Notorious Oud

Oud is the most notorious ingredient in perfume. Everyone seems to have an opinion about it. Real oud oil is the most expensive perfume ingredient on the planet. Rare logs from the jungles of South East Asia are guarded by the government–theft penalized by death! Whole logs of Aquilaria that have been infected with the black resin can sell for millions. Oud is the stuff of fables—now endangered from overharvesting.

Aromatically, oud is among the most varied and complex oils on the planet. Depending on location, age, and method of extraction oud can display countless shimmering effects that appear at once woody, spicy, floral, smoky, rooty, musky, fine, fecal, and animalic. The hunt for rare ouds to be prized and worn directly on the skin is a little different than the making oud perfumes.

Oud perfume, like most modern perfumes, seek to take inspiration from studies of oils that could never be mass produced (for regulatory, environmental, artistic and economic considerations). The magic of the perfumer’s touch is his or her ability to reconstruct specific aromas with other materials.

Thinking what would make its essence sing and grow from a single oil into a transcendent perfume. I took fine materials from all over the world–Bulgarian Rose, French Lavender, Egyptian Papyrus, and Afghani saffron—and built a support structure around this wonderfully complex oud accord. Oud that wears easy and beautiful.-D.S.