The End of Oud

[Evbo]

Ensar, the owner of Oriscent, (http://oriscent.com/) sent out an email this past weekend titled "The End of Oud." In it, he essentially says that fairly soon there will be no more quality, wild oud wood left on the planet to either distill or to use for incense. He explains how very recently, all the purveyors of wild oud wood recently traveled to Saudi Arabia to see their customers. All of them asked to buy back all of the oud wood they had recently sold to them.

Here's an excerpt from the letter:

During Ramadan (August), Saudi Arabia’s biggest suppliers of raw Oud wood from the Far East flew into Jeddah with only one objective. And this time it wasn’t to sell agarwood. Rather, they came to buy back any and all Oud wood they’d sold to the Saudis in recent years. And they were willing to pay whatever price, so long as they could get their wood back. After heated negotiations, they dropped over $8 million.

But this is something we’ve been expecting to happen since we launched Ensar Oud… Deer musk used to arrive in caravans from Kashmir to Mecca in droves. Now the musk deer is an endangered species, and most people in the world have not, and never will smell real deer musk. Likewise, Solomon’s centuries-old celebrated ‘Oud of the Bible’ is no more.

Truth is, we knew this day would come. Just a few years ago one of the leading authorities in the field told us frankly that he was simply seeing the game through – that he didn’t expect the wild agarwood trade to continue for more than a couple of years. That day has come.

The sad news for all those in the Oud fancy is that the last of the remaining wild Oud wood will not be used to burn as incense. Nor will it be used to extract Oud oil. Nor for anything related to its aromatic properties. Instead, it’s all going to China, where it’s carved into beads, bracelets, and an assortment of traditional sculptures, statues and icons whose prices run into the hundreds of thousands of dollars.

In the past, the finest quality Oud wood used to be referred to as ‘super’, ‘double-super’, or ‘sinking-grade’. Now, it’s simply referred to as ‘China quality’.

You see, in the West, affluent people buy Ferraris, yachts and penthouses. Chinese manufacturers and industrial tycoons, who own most of the US dollars in existence, and know not what to do with them, buy Oud wood. There is a new-spun superstition associated with this particular wood, and merely having a piece is considered a source of good fortune and protection.

This superstitious fad is not limited to China, but is quickly spreading across the Far East, where the ‘lucky wood’ is now used for carving anything from little religious tokens kept at an altar niche at home, to extravagant miniature centerpieces.

The upshot is that all agarwood business owners are just sitting in their chairs. The Gulf market has effectively been flipped upside-down. Likewise in the East, the trade in wild agarwood is basically a thing of the past – the final scurrage for remaining resources only being directed to the ancient craft of wood-sculpting – not the distillation of Oud oil.

None of the big players will ever again extract Oud oil from their ‘China quality’ wood. In fact, our main distillers are all, each and every one of them, on the verge of retirement, frenziedly sending off to China anything they can lay their hands on.

He goes on to say how fortunate it is that given this sad state of events, they have *kilos* of their different oils in stock that have been aging for years so buy now, blah blah blah. I'm not quite sure what to think. On the one hand, this is a guy who's been traveling and doing business in that part of the world for years. Looking for, buying and distilling oud wood. And he truly has some of the best oils out there, no question. My skepticism arises from him using this as an excuse to say "We have it so buy it now, while it's still here!" On the one hand, I understand. But on the other hand, it makes me doubt his sincerity, if not his veracity.

[professorchaos]

He is given to exaggeration and/or hyperbole, isn't he? I read that with more than a little skepticism, especially since they've been having quite a few sales lately. Like you say, he's been in the business for a long time. Yet as they are in the business of making money, I would think it is in his best interest to hoard his inventory if demand is expected to rise dramatically.

People have been talking about stocks of wild wood being depleted since well before I developed a taste for it. So I don't doubt there is some truth to his message. Yet I can't help but see it as a sales tool more than anything else.

