Oud does not start as a wood you can cut. It starts as a wound.
Agarwood, the raw material behind oud, forms inside the Aquilaria tree. When the tree is injured or infected by a certain mould, it floods the damage with a dark, fragrant resin to defend itself. That resin-soaked heartwood is oud. It can take years, sometimes decades, to build.
That is the first reason it is so expensive. The second is rarity. In the wild, fewer than two in every hundred Aquilaria trees ever produce usable resin. Most of the genus is now listed as endangered and protected under CITES, the global treaty on trade in threatened species. Pure wild oud, sold as "dehn al oud", can cost more per gram than gold.
Here is what it smells like. Woody and resinous first, then smoke, leather, a little sweetness, and a warm animal edge underneath. Origin changes the whole thing. Cambodian oud leans sweet and balsamic. Indian Assam oud turns medicinal, almost camphor-like. Malaysian oud is softer and rounder.
Now the part most brands skip. Almost every "oud" on a designer shelf is not tree resin at all. It is a synthetic oud accord, built to smell like the real thing, only cleaner and smoother. That is not a con. It is sustainable, it is legal, and it keeps a rare species in the ground. The best modern oud fragrances are built this way on purpose.
Oud is a base note. It sits at the bottom of a scent and holds everything above it in place, which is exactly why oud fragrances last so long on skin.
Want the oud effect without the four-figure price? Our Oud Mood (our take on Maison Francis Kurkdjian Oud Satin Mood) and Oud Elite (our take on Initio Oud for Greatness) are UK-made sprays at 35% concentration, built on the same oud accords the big houses use. See more in the best oud fragrances in the UK.
