prohibitive price. The TRAFFIC report Heart of the Matter revealed that over 700 tons of agarwood from one species alone, Aquilaria malaccensis, was reported in international trade in 1997, with Indonesia and Malaysia being the main exporters. From 1995 to 1997, Indonesia reported exporting 920 tons. Peninsular Malaysia recorded over 340 tons exported during the same period. This does not include export figures for Sarawak, which reached nearly 530 tons in 1998 alone. Due to its rarity and the high demand for it, agarwood and agarwood extracts bring high prices. Indiscriminate cutting of trees of the relevant species in the hope of finding agarwood has resulted in depletion of wild trees.
Agarwood Oil (Oud Oil, Aloeswood Oil, Eagleswood) is an extremely rare and precious natural Oil obtained from several species of Agarwood trees. This, which originates in North Eastern India, Bhutan and parts of South East Asia, has a very long history of use as a medicine, incense and as an aromatic Oil. Agarwood is a very complex, deep woody fragrance, reminiscent of amber. It has a balsamic, ambergris, woody, deep fragrance. Agarwood trees must be infected by a fungi, prior to producing an oleoresin which saturates the wood. Please realize that this Oil is from cultivated trees, and is not considered a high quality agarwood Oil. It is a very nice Oil (pure and unadulterated) at a very affordable price.
Oud Oil from the Agarwood Tree
Few perfume Oils have the mystique of Oud (this is also referred to as Agarwood, Aloeswood and Eaglewood). It has been loved and treasured for thousands of years, by mystics (as an aid to spiritual meditation) and romantics alike (as an aphrodisiac). Indeed, the hunger for Oud is so great that in most parts of the world Agarwood trees are nearing extinction. Most of the Agarwood on the market is now obtained through poaching (while trees dwindle, the demand keeps growing) because it exceeds $27.000 per pound.
Several decades ago, enterprising farmers in Thailand began a major replanting of Agarwood trees throughout the region. Agarwood nurseries have produced tens of thousands of healthy seedlings for Agarwood plantations, and everyone is being encouraged to once again plant these beautiful trees in their yards. Practicing organic, sustainable harvesting methods, these Agarwood plantations and extraction centers are providing good livings for honest families, and insure that these amazing trees will survive for generations to come. The Agarwood Oil they produce is extremely high quality. All the work is done by hand, with sincere respect and dedication for the trees and the land.
Another recent development to conserve the precious Aloeswood is the use of CO2 extraction instead of distillation. CO2 extraction does not use any solvent chemicals, making it environmentally-friendly. Instead, it uses the same carbon dioxide that is in soda pop. And because it doesn’t use any heat, Aloeswood CO2 extract has a much more vibrant fragrance that is truer to life. Aloeswood Oil from CO2 extraction smells earthy, woody and sweetly balsamic. It is rich and complex, not burned or musty-smelling like some heat-distilled Ouds. A good perfume house will provide affordable samples of their Oud. So as you shop for Oud, remember to find out how it was obtained, and how it was extracted. Support the people who truly love the Agarwood tree, not those who merely exploit it. Buy from a supplier with a good reputation who makes samples available.
Aloeswood is also commonly called agarwood. The short history of aloes wood has been regarded as a rare commodity by the Asian, Egyptian and near east civilizations for centuries. Agarwood is the resinous heartwood from aquilegia trees. These trees belong to the Aqualaria genus, Thymelaeaceae family.
Aqualaria trees can grow up to 40 meters in height and grows up to an altitude of 750 meters. They can grow in variety of habitats including swampy, rocky and sandy areas. They can also grow in the wild and very fast growing producing flowers in 4 years. These trees are found at an altitude of 1,000 meters above the sea level and at least about 15 species of these trees produce agarwood. There are 4 main species which are most commonly known:
Aqualaria sinensis which grow to about 15 meters in height and is known for its night booming flowers. It is used for agarwood and also the bark which is used for paper in china where these species are most commonly found.
Aqualaria malaccensis which grows from the north eastern Myanmar and Thailand down the peninsula of Malaysia. This also used for its agarwood.
Aqualaria agallocha is mainly found in Assam, and on the foothills of Bhutan. This is mainly used for agarwood.
Aqualaria crassna which is a native of Vietnam and Thailand.
Agarwood or Aloeswood also has a mythological history behind it. It has been associated with barious religions and cultures. It is mentioned in the scriptures of Japanese and Chinese dynasties and quite interestingly in the bible also where it is referred to as Aloe in the Old Testament.
A unique process of the Aqualaria species creates Aloeswood. The desired odoriferous resin produced within the heart wood is an immune response to fungal infection. The quality of aloeswood depends solely on the resin saturation within the heart wood.
There are several ways to ascertain whether the tree has resinous heartwood without felling the trees. Externally, signs such as yellowing of leaves, irregular shapes or boles on the body of the tree are possible signs of infection of the fungus. Internally, collectors have to drill a small section of the tree to check if the resin is present.
Use of Aloeswood in Incense:
Aloes wood is the most famous ingredient and is used in almost all incense formulas. In the world Aloeswood is the most prized of all incenses and more expensive gold. It also has sweet smelling flowers which the trees produce. It is profoundly used as an incense ingredient in various oils, medicines and perfumes.
As a medicine, it is a remedy for nervous disorders. Otherwise it is used to meditation purposes as it is said to have a great effect on the mind. It is not only used for medicinal purposes but also as an ingredient in various perfumes which are loved all most all around the world!
Taoism is a philosophical and religious tradition. It advocates the natural law of “wu wei er zhi” (meaning Rule by Not Ruling) by Laozi and Zhuangzi. In Taoism agarwood is burned for meditation as well as when exorcism is being practised. The “smoky” scene is a representation of how the “qi” (or « chi ») – energy – of heaven and earth is being unified. To practise the Taoist exercise for health, it is very common using agarwood to help awakening and enlightenment.
When Zhang Sanfeng (Zhang Sanfeng is a wandering Taoist partially legendary specialist in internal martial arts (neijia), who lived between the Song and early Ming. Tradition assigns the foundation of the martial arts of Wudang Mountain, and since the nineteenth century, the invention of tai chi chuan. This is certainly a popular figure of folklore and Chinese martial arts, about which many legends circulate) finished his work on earth and believed to have ascended to heaven, he was found disappearing from the cave leaving behind a pair of staw shoes and three pieces of agarwood.
The “agarwood pills for immortality” from the fine formulae of wonderful efficacy by Fang Xian of the Ming Dynasty was a famous Taoist recipe in strengthening one’s longevity.
The feng shui (literally “wind and water”) is a Chinese belief that seeks to harmonize environmental energy from one place in order to promote health, welfare and prosperity of its occupants. This art is to arrange the houses based on visible flow (rivers) and invisible (the wind) for a balance of power and energy flow. This is one of the Taoist arts, as well as traditional Chinese medicine or acupuncture, with which it shares a common core of knowledge.
In feng shui agarwood is know to contain very special energy. Almost used to remove bad omen or obstacles that obstruct goals. It is believed that agarwood scent is so unique that it can turn negative energy to positive energy, that it can attract positive energy, thus it can improve one’s luck, ward off evil, improve mind and health, bringing success to one’s life!!!
It is also believed that agarwood can be carried on the body to improve one’s luck. You can also burn it to purify the surrounding energy and environment. You must put the agarwood in a wealth zone or top of the door entrance.
Due to it’s unique scent and special energy agarwood has calming effect on one’s mind, and some Taoists think that it can help to build good relationships among colleagues and bring peace to oneself.
Vietnam Agarwood 