OUD/AGARWOOD (THAILAND)

Thailand is the stated origin. One documented material is Givaudan’s hydrodistilled Aquilaria crassna wood oil, with woody, leathery and smoky facets. It illustrates a Thai source without defining every oil or perfume carrying the regional name.

Oud, also called agarwood, can smell deeply woody and resinous, with leather, smoke and warm animalic facets. Some materials reveal sweetness, fruit or tobacco-like nuances; others emphasise drier wood. Animalic describes an olfactory impression, not an animal source. This range helps explain why one oud fragrance can feel rounded and another more earthy or challenging.

Natural agarwood is aromatic, resin-bearing wood formed in trees such as Aquilaria in response to damage and biological stresses. Its formation is not limited to infection by one particular mould. The selected wood can be distilled to produce oud oil. Perfumers can also construct oud impressions from other fragrance materials, so a listed note does not prove that natural oud oil is present. Flowers, spices and amber can frame the wood in different ways; the finished composition determines the balance and lasting power.