Let's talk Oud: a detailed discourse on the various aspects of this substance we love
- Thread starter Taha
- Start date
Ameen Ya Rabb!
BMW-
Not quite.. BMW is actually superior in a way (believe it or not!), since the substance the wood is impregnated with is some sort of natural resin. There's a very wealthy guy in the BMW business in Babdung Java who is currently in the middle of setting up a distillery, exclusively for distilling BWM wood. Makes me scratch my head. Why not just distill the impregnated stuff itself, instead of distilling the wood that was impregnated? Seems quite inefficient if you ask me. But any way, BMW is the hottest seller in the Saudi market right now often ranked higher than even double super real gaharu. Maybe they don't know BMW isn't really agarwood, and they just want the oil extracted from it.
Gaharu Racun is.. get ready for this.....
Trees that are stripped of their bark, painted with Monsanto's Roundup, and then (due to the harsh chemicals used in RoundUp, which triggers oleoresin formation) within a month layers are shaved off the tree for distillation.
'Racun' = bahasa for 'poison' of course, so you can see how this type of oud got its name.
The wood is then usually distilled Rooh-style into Cendana oil, typically in a 1:9 ratio.
This is the only way distillers are able to compete with Thai plantation oud prices ($75 per tola is the latest figure I know of). "Toorad" (Trat) and "Murakkab" (constructed) are the bread and butter in Saudi Arabia right now. The last time we wholesaled to Saudi was in 2015. There's of course still markets in the UAE, Qatar, Kuwait etc, but the Saudi market demand is larger than the rest of the Arabian Gulf countries combined. So naturally, distillers have to operate according to the Saudi market preferences.
If you take the average price of even the cheapest (real) kayu minyak agarwood in Malaysia, then you can understand why everyone's switched to the Racun+Cendana method. There's no way distillers can even produce real oud (even the lowsest grade) at $75/tola, let alone sell it.
BMW-
Not quite.. BMW is actually superior in a way (believe it or not!), since the substance the wood is impregnated with is some sort of natural resin. There's a very wealthy guy in the BMW business in Babdung Java who is currently in the middle of setting up a distillery, exclusively for distilling BWM wood. Makes me scratch my head. Why not just distill the impregnated stuff itself, instead of distilling the wood that was impregnated? Seems quite inefficient if you ask me. But any way, BMW is the hottest seller in the Saudi market right now often ranked higher than even double super real gaharu. Maybe they don't know BMW isn't really agarwood, and they just want the oil extracted from it.
Gaharu Racun is.. get ready for this.....
Trees that are stripped of their bark, painted with Monsanto's Roundup, and then (due to the harsh chemicals used in RoundUp, which triggers oleoresin formation) within a month layers are shaved off the tree for distillation.
'Racun' = bahasa for 'poison' of course, so you can see how this type of oud got its name.
The wood is then usually distilled Rooh-style into Cendana oil, typically in a 1:9 ratio.
This is the only way distillers are able to compete with Thai plantation oud prices ($75 per tola is the latest figure I know of). "Toorad" (Trat) and "Murakkab" (constructed) are the bread and butter in Saudi Arabia right now. The last time we wholesaled to Saudi was in 2015. There's of course still markets in the UAE, Qatar, Kuwait etc, but the Saudi market demand is larger than the rest of the Arabian Gulf countries combined. So naturally, distillers have to operate according to the Saudi market preferences.
If you take the average price of even the cheapest (real) kayu minyak agarwood in Malaysia, then you can understand why everyone's switched to the Racun+Cendana method. There's no way distillers can even produce real oud (even the lowsest grade) at $75/tola, let alone sell it.
And once again... wow.
I think I just threw up in my mouth a little after reading that.
Racun producers must surely lack for want of a better term, souls.
I find this talk of the Saudi market very strange indeed as if I were one of the house of saud or a middle class citizen I would have enough petrodollars to buy the good stuff.
It took me not that long to find you lot using google so I am sincerely baffled why you all are not permanently sold out to the region where it's traditionally prized.
Sincerely baffled.
I think I just threw up in my mouth a little after reading that.
Racun producers must surely lack for want of a better term, souls.
I find this talk of the Saudi market very strange indeed as if I were one of the house of saud or a middle class citizen I would have enough petrodollars to buy the good stuff.
It took me not that long to find you lot using google so I am sincerely baffled why you all are not permanently sold out to the region where it's traditionally prized.
Sincerely baffled.
