Oud is an absolute miracle of nature, the choice of kings and sultans of yesteryear. I’ll try my best to convey the smell to someone who hasn’t experienced it before, it’s a little tricky! Why? There is no ‘one scent’ that defines oud, theres a broad spectrum of aroma that’s dependent on a few factors and every oil will be different. Due to over 100 compounds within, this scent cannot be replicated by humans due its complexity. The best way to understand Oud is to sample, sample, sample. Please read the following carefully and hopefully it will give you more understanding into what Oud smells like:
Region:
You could also bundle ‘species of tree’ here as well but the aroma of any given oil will be somewhat determined by its region mainly. A stereotypical Cambodian Oud would be candy sweet, an Indian would be bright and sweet, a Borneo would be less sweet, mysterious and serious perhaps.
Distillation Style:
Typically most oils would be hydro distilled. The pre distillation soaking process length will make a huge difference in aroma. ‘New Gen’ style would involve a quick soak (1 day) will give nothing but the true scent of the material and will yield less oil. ‘Traditional style’ sometimes involves a very lengthy soaking process of up to a few months. Traditional style will create a ‘barnyard’ note reminiscent of maybe a horse shed or cattle barn, blue cheese etc and can be quite fecal. The strength of barn will vary depending on the length of soaking time. Co2 distillation has become very popular recently and generally similar to new gen style but will force more compounds within the Agarwood to be pronounced within the oil.
Quality Of Material:
Cheaper wood or shavings will create an oil with less strength compared to using incense grade chips. This is something you will notice whilst working your way up through the Oud world. Imagine in front of you you have 2 oils of the same material. Oil 1 was made with shavings and oil 2 was made with incense grade chips. You could say that although the scent is pretty much the same, oil 1 would be lighter in aroma where as oil 2 would be fuller, more pronounced and stronger.
Age:
Most oils will develop with time. Within the first 3 months the oil is finding its feet, wait 6 months and it’s very decent...but it’s just going getting started. 3 years later the oil has deepened and cured with more interesting developments. 7 years and beyond you can get some really interesting aromas. Time is ouds friend!
Wild Or Cultivated:
There is a marked difference between wild wood and cultivated. Cultivated oil is absolutely fine but for me it’s quite one dimensional. Aged cultivated Oud can be quite glorious however. Wild Oud is special and unique in every way with more subtle nuances and general amazing aroma compared to cultivated. Organic Oud is gaining popularity kind of a half way house between the two. The more ‘hands off’ approach with growing the trees pays off with the aroma.
I hope this blog helped you understand what an Oud can smell like