[justinp]

My guess is that this is sort of half-true. I think it stands to reason that the supply side is tightening up-- look what happened to Mysore sandalwood, which I would guess was a good deal more common than fungally-afflicted aquilaria trees. However, given the fact that oud is an aged product and so on, even if all production stopped this year there would likely be several years' worth of finished product left.

I think a healthy grain of salt is in order.

[Evbo]

I can't help but see it as a sales tool more than anything else.


I think a healthy grain of salt is in order.

Yep. I tend to agree with both of you.

[The Chandos]

Phew! Crisis averted for now.

[Igor01]

I hear from a reliable source that it is indeed true that large scale procurement of old wild wood is no longer possible, however this old wild wood can still be sources for smaller, niche distillers. Furthermore, there're still large amounts of old wild oud wood in certain regions which haven't been extensively tapped yet due to their remoteness or other factors limiting access. But yeah, basically the pickings are getting slimmer, particularly for some of the types of wood which have pretty much been all used up by now. To be on the safe side I got backups for my favourite oils that are not likely to come back.

[rearviewmirror]

i just want there to be more black walnut wood available.

[Evbo]

i just want there to be more black walnut wood available.

Oh, I think there's plenty of that. But it doesn't smell very good.

[malocchio]

Oh, I think there's plenty of that. But it doesn't smell very good.

EVAN....thanks for posting this...what are some of your favorite scents from oriscent ?

[Schad]

Good. I'm sick of hearing about Oud. I've got Oudlash.

[Igor01]

Good. I'm sick of hearing about Oud. I've got Oudlash.

You may be misunderstanding what is happening here. The only result of this situation is not disappearance of oud, but the fact that the large fragrance houses (the ones pumping out these uber-annoying pseudo "ouds") won't have even a theoretical opportunity of using the real stuff in their oud-themed fragrances. But then again, they never did anyway, so absolutely nothing will change. I suspect that these chemical concoctions without a drop of oud in them that are shamelessly sold by the likes of Tom Ford, Creed, Le Labo, By Killian et all will become even more expensive as these houses are capitalizing on the growing awareness of oud's impending demise. They don't actually have to use any oud so the profit margins are just too high to not take advantage of.

Small niche pure oud sellers will continue to carry oils but the quality is likely to decline and the prices will most likely rise. Enjoying real oud will become even more of an esoteric hobby as the overwhelming majority of us get hopelessly priced out of this increasingly super-exclusive market. It's a real shame as I can't think of any other fragrant substance as intoxicatingly beautiful as good pure single source oud oil.

[Schad]

I'm tired of hearing about how sandalwood is out of supply also!

[Igor01]

The problem with sandalwood is not the lack of supply (there's plenty of it) but the quality. The trees are harvested young and are never allowed to mature enough to produce the creamy sweet oil of yesteryear. If you've tried vintage sandalwood oils I am sure you know the difference between them and what passes for sandalwood these days.

Same issue with oud - even though it's a renewable resource and can be replenished with time - who will protect the wild trees in the jungle and allow them to mature to 70-100 years?

[jakespoppy]

If this was the same place but in a different time, would the topic have been "The End of Oak Moss"?

[The Nid Hog]

Obviously there's a shortage of older agarwood in Asia. A significant amount of Malaysian forests are protected, but there is a lot of illegal harvesting going on. You can read articles in Malaysian newspapers about threats to agarwood varieties. Likewise, plantation-raised agarwood (grown in India but often owned by groups from the UAE and elsewhere) is being harvested while still quite young, preventing those stocks from reaching maturity. Even so, this message sounds a little overheated to me, with a shot of Fear of China stirred in. I imagine that there's more than a little truth to it, but it also has an "order before midnight tonight" vibe. I guess time will tell.

Perhaps a B&B group buy of forest acreage is in order?

[Featherweight]

First sandalwood, now oud. What next? Birch? Rosewood? Wormwood?

It seems like the world of perfumery gets overly caught up in a trend involving one ingredient, to the point where they either exhaust it, or endanger it. This message seems like a bit of drama, but I wouldn't be surprised if there's a kernel of truth to it.




...
http://frompyrgos.blogspot.com/

[justinp]

Perhaps a B&B group buy of forest acreage is in order?

