You would not be able to smell this "brain-stimulating" oud in a department store, and the major of niche-perfume houses.
Many people said they loved oud, but have never smelled it alone. They wish they could isolate the "oud" scent in niche perfume. They heard of this so-called "Wood Of God" before and tried to get their hands on. They want to know what is so special about Oud to have that name. They spend days looking for a store that has the real stuff from one store to another. Before the age of the Internet, it is challenging to get their hands on authentic agarwood oil because of the below reasons:
- Oud (agarwood) is mainly available in Southeast Asia and is a controlled product. To get them on the shelves, it could take months from getting the right approval to the logistics side.
- To show these ouds to the public, it requires some knowledge from the retail staff to consult the products to the consumer
- Being a natural product (essential oil), its scent profile changes depending on the batch. Big stores prefer quality consistency to minimise the return rate. They expect if a product smelt great in the first batch, it should smell identical with the second batch. Unfortunately, with oud oil, its scent profile will slightly vary on each batch.
- Stock control is a concern. Retail thefts are on the rise. What would happen if a shoplifter left the store with 1 litre of oud without paying? At least 5-figure worth of stock would be missing. How do you feel if you are the store manager?
With the limited supply of this exclusive oud due to a unique natural woody generating method, there is not enough to produce it on a large scale.
There are multiple ways to wound the Aquilaria trees for it to secrete its defence mechanism: Agarwood. But have you seen the below before? I bet not many.
The secret is in the long lost traditional technique- Red Hot Iron Spear.
You have seen drills, and fungi inducing method. What about this technique? It is laborious and risky because it involves fire.
The spear is red heated around 400 degrees Celcius. A skilled worker ("striker") then hammers to penetrate it THROUGH the tree.
Many growers have given this up because it takes so much time and effort. Some only do it on a smaller scale.
What unique feature does it add to the Oud scent profile?
Ladies and gentlemen, let me introduce you this special cultivated oud oil: The Warming Sun.
The material used to distil this oud is from the wounded Aquilaria Malaccensis trees. To create this special agarwood, workers penetrate "red hot iron rods" to the tree. Once the temperature decrease, he pulls the rod out and let the tree does the rest: natural agarwood creation.
It sounds easy, but a little mistake could cost the farmers a decade to fix. No wonder, they choose a different method to create agarwood.
The "strikers" need to know where the safe spot to hit, the trees may die if the spear hit its dead spot. Imagine growing the tree for 10 years, and killed it in a strike? One tree it might be ok, what is going to happen if ten trees die? What if a hundred tree die? Devastating of course.
Not only that, this method, "The Red Hot Iron Technique" does not involve with fungi or any inoculating method. It takes a longer time to have agarwood and less yielding than any contemporary method. After three years, local farmers saw the tree down, scrapped out the white oud.
The reward
The main purpose of this painstaking method is to create an exceptional smell using the forgotten way. The Hot Iron Spear method will add "fire" element in the wood chip. If oud distiller used these chips to distil, what would happen?
Grind these Oud into powder
The result: brain-stimulating good
As soon as you open the bottle, the volatile compound will vapour. If you are within an arm range, you can smell the oud in an instant.
Take a small dab from a bottle on your wrist or a cotton pad.
The magic happens at the moment you take a sniff and inhale deeply from either your wrist on a cotton pad. A sensational pleasant feeling washes through your nose. The accord includes warm woody, a hint of spice and herbaceous, subtle floral. After several hours, it dries down to balsamic vanillic ouddy. Warning: it is super addictive.
How to apply
Apply a small dab to test any adverse reaction on your skin. Eternal use on the skin only. Do not ingest.
You can dab on your shirt, your wrist, behind your ears or your neck. With this price, you can wear it daily. All you need is a dab.
Although it is not available in the primary department or perfume stores, thanks to the Internet, Oud lovers could have the comfort of sitting at home. Just a few clicks, their orders will be on the way.