Well, there are a few things you gotta remember:
1) Oud for most folks in Gulf Arab countries is like bread and butter is in, say, the U.S. Most people won't pick up a package of bread at the supermarket and scrutinize the ingredients to ensure the bread really is bread... instead of an amalgamation of bread ingredients and a hefty dose of substances that will allow the bread to keep from spoiling as it sits on shelves for months. Does this make most people in the U.S. 'evil'? No. Likewise, it doesn't make the majority of oud consumers who don't bother to look into purity/quality/etc evil either.
2) Although the bulk of the Saudi market can certainly not be described as connoisseurs (nor are the bulk of chocolate eaters connoisseurs, nor wine drinkers, nor..., nor...), there are still some who have pretty impressive noses. One of my main frustrations in the past 2.5ish years that I've been wholesaling to the Gulf market is the predominant lack of discernment between different grades and species. Everything just looks and smells the same to most folks, except for very basic and obvious things like the color of the wood. BUT on the other hand, I can tell you first hand that there is a layer of cream, the nokhba, that can tell the difference. So for example, we were tested by a big shot potential client before he decided that we'd be a good supplier for him because we know our stuff. The test included demonstrating the ability to tell between different species not just by smell (burning) but also by visual assessment alone (i.e. resin formation patters, wood density etc), judging various countries' woods' prices according to grades, and so on. He was trying to ensure that we realize that he knows his stuff, that he's no gullible guy, and that he's well aware of grades, prices, quality, and so on.
So what exactly am I saying here? Not all Arab users of oud are ignorant (one of my concerns I expressed to Ensar when he visited me a week ago, was that my posts probably sound very anti-Arab whereas that's NOT the case). Sure, for the vast majority oud is like bread. Or colognes. Or shampoo. MOST people don't get into the nitty gritties of it. But there are others who do know and do care. Just like folks who care about nitrates, muscones, and parabens in their food and household products.
3) The vast of majority Saudis are not wealthy. In fact the vast majority of Saudi towns and cities are quite run down. Most folks probably picture Riyadh with its glitter and dazzle, however 95% of Saudi Arabia is not like that. They have a rough life, there isn't much room for luxury stuff, and that of course includes oud.
4) Targeting (and winning as clients) the discerning Saudi clientele is the biggest win an agarwood wholesaler can dream of, out of all the Arab markets. We have in the past 2.5-3ish years had about 5, but they all sucked and the number dwindled down to zero ('good riddance' is how I feel about it). To date, we never managed to score an excellent Saudi client.
5) The population of Saudis (i.e. not expats) in Saudi Arabia is about 22 million. The population of Emiratis in The Emirates is about 1.3 million. The population of Qataris in Qatar is only about 250,000 (!!!).
Looking at these numbers, you can probably see why everyone wants to dig their talons into the Saudi market.
1) Oud for most folks in Gulf Arab countries is like bread and butter is in, say, the U.S. Most people won't pick up a package of bread at the supermarket and scrutinize the ingredients to ensure the bread really is bread... instead of an amalgamation of bread ingredients and a hefty dose of substances that will allow the bread to keep from spoiling as it sits on shelves for months. Does this make most people in the U.S. 'evil'? No. Likewise, it doesn't make the majority of oud consumers who don't bother to look into purity/quality/etc evil either.
2) Although the bulk of the Saudi market can certainly not be described as connoisseurs (nor are the bulk of chocolate eaters connoisseurs, nor wine drinkers, nor..., nor...), there are still some who have pretty impressive noses. One of my main frustrations in the past 2.5ish years that I've been wholesaling to the Gulf market is the predominant lack of discernment between different grades and species. Everything just looks and smells the same to most folks, except for very basic and obvious things like the color of the wood. BUT on the other hand, I can tell you first hand that there is a layer of cream, the nokhba, that can tell the difference. So for example, we were tested by a big shot potential client before he decided that we'd be a good supplier for him because we know our stuff. The test included demonstrating the ability to tell between different species not just by smell (burning) but also by visual assessment alone (i.e. resin formation patters, wood density etc), judging various countries' woods' prices according to grades, and so on. He was trying to ensure that we realize that he knows his stuff, that he's no gullible guy, and that he's well aware of grades, prices, quality, and so on.
So what exactly am I saying here? Not all Arab users of oud are ignorant (one of my concerns I expressed to Ensar when he visited me a week ago, was that my posts probably sound very anti-Arab whereas that's NOT the case). Sure, for the vast majority oud is like bread. Or colognes. Or shampoo. MOST people don't get into the nitty gritties of it. But there are others who do know and do care. Just like folks who care about nitrates, muscones, and parabens in their food and household products.