"Honey, you know how you're supposed to diversify your portfolio? Well, me and the boys were thinking, and..."

[jakespoppy]

"Honey, you know how you're supposed to diversify your portfolio? Well, me and the boys were thinking, and..."

:lol::lol::lol: :thumbup1:

[Evbo]

EVAN....thanks for posting this...what are some of your favorite scents from oriscent ?

In no particular order:

Borneo 3000 - A beautiful, vapory, Bornean oil.

I was wearing this one day while out walking with a friend. It had rained that morning. We were talking, and we stopped at the corner while waiting for the light. She took a deep breath.

"Mm...the trees smell so good after it rains!"

We both looked around. There were no trees.

"Oh...is that you?"

"Yeah, I think it's me." :biggrin:

Borneo Kinam - In the same family as Borneo 3000 but heavier, with a bit of spiciness to it. I almost get a cinnamon-like vibe from it, though it really doesn't smell like cinnamon.

Oud Mostafa, Oud Khidr, Oud Nuh - All Hindi ouds, all very rich, and all oils that one might want to think twice about wearing out in public.

The Indian oils are an acquired taste. They're decidedly un-Western in character, and they're also incredibly potent (esp. Oud Mostafa, which is probably the stinkiest of the bunch. :w00t:) But there's just something about them that defies description. I find the Indian oils to be almost psychoactive -- I trance out when I smell them. Indeed, sometimes I smear a bit under each nostril before going to sleep at night. They really do help me to sleep better.

Ensar's Elixir - Pretty sure this one is a blend of Hindi & Bornean oils. It has the cool, vapory top note that's characteristic of Bornean ouds, but the lower-pitched, anchoring earthiness common to Hindis. Really great stuff, and (from what I can tell) also the only blend that he offers. But hands down, my all-time favorite...

Kyara Koutan. This stuff is in a league of its own. It's smoky, it's sweet, it's rapturous. Whenever I wear it, I find myself sniffing my skin again and again and again. There's an other-worldly character to this oil -- I don't know how else to put it. It blisses me out. Probably something more than a little psychoactive about this one, too.

Hope this was helpful. No doubt Henry & Igor have their faves, too. Would love to know their thoughts!

[Evbo]

A little addendum to my OP. I recently bought a Bornean oil from Taha, who's the proprietor of Agar Aura. Taha has recently gotten into the business of distilling his own oils; the Bornean oil I bought is his first outing. He's just added a newly-distilled Indian oil to his website as well.

Here's what he just emailed to me:

By the way, despite Ensar's bold claims, and as much as he may hate it, this oil was from WILD HARVESTED, INCENSE GRADE (i.e. not young un-infected wild trees), agarwood. : )

FYI, Taha & Ensar both have posted at length about how difficult the agarwood business is. How it's rife with dishonesty and outright thievery, and how hard it is to actually find true, high-quality wood. It's depressing. So while it's good news that it may still be possible to find high-quality, wildly-occurring agarwood, in truth this seems to be a dying business.

[professorchaos]

I can't add anything to what Evan wrote. Oriscent has quite a few excellent oils; in my short experience they really excel with Borneos and Indians. (Indians are to oud what Islay malts are to scotch.) These days I can't get enough of Oud Nuh.

Their current Cambodis, while very nice, are odd ducks and not representative of the regional profile as I've come to know it.

[Igor01]

I didn't fall in love with most of Ensar's recent products except for Borneo Kinam (awesome and sumptious Borneo), Royal Kinam (airy and etherial, stunningly beautiful), Burmese Kinam (absolutely sublime, too bad it never even made it to the website) and Kyara Koutan (almost transcendental in its beauty and unique scent profile). His Cambodi's left me cold, the now sold out Caramel while being the best of the lot is still not as good IMHO as the original KSSS from Oudimentary or the old batch of Thaqeel from ASAQ. Ensar's classic Borneo's like Borneo 3000, Sheikh's Borneo and Blue Brunei are arguably the best Indonesian ouds money can buy. I am not a huge fan of Indian ouds in general and I am still trying to understand the appeal of the genre, but if I had to choose from all the Indian ouds, I'd probably pass the few Ensar's Indians in favour of ASAQ's Kalakassi, AgarAura's Purana and Aatma.

