oud - the liquid gold
Written by GlenN lauritz andersson & denis vasilije, fragrance experts
Oud (or agarwood) is one of the world’s most exclusive perfume ingredients, with an aromatic, full-bodied scent and a market value on par with gold. But why is it so precious? Are there different types of oud, and what do they smell like? Join us as we take you on a journey into oud’s mysterious world.
Oud, agarwood, eaglewood, aloeswood—many names for a beloved material. Oud is a dark heartwood extracted from the tree Aquilaria agallocha, which occurs in 15 different species spread across Southeast Asia, Indochina, India and Bangladesh. Aquilaria can grow up to 40 meters tall, and its wood is originally light in color. When the tree is infected by a certain type of mold called Phialophora parasitica, it reacts by producing a dark, aromatically scented oleoresin. The more fungus and resin that attack the bark, roots or branches, the darker the wood becomes—and the more, and better, oil can be distilled, either by soaking the wood in water or by extracting the essence via steam distillation. After distillation, the wood is dried and used for other purposes; sometimes it is distilled again for one or several additional rounds.
history and use
Oud is mentioned in the Bible as aloes (not to be confused with the medicinal plant aloe vera), and it is known to have been used as medicine in the Mediterranean region and the Middle East. It was also popular as a fragrance material among Egyptians, Jews and other peoples in the area. The Romans (who obtained it via trade routes from Arabia) brought the wood to Europe. Napoleon, otherwise a great fan of citrus-driven colognes, is said to have loved the scent.
Agarwood has been used for thousands of years by Muslims, Hindus and Buddhists as incense in connection with meditation, and in various forms it has also been an important raw material in natural medicine in Asia and India as well as in Europe—used for purposes as varied as anesthetic, antibacterial, nausea, diarrhea, dysentery, tumors and respiratory problems. Not bad for a piece of wood, right? Yet it’s as a fragrance oil and perfume essence that oud has become most mythical in modern times—largely because countries like Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates are among the leading importers of the raw material.
a luxurious and exclusive raw material
Oud is considered the world’s most expensive perfume oil on the raw materials market and is therefore often called “the liquid gold.” The most expensive qualities can reach a staggering market price of one million SEK per liter. The world market price otherwise fluctuates widely from 30,000 GBP per liter and up—a common price among importers is around 500 SEK per ml.
So why the eye-watering sums? One reason is that extracting the oil is extremely costly and labor-intensive. Only about one in ten trees is affected by the fungus, and large amounts of resin are required to produce a small amount of oil. The agarwood tree has also long lived on the brink of extinction due to logging and illegal trade—so it has been given protected status under the international CITES convention, with regulations and export license requirements to prevent trade in endangered species and ensure the material comes from an ethically approved source.
The growing interest in oud in perfumery has also made demand explode on the European market, which is why extensive cultivation now exists, mainly in Asia, as well as a synthetic production of oud that’s used in the base of cheaper perfumes—an ingredient that still can’t compare to the real thing in terms of quality, complexity and warmth.
different oud types and scent profiles
If you ask what oud (Arabic oudh) actually smells like, you risk getting a complicated, detailed answer. Oud can be many things and show countless faces—depending on the age of the tree, how long the oud has been aged, where it comes from, how the oil was extracted, and how many times it has been distilled.
Oud doesn’t have to be bombastic and overwhelming; it can be discreet, yet still carry that rich, musky base that’s typical of this special raw material. Perfumes with this character are often a great entry point into oud’s promised land. They’re generally woody-spicy, floral and almost a little green in style—and not rarely with a touch of freshness when blended with the right notes.
Swedish Byredo’s “Oud Immortel” is, in all its simplicity, a fine gateway to the softer side of oud—thanks to its dry, dark spiciness and approachable price—yet still with enough depth and character for the material to be recognizable. Considerably darker, spicier and almost herbal-green is the oriental-inspired “Alexandria II” from Xerjoff, which takes you to exotic places somewhere in Arabia without becoming too heavy or overly challenging. How luxurious oud can feel is clear in the Parisian brand Fragrance du Bois and its subtly beautiful creation “Parisian Oud”—a sophisticated, dressed-up office-and-evening scent in a European style with real oud from the brand’s own plantations in Asia: dry, woody, floral and almost sparkling.
A little darker—and where oud’s more exotic, oriental personality comes through more strongly—is Roja’s “Sultanate of Oman,” where the spicy and fresh character is wrapped in a more typical animalic oud: an oud in an Arabic style that’s actually refined enough for a business meeting without attacking anyone the wrong way.
Crossing into the rarer and extremely unique, there’s the oud “Kyara”—now extinct and existing only in a limited stock at the quirky Japanese brand Di Ser—another example of these elegant, nature-inspired oud scents that don’t stand out in a demanding way, even though it has a very particular character with its dark, slightly damp style that evokes an abandoned summer cabin, moss and wood paneling in 1970s basement dens. It doesn’t get more exclusive than that: the raw material is gone in nature, and the price is naturally accordingly.
The most animalic oud often comes from countries like Cambodia, Bangladesh and India. Cambodia has even lent its name to the “dirtiest” perfume of them all—the oil “Kampuchea Noir” from Italian Xerjoff. Not only does it have a liter price in the million-class, it’s extracted from wild oud from the Cambodian rainforest, making it extremely rare—with a concentrated scent that may shock beginners, yet develops into a wonderfully fine and elegant creation. Similar animalic scent bombs from the same brand include Ceylon from the Oud Stars line, a sweet oud with clearly “dirty” facets.
Animalic, too, is the masterpiece Hindi Oud from Bortnikoff, which distills its own raw materials that are one hundred percent pure—here featuring a challenging “dirty” oud oil from India, offering a completely unique experience for connoisseurs with a very particular taste.
Curious? Visit our stores and discover the rich flora of oud perfumes—or order fragrance samples from our webshop. A new, exciting scent world is waiting to be explored.