3) The vast of majority Saudis are not wealthy. In fact the vast majority of Saudi towns and cities are quite run down. Most folks probably picture Riyadh with its glitter and dazzle, however 95% of Saudi Arabia is not like that. They have a rough life, there isn't much room for luxury stuff, and that of course includes oud.
4) Targeting (and winning as clients) the discerning Saudi clientele is the biggest win an agarwood wholesaler can dream of, out of all the Arab markets. We have in the past 2.5-3ish years had about 5, but they all sucked and the number dwindled down to zero ('good riddance' is how I feel about it). To date, we never managed to score an excellent Saudi client.
5) The population of Saudis (i.e. not expats) in Saudi Arabia is about 22 million. The population of Emiratis in The Emirates is about 1.3 million. The population of Qataris in Qatar is only about 250,000 (!!!).
Looking at these numbers, you can probably see why everyone wants to dig their talons into the Saudi market.
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Thank you Taha,
I never thought your posts were anti arab, there is a huge difference between race and beliefs, taste and discernment of subsets of people and families, which I suppose is a fancy way of saying people are different the whole world over but also the same.*
On the bright side, I suppose I should be glad you lot are underappreciated, as this gives all of us west of the Bosphorous to get our greedly mitts on your Ouds.
Note though that I did say house of saud and middle class citizens, my uncle Brian worked in the middle east during the 80's and came back with stories about the region that were not all that flattering, though Jordan was one notable exception. And off topic, I have a great deal of affection for the Jordanian royal family because the aforementioned uncle was a ham radio enthusiast, got chatting to someone over the airwaves who turned out to be none other than King Hussein and was presented with a gold watch!
I remember the first time I went shopping in Mustang for bread, I saw sugar and the ubiqutous high fructose corn syrup in wholemeal bread so many times for goodness' sake. I also shop at target for green cleaning products. So much nasty stuff that people consume here that is banned in the EU... but I digress.
*Except ice hockey demented but polite beaver bothering canucks!
I never thought your posts were anti arab, there is a huge difference between race and beliefs, taste and discernment of subsets of people and families, which I suppose is a fancy way of saying people are different the whole world over but also the same.*
On the bright side, I suppose I should be glad you lot are underappreciated, as this gives all of us west of the Bosphorous to get our greedly mitts on your Ouds.
Note though that I did say house of saud and middle class citizens, my uncle Brian worked in the middle east during the 80's and came back with stories about the region that were not all that flattering, though Jordan was one notable exception. And off topic, I have a great deal of affection for the Jordanian royal family because the aforementioned uncle was a ham radio enthusiast, got chatting to someone over the airwaves who turned out to be none other than King Hussein and was presented with a gold watch!
I remember the first time I went shopping in Mustang for bread, I saw sugar and the ubiqutous high fructose corn syrup in wholemeal bread so many times for goodness' sake. I also shop at target for green cleaning products. So much nasty stuff that people consume here that is banned in the EU... but I digress.
*Except ice hockey demented but polite beaver bothering canucks!
Ha! Good one @RobertOne. But you know... I've often been told by others to not let fellow Canucks know that: I don't care for ice hockey.
I'm relieved to hear that what I've been posting hasn't come off as sounding racist. Look, I've spent 14 (15?) years of my life in Saudi Arabia, and I can promise you my list of less-than-pleasant experiences is quite long. But I have an equally long (if not longer) list of wonderful Saudi people.
One chap on the list is even an Aal Sa'ud prince, ironically my one and only Saudi royal customer (he wiped out the entire batches of Sultan's Solace and Intiqa'ie). The guy is SO down to earth, SO humble, that the first time he got stuff from me he refused to tell me his family name. I kept trying to explain to him I need his full name to fill out the courier form, and it was after much reluctance that he finally did. And he quickly followed that by sternly telling me not to treat him any different after finding out his identity.
Side note: for him 'samples' meant something like 6 or 8 full bottles. When I asked him why he was getting so many for sampling, he said that if he liked an oil, it was his duty to gift one bottle to his mother, one to his something, one to his other something (aunt? grandpa? I don't recall exactly), and so on.
In short... there's good and bad apples in every race, country, and culture.
I'm relieved to hear that what I've been posting hasn't come off as sounding racist. Look, I've spent 14 (15?) years of my life in Saudi Arabia, and I can promise you my list of less-than-pleasant experiences is quite long. But I have an equally long (if not longer) list of wonderful Saudi people.
One chap on the list is even an Aal Sa'ud prince, ironically my one and only Saudi royal customer (he wiped out the entire batches of Sultan's Solace and Intiqa'ie). The guy is SO down to earth, SO humble, that the first time he got stuff from me he refused to tell me his family name. I kept trying to explain to him I need his full name to fill out the courier form, and it was after much reluctance that he finally did. And he quickly followed that by sternly telling me not to treat him any different after finding out his identity.
Side note: for him 'samples' meant something like 6 or 8 full bottles.
When I asked him why he was getting so many for sampling, he said that if he liked an oil, it was his duty to gift one bottle to his mother, one to his something, one to his other something (aunt? grandpa? I don't recall exactly), and so on.In short... there's good and bad apples in every race, country, and culture.
I just got back from Saudi 2 weeks ago. One of the things I wanted to see there was the quality of Oud in their shops. I mean they got shops upon shops of Oud. Just in our hotel lobby they had 2 shops in there.
I decided to go and check them out. As I saw the diaplays of wood, I mean your talking wood upon wood. Apparently they only have 2 regions there. 1 being Indian and the other Cambodian. Almost every wood they showed me they said it's suuber (super) grade. On one instance one store owner showed me what supposedly according to him was Cambodi wood. I told him with all due respect this is not Cambodi, He started arguing with me and said I have been doing this along time. Who in the heck are you to tell me. I said brother this is Maroke. He was shocked and changed his answer to super grade maroke. I said burn some of your super hind or super Cambodi. Let's just say I ran out of the shop as fast as I ran in. I don't even know if it was Oud agarwood. This happened in multiple shops. Sadly there has been a momentum there and that's the more expensive the wood or oil is, the better quality it is. I was very disappointed in the Oud there and the so called good stuff was way overpriced IMO. When I showed them my bottle of Oud Mustafa 5, let's just say they weren't expecting that!
I decided to go and check them out. As I saw the diaplays of wood, I mean your talking wood upon wood. Apparently they only have 2 regions there. 1 being Indian and the other Cambodian. Almost every wood they showed me they said it's suuber (super) grade. On one instance one store owner showed me what supposedly according to him was Cambodi wood. I told him with all due respect this is not Cambodi, He started arguing with me and said I have been doing this along time. Who in the heck are you to tell me. I said brother this is Maroke. He was shocked and changed his answer to super grade maroke. I said burn some of your super hind or super Cambodi. Let's just say I ran out of the shop as fast as I ran in. I don't even know if it was Oud agarwood. This happened in multiple shops. Sadly there has been a momentum there and that's the more expensive the wood or oil is, the better quality it is. I was very disappointed in the Oud there and the so called good stuff was way overpriced IMO. When I showed them my bottle of Oud Mustafa 5, let's just say they weren't expecting that!
I hope things are well with Agar Aura's survival @Taha . and thanks for identifying the malay oud that was cut with candana. Indeed it's difficult to find a proper, good quality supplier of even standard grade ouds, even when I'm in Malaysia. The sandal distillation is coming up soon right? How's it going with that one?
And here's a belated image report on Taha's ambergris collection . The white and gold ambergris are veeery perfumey, elegant, luxurious, classy. They don't really have a smell aside from those vocabularies. the lesser types, all the way to black, are more animalic and intense. very enlightening experience! -see picture below-
Interestingly, when testing out the latest hindi oils (Mahabali - which is available as a sneak peak- so get it guys and Fera ), Taha noticed that it smells cleaner on my skin compared to his. Then he asked me, "Did you consume honey recently?" , lo and behold, I was consuming honey for the few days before the visit. It seems what one consumes may also affect how oud smells on one's skin. If anyone else experienced this do share. It could open up new doors to scent profiles we've never experienced before.
@koolaid79 Even in Malaysia, most shops that sell attar, when asked about Oud, they would proudly whip out their "Cambodi", (heavily) laced with a perfume compound. I suspect DOP to be in them as well. It's a common note I found from various shops, differing only in intensity. A shop showed me their Malaysian too, top notes abit different than their "cambodi", but it quickly progressed into the same perfume aroma. Heck, how can they sell it for MYR40 (about $8.80) a bottle if otherwise?