The last few months I've been heavily rotating Royal Kinam and Kyara Koutan with Borneo Kinam, Borneo 3000 and Sheikh's Borneo providing some variety now and then. If I had to choose just one oud oil to be used for the rest of my life, I'd have to choose between Royal Kinam and Kyara Koutan.

[The Chandos]

In no particular order:

Borneo 3000 - A beautiful, vapory, Bornean oil.

I was wearing this one day while out walking with a friend. It had rained that morning. We were talking, and we stopped at the corner while waiting for the light. She took a deep breath.

"Mm...the trees smell so good after it rains!"

We both looked around. There were no trees.

"Oh...is that you?"

"Yeah, I think it's me." :biggrin:

Borneo Kinam - In the same family as Borneo 3000 but heavier, with a bit of spiciness to it. I almost get a cinnamon-like vibe from it, though it really doesn't smell like cinnamon.

Oud Mostafa, Oud Khidr, Oud Nuh - All Hindi ouds, all very rich, and all oils that one might want to think twice about wearing out in public.

The Indian oils are an acquired taste. They're decidedly un-Western in character, and they're also incredibly potent (esp. Oud Mostafa, which is probably the stinkiest of the bunch. :w00t:) But there's just something about them that defies description. I find the Indian oils to be almost psychoactive -- I trance out when I smell them. Indeed, sometimes I smear a bit under each nostril before going to sleep at night. They really do help me to sleep better.

Ensar's Elixir - Pretty sure this one is a blend of Hindi & Bornean oils. It has the cool, vapory top note that's characteristic of Bornean ouds, but the lower-pitched, anchoring earthiness common to Hindis. Really great stuff, and (from what I can tell) also the only blend that he offers. But hands down, my all-time favorite...

Kyara Koutan. This stuff is in a league of its own. It's smoky, it's sweet, it's rapturous. Whenever I wear it, I find myself sniffing my skin again and again and again. There's an other-worldly character to this oil -- I don't know how else to put it. It blisses me out. Probably something more than a little psychoactive about this one, too.

Hope this was helpful. No doubt Henry & Igor have their faves, too. Would love to know their thoughts!

Oh bloody hell! Now I really am going to go broke!

[The Chandos]

I didn't fall in love with most of Ensar's recent products except for Borneo Kinam (awesome and sumptious Borneo), Royal Kinam (airy and etherial, stunningly beautiful), Burmese Kinam (absolutely sublime, too bad it never even made it to the website) and Kyara Koutan (almost transcendental in its beauty and unique scent profile). His Cambodi's left me cold, the now sold out Caramel while being the best of the lot is still not as good IMHO as the original KSSS from Oudimentary or the old batch of Thaqeel from ASAQ. Ensar's classic Borneo's like Borneo 3000, Sheikh's Borneo and Blue Brunei are arguably the best Indonesian ouds money can buy. I am not a huge fan of Indian ouds in general and I am still trying to understand the appeal of the genre, but if I had to choose from all the Indian ouds, I'd probably pass the few Ensar's Indians in favour of ASAQ's Kalakassi, AgarAura's Purana and Aatma.

The last few months I've been heavily rotating Royal Kinam and Kyara Koutan with Borneo Kinam, Borneo 3000 and Sheikh's Borneo providing some variety now and then. If I had to choose just one oud oil to be used for the rest of my life, I'd have to choose between Royal Kinam and Kyara Koutan.

Oh bloody hell! It's like speaking another language!

[Evbo]

Oh bloody hell! Now I really am going to go broke!


Oh bloody hell! It's like speaking another language!

Yes, and yes. :biggrin:

[tehtimmeh]

It's a good thing Evan and Henry have enough stock to keep the whole forum well supplied for an entire lifetime. :thumbup1:

[professorchaos]

Yes, and yes. :biggrin:

:yesnod: