He used to think, “Oud is fecal and dirty” until he tried the Heaven Smoke - Agarwood farmed by ants

Greg loves essential oil. He is looking for rare, exclusive and special essential oils. Through some online forums and review webpage, he comes across Oud. After a while, he orders some oud oils from different market places. Unfortunately, from the oud oil he receives, he finds that there are some unpleasant notes in his ouds: 

• Fecal, dirty, burning plastic
• Pungent, poops, barnyard
• Dead rats, sewerage  

He does not understand why many people enjoy them. Not a chance he will try it again.

Until his friend, I.Khan gifted this Heaven Smoke to him. I.Khan is a local customer of mine. He was generous enough to buy oud to gift his friends on Ramadan days. And one of his friends is Greg.

When Greg first receives this oil, he does not even want to try it because he is afraid he would show disappointment to I.Khan. “That would be impolite,” he thinks.

When he gets home, he opens the crystal bottle and takes a dab.

He sniffs

And he retakes a dab.

And he is shocked by the tenaciously woody scent from the thick bright brownish liquid. 

Greg cannot believe this liquid is pure Oud oil because it is different from what he tried before. He becomes excited and tells I.Khan, who then tells me this story. Three days later, Greg visits me and grabs another 3g of the Triple Happiness.

 

If you find Greg’s story related to you,  it means you prefer a clean, woody aroma over the “barnyard” one.

"What so special about this oil?" - A farm inside a farm.

My brother is a farmer, and he reveals the incredible truth.

 

He does not create this agarwood but the ants.

 

He only provides the Aquilaria trees to the ants so they can make shelters from the trees. Once the ants are inside the trees, they “farm” the fungi for food. The fungi then attack the trees.  As these trees are wounded, they defend themselves from the fungi attacks by creating Agarwood. 

 

 

 

- In this tree, there are many ants inside, as you can see.They are farming fungi that provide food for them. These fungi "stimulate" the defence system to Aquilaria trees because they signal as an attack. These trees then create "agarwood" to defend and heal themselves. 

My brother farms the trees. Ants farm the fungi inside the tree. So we call it "a farm inside a farm".

Any pesticides or harmful substance in this oil?

In any ordinary trees or plants, farmers use pesticides to drive the pests away.

But our trees are not ordinary, and they are legendary- Agarwood.

So there will be no pesticides because if there is, there will be no ants, hence no agarwood.

We are grateful to the ants, the true agarwood farmer.

See these tiny holes? The ants created these. To heal itself, the Aquilaria trees formed "agarwood" around the wound. Isn't it fascinating?

Which options should I choose?

There are two variants of this oil:

• Double Happiness: you would be joyful to smell this oil
• Triple Happiness: you would be joyful AND at the same time, delighted, enlighted, and feel blessed when you smell this oil

Warning: This is NOT essential oil but Supercritical Fluid Carbon dioxide (CO2) Extraction oil

Essential Oil: oil distilled using water or steam distillation

 

Supercritical Fluid Carbon dioxide (CO2): Liquid CO2 is colourless and odourless, acts as a harmless solvent to "extract" the resin from the pulverised agarwood.

 

In this extraction method, the volatile compounds are not as many as "water/steam distillation"; however, the oleoresin content is much higher. You will find oils using this method, especially oud oil, to be monotone (in the right way). The scent remains unchanged for an extended period in pleasant floral, sweet woody, herbaceous, and medicinal profile.

Co2 extract pulls out the long carbon chain denser than the water making this oud oil sunk. It means that you got more oil per ml for this method than the traditional water/steam distillation. To sum it up, water/steam distillation 1ml of oud oil is around 0.9g on average. With Co2 extract, 1ml of oud oil will have around 1.02g of oud oil.

 

 

This is a CO2 Supercritical Extract Oud Oil; the temperature is around 31 Celcius degree during extraction.

It contains less highly volatile molecule and more non-volatile ones than the hydrodistillation method; initially, it seems very dull at first.

Still, if you take a dab and leave it exposed to the air, let the oxygen does the work, and you will notice the scent development and enjoy the experience.

There are two types of Heaven Smoke.

Double Happiness - Heaven Smoke

The oil is extracted from sustainably cultivated Agarwood. 

If you are a perfumer who wants to make the sweet wood ambery base, this will suit you well.

  

Triple Happiness- Heaven Smoke

The oil is extracted from wild Agarwood.

It has what Double Happiness has to offer. Also, its complexity is slightly more. You will feel it sweeter and woodier.

If you are a perfumer and blend Oud in your perfume, Double Happiness is better for your formula because it is more sustainable and cost-effective.