And here's a belated image report on Taha's ambergris collection . The white and gold ambergris are veeery perfumey, elegant, luxurious, classy. They don't really have a smell aside from those vocabularies. the lesser types, all the way to black, are more animalic and intense. very enlightening experience! -see picture below-
Interestingly, when testing out the latest hindi oils (Mahabali - which is available as a sneak peak- so get it guys
and Fera ), Taha noticed that it smells cleaner on my skin compared to his. Then he asked me, "Did you consume honey recently?" , lo and behold, I was consuming honey for the few days before the visit. It seems what one consumes may also affect how oud smells on one's skin. If anyone else experienced this do share. It could open up new doors to scent profiles we've never experienced before. @koolaid79 Even in Malaysia, most shops that sell attar, when asked about Oud, they would proudly whip out their "Cambodi", (heavily) laced with a perfume compound. I suspect DOP to be in them as well. It's a common note I found from various shops, differing only in intensity. A shop showed me their Malaysian too, top notes abit different than their "cambodi", but it quickly progressed into the same perfume aroma. Heck, how can they sell it for MYR40 (about $8.80) a bottle if otherwise?
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Soooooo…… if you thought the Round Up and gaharu racun was something, what are we supposed to make of this????
38 liters of human urine found in perfume factory in Jeddah selling oud.
If you search for 'urine in perfume factory' (yes, I actually googled that) you will see the same story on different sites with different reporting. Here's 2 of them..
http://life-in-saudiarabia.blogspot.com/2016/05/38-liters-of-human-urine-found-in.html
http://anonhq.com/police-in-saudi-arabia-discover-gallons-of-urine-at-perfume-factory/
I am all for some of that barnyard funk, but this… I wonder what the scent descriptions for these 'ouds' read like!
@m.arif the one article mentions "...there were also many drums of perfumed oil which had to be sold in the market as oud."
38 liters of human urine found in perfume factory in Jeddah selling oud.
If you search for 'urine in perfume factory' (yes, I actually googled that) you will see the same story on different sites with different reporting. Here's 2 of them..
http://life-in-saudiarabia.blogspot.com/2016/05/38-liters-of-human-urine-found-in.html
http://anonhq.com/police-in-saudi-arabia-discover-gallons-of-urine-at-perfume-factory/
I am all for some of that barnyard funk, but this… I wonder what the scent descriptions for these 'ouds' read like!
@m.arif the one article mentions "...there were also many drums of perfumed oil which had to be sold in the market as oud."
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Yuck! I guess I would not be surprised though. It is not the first time I heard about using human urine in scents. There is a very small perfume house in Florence which makes a perfume where they encourage you put some of your own urine into it to elevate the scent. At least it gives you the option of doing it or not.
@Gaianmind indeed it is! and it smells even lovelier
@Kruger that is one crazy report! urine...wow..I sure hope they weren't intending to put them in their perfumes! (but if not, what is it doing there eh?). In jeddah..wow. muslims buy perfumes to smell their best in ibadah and these guys are scamming people with filth! bizzarre....
Perfume oils being sold as oud..mhmm. some malaysians after coming back from Makkah for pilgrimage, occasionally bring back arabian perfumes proudly.. "Hey this perfume is from Makkah!". If only they knew many are from France etc.
@Kruger that is one crazy report! urine...wow..I sure hope they weren't intending to put them in their perfumes! (but if not, what is it doing there eh?). In jeddah..wow. muslims buy perfumes to smell their best in ibadah and these guys are scamming people with filth! bizzarre....
Perfume oils being sold as oud..mhmm. some malaysians after coming back from Makkah for pilgrimage, occasionally bring back arabian perfumes proudly.. "Hey this perfume is from Makkah!". If only they knew many are from France etc.
Say hello to the brand spankin new Agar Aura Borneo team. It's been interesting learning their methodology. Quite different from the Cambodian way, which I'm more familiar with.. but I think it can work very well. For all of our previous Borneo hunts dating back to late 2014 / early 2015 I've always imported Khmer hunters so this is the first time I'll be relying fully on locals (Bugis, imported from Kalimantan, but that's still Borneo).
Hunting should start within a few days. Later when I have some time I can share some of the differences in their methodology compared to Khmer hunters.
From another thread:
@m.arif, thanks for uploading these. These pictures reveal a lot of information, which consumers are usually unaware of.
I would have separated out Stage TWO and THREE a little more though.
Stage One is what the hunters carry out from the jungle in their backpacks. These large 'capsules' could very well contain King grade wood inside, its unknown at this stage. How do hunters determine the shape/size of these capsules? Simple: they keep chopping away until they reach insect burrows or brownish stains, at which point they change the direction of cutting and chipping. The end result is these wood capsules. This level of cleaning is done in the jungle, on the spot, where the tree once stood.
How it relates to oils: the shavings collected from this stage, together with merely 'stained' yellowish chunks of wood (no capsules with higher grade wood inside), comprise the raw material for the majority of oils out there, 99% would not be an exaggeration.
Stage Two is typically only partially reached in the jungle on the spot, and more commonly in the collection hut (a strategically-located make-shift hut inside the jungle built for collecting all the wood, typically from 2 or 3 different trees per hunt). And most commonly at the facility (hunter's house, warehouse, etc). As you can see, the majority of the white/yellow wood is gone.
How it relates to oils: okay, now we're getting somewhere. Oils made from shavings collected from this stage are the starting point of the 'high grade oils' category. The % of wood of this grade is tiny: something like 3% out of the total quantity of shavings collected, and the % of total shavings is itself a small amount (I've gone over the percentages in an earlier post somewhere). Please read that again. And now, one more time (and then refer to the footnote* below).
Stage Three & End Product are only reached at the hunter's house / warehouse. This is it. Going at an average rate of cleaning 1 kg per hour, the wood is only one step away from being a finished product ready for selling (after proper drying of course, if the seller is scrupulous).
How it relates to oils: In my opinion, wood chips and shavings from these two stage are what constitute truly high grade oils. A few other categories (e.g. kulit or shells in my vernacular or kien and seah in Ensar's, as well as large slabs of very rich oil-grade wood from ancient trees, and a few other categories) were not covered in the photos m.arif posted, but they also qualify as raw material for high grade oils. Okay I'll give one more example: capsules which the hunters didn't bother finishing off (and thus sold off as "oil grade wood" to distillers), and they end up containing high grade wood... sometimes even sinking grade wood. The chances of this are, of course, very slim but it happens sometimes.
First: let's address the text above highlighted red.
This should show you right away how tiny the amount of high grade raw material actually is.
I recall during a conversation with someone last year, he mentioned something along the lines of.. 'yeah well, all distillers use shavings!'. This statement summarizes the dominant ignorance that plagues the consumer market (and its NOT the fault of consumers, how are they supposed to know?), and this is what leads people like Ensar to use analogies like Great Wall vs Rolls-Royce.
Yes, they're both cars. No, they're not the same. Unless of course you're happy enough with Great Wall vehicles, in which case you should stick to them (but not criticize those who do genuinely love and value Rolls-Royce more - is that a crime?!).
I deliberately left out one important factor, arguably THE most important factor, and that is: the generation of the tree. If it was a mother or grandmother generation tree, the percentages drop down even more dramatically (concurrently, in the case of raw material from mother & grandmother trees, its not far-fetched to establish that the grades jump up by one stage, e.g. Stage 3 shavings from these old trees will make oils superior to Stage 4/End Product Stage wood from daughter/current-generation trees). Getting wood like that today is like trying to find a needle in a haystack. THIS is the 'great extinction' that is in effect as we speak.
So let's tie these two factors together.
Its not about trying to figure out who Ensar's distillers are, and then trying to get them to distill for you, so you can bypass the Ensar layer.
Its all about the wood.
"The wood has the upper hand, every time", as Ensar stated in the recent KL video.
Its all about the wood. Ensar's ouds are EnsarOud because of the wood he selects for distilling. Techniques, apparatus, etc, are all secondary.
Of course, the tragedy (in my opinion) is that for many, Great Wall vehicles are "good enough".
Here are some pics showing the process of cleaning agarwood. Credits to Taha
STAGE ONE
STAGE TWO AND THREE
END PRODUCT
STAGE ONE
STAGE TWO AND THREE
END PRODUCT
I would have separated out Stage TWO and THREE a little more though.
Stage One is what the hunters carry out from the jungle in their backpacks. These large 'capsules' could very well contain King grade wood inside, its unknown at this stage. How do hunters determine the shape/size of these capsules? Simple: they keep chopping away until they reach insect burrows or brownish stains, at which point they change the direction of cutting and chipping. The end result is these wood capsules. This level of cleaning is done in the jungle, on the spot, where the tree once stood.
How it relates to oils: the shavings collected from this stage, together with merely 'stained' yellowish chunks of wood (no capsules with higher grade wood inside), comprise the raw material for the majority of oils out there, 99% would not be an exaggeration.
Stage Two is typically only partially reached in the jungle on the spot, and more commonly in the collection hut (a strategically-located make-shift hut inside the jungle built for collecting all the wood, typically from 2 or 3 different trees per hunt). And most commonly at the facility (hunter's house, warehouse, etc). As you can see, the majority of the white/yellow wood is gone.
How it relates to oils: okay, now we're getting somewhere. Oils made from shavings collected from this stage are the starting point of the 'high grade oils' category. The % of wood of this grade is tiny: something like 3% out of the total quantity of shavings collected, and the % of total shavings is itself a small amount (I've gone over the percentages in an earlier post somewhere). Please read that again. And now, one more time (and then refer to the footnote* below).
Stage Three & End Product are only reached at the hunter's house / warehouse. This is it. Going at an average rate of cleaning 1 kg per hour, the wood is only one step away from being a finished product ready for selling (after proper drying of course, if the seller is scrupulous).
How it relates to oils: In my opinion, wood chips and shavings from these two stage are what constitute truly high grade oils. A few other categories (e.g. kulit or shells in my vernacular or kien and seah in Ensar's, as well as large slabs of very rich oil-grade wood from ancient trees, and a few other categories) were not covered in the photos m.arif posted, but they also qualify as raw material for high grade oils. Okay I'll give one more example: capsules which the hunters didn't bother finishing off (and thus sold off as "oil grade wood" to distillers), and they end up containing high grade wood... sometimes even sinking grade wood. The chances of this are, of course, very slim but it happens sometimes.
And now, gentle ladies and men, prepare for what is possibly the most important lesson you'll learn about the truth behind oud oil grades
First: let's address the text above highlighted red.
This should show you right away how tiny the amount of high grade raw material actually is.
I recall during a conversation with someone last year, he mentioned something along the lines of.. 'yeah well, all distillers use shavings!'. This statement summarizes the dominant ignorance that plagues the consumer market (and its NOT the fault of consumers, how are they supposed to know?), and this is what leads people like Ensar to use analogies like Great Wall vs Rolls-Royce.
Yes, they're both cars. No, they're not the same. Unless of course you're happy enough with Great Wall vehicles, in which case you should stick to them (but not criticize those who do genuinely love and value Rolls-Royce more - is that a crime?!).
I deliberately left out one important factor, arguably THE most important factor, and that is: the generation of the tree. If it was a mother or grandmother generation tree, the percentages drop down even more dramatically (concurrently, in the case of raw material from mother & grandmother trees, its not far-fetched to establish that the grades jump up by one stage, e.g. Stage 3 shavings from these old trees will make oils superior to Stage 4/End Product Stage wood from daughter/current-generation trees). Getting wood like that today is like trying to find a needle in a haystack. THIS is the 'great extinction' that is in effect as we speak.
So let's tie these two factors together.
- its getting harder and harder to get raw material from mother/grandmother trees. Since early 2016, the chances are bordering near-impossibility. And I'm stating this as someone who resides in the center of the oud-producing world and is actively involved in trying to track down materials like this.
- Stage 3 shavings currently fetch a Taiwan market-price of $1,000+ per kg, so you can imagine how hard it is to convince suppliers to sell it for less than that.
- And let's not forget: most hunters don't even bother to separate out shavings from the different stages of cleaning and carving (and hence once again, consumers are not to blame for assuming "all agarwood shavings are equal" – that does indeed apply in 99% cases). But Rolls-Royce cars do not constitute 99% of vehicles on the road.
- So now we're looking at not only Stage 2/3 shavings, but those shavings coming from mother/grandmother trees.
- Once again, I've left out logs, oil-rich slabs etc from mother/grandmother trees, but all of the above still holds true.
Its not about trying to figure out who Ensar's distillers are, and then trying to get them to distill for you, so you can bypass the Ensar layer.
Its all about the wood.
"The wood has the upper hand, every time", as Ensar stated in the recent KL video.
Its all about the wood. Ensar's ouds are EnsarOud because of the wood he selects for distilling. Techniques, apparatus, etc, are all secondary.
Of course, the tragedy (in my opinion) is that for many, Great Wall vehicles are "good enough".
Oh.. I forgot to mention something-
The wood in the 'Stages' photos is from one of our earlier Borneo hunts. They never got finished because we've been too preoccupied with more hunts. Mab was usually the one who did cleaning and carving but he is now in a detention facility in Borneo, and I've already lost the rest of my team. So I have no idea when the wood will be finished and ready.
You'll notice there are holes that appear to resemble nail holes you commonly see in plantation trees. This tree was neither a plantation tree, nor was it drilled. The holes are insect burrows leading to the nests deep in the heartwood. I saw the tree with my own eyes before we chopped it down, and I promise you it wasn't drilled. You can see it as well, below.
The wood in the 'Stages' photos is from one of our earlier Borneo hunts. They never got finished because we've been too preoccupied with more hunts. Mab was usually the one who did cleaning and carving but he is now in a detention facility in Borneo, and I've already lost the rest of my team. So I have no idea when the wood will be finished and ready.
You'll notice there are holes that appear to resemble nail holes you commonly see in plantation trees. This tree was neither a plantation tree, nor was it drilled. The holes are insect burrows leading to the nests deep in the heartwood. I saw the tree with my own eyes before we chopped it down, and I promise you it wasn't drilled. You can see it as well, below.
Now here are some more facts and figures which I think most people don't think about. I have to, because I have to factor in variable costs of different types, and yes it does depress me. I won't blame you if you find this shocking and depressing as well:
- the average weight of a tree is about 2.25 tons.
- the average weight of incense-grade wood collected from a successfully harvested tree is about 300g (only about 0.13%!!!!!!!!).
- the average weight of wood suitable for making high end oils is about 6kg.
- the average weight of wood suitable for making standard-grade oils is about 200kg.
- now keep in mind, EVEN if the hunting trek was not successful, there were still fixed expenses incurred (to give you an idea: my recent Sarawak Borneo treks have set me back RM55,675.97 (around $12,400 USD). And let's not forget: not a single splinter of wood harvested yet.
I'll let you ponder the above facts and figures, and then YOU make your own conclusions.
I'm pretty sure after you're done the number crunching, most (if not all) of you will start to share my suspicion of the majoirty of claims of oud oils that are being sold as 'wild'.
I will part with one last morsel of food for thought: if perchance we get half a kilo of Double Super, and 2 kilos of Super grade wood, I would just break even. To cover the costs of logistics + labour for finishing the wood, make that a kilo of DS and 2.5 kilos of Super. I break even, and have no bread to put on the table for months of hard work.
Think about that.
Yesterday, I was asked for a discount.
- the average weight of a tree is about 2.25 tons.
- the average weight of incense-grade wood collected from a successfully harvested tree is about 300g (only about 0.13%!!!!!!!!).
- the average weight of wood suitable for making high end oils is about 6kg.
- the average weight of wood suitable for making standard-grade oils is about 200kg.
- now keep in mind, EVEN if the hunting trek was not successful, there were still fixed expenses incurred (to give you an idea: my recent Sarawak Borneo treks have set me back RM55,675.97 (around $12,400 USD). And let's not forget: not a single splinter of wood harvested yet.
I'll let you ponder the above facts and figures, and then YOU make your own conclusions.
I'm pretty sure after you're done the number crunching, most (if not all) of you will start to share my suspicion of the majoirty of claims of oud oils that are being sold as 'wild'.
I will part with one last morsel of food for thought: if perchance we get half a kilo of Double Super, and 2 kilos of Super grade wood, I would just break even. To cover the costs of logistics + labour for finishing the wood, make that a kilo of DS and 2.5 kilos of Super. I break even, and have no bread to put on the table for months of hard work.
Think about that.
Yesterday, I was asked for a discount.
I don't mind being the photographer of the kulit ,shells, slabs of very rich oil grade wood from ancient trees, and the other categories of wood, if they're around. Good to see the sandalwood distillation going well. When will it end though? Who knows, I might be able to drop by Pahang.
All this should be documented somehow. Is there a bulk save function? Maybe @Luigi can clarify.
So what 'stage' (refer to earlier post above) y'all reckon this wood to be? And what grade (after final cleaning)?
Adam, Ensar, Muhammad... you're not allowed to guess.
@m.arif, whoops sorry I somehow missed your post above. Ah yes, the stages are correctly split up now.
And as for the sandalwood, well, you already got to smell it now. Hope you're feeling better now. Maybe Lavanya helped in clearing your sinuses..?
Adam, Ensar, Muhammad... you're not allowed to guess.
@m.arif, whoops sorry I somehow missed your post above. Ah yes, the stages are correctly split up now.
And as for the sandalwood, well, you already got to smell it now. Hope you're feeling better now. Maybe Lavanya helped in clearing your sinuses..?