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Agarwood (Oud)
Agartræ (Oud)
Oud er en yderst populær essens i Den Persiske Golfs lande. På tværs af Arabien er både mænd og kvinder kendt for at dyrke råmaterialet - de beundrer den overdådige duft for al dens varme og kompleksitet. Faktisk er oud så populær i arabiske dufte, at der findes flere underfamilier af oud (såsom frugt-oud, læder-oud, rose-oud - listen fortsætter!).
Agartræ, eller oud, er den dyreste tone i en parfumørs palet. Den har været værdsat i tusinder af år og betragtes som en af de mest luksuriøse ingredienser i parfumeverdenen. Oud udvindes af den mørke harpiks fra Agar-træet, der vokser under meget sjældne betingelser. Selvom dens popularitet eksploderede i det seneste årti, har oud været kendt og brugt af forskellige oldtidskulturer i esoteriske ceremonier og meditationspraksisser i hundredvis af år.
Perfekt til koldt vejr har oud en karakteristisk træagtig, let animalsk og fyldig duft. Ouds varme tilfører hele nye dimensioner af dybde, når den kombineres med blomstrede eller krydrede toner.
Træagtig, animalsk, røget, kraftfuld.
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Produktion
Oud, also known as agarwood, is sourced from a rare tree that grows in India and across southern Asia (particularly in Thailand). To acquire the much-coveted essence, a process of distillation takes place. However, it isn’t quite as simple as it sounds—only trees that have been infected by fungus will produce the subtly fragrant, aromatic resin. And to complicate matters further, only 10% of agarwood trees are suitable. Luckily, human intervention has prevailed with the creation of oud plantations designed to artificially produce fungus-ridden agarwood through a time-consuming, yet rewarding process. Trees that are more than 4 or 5 years old are drilled and infected with the particular fungi, and the trees can also be re-infected for (roughly) a 25% higher yield. Once the resin is extracted, the tree trunks are recycled into woodchips and other parts of the trees can be made into lavishly fragranced incense. Through this meticulous process, a single agarwood tree produces about 32ml of essence. With this in mind, we can forgive oud’s costly price tag of around 15,000 euros per liter (or closer to 60,000 euros per liter for “vintage” varieties). In addition to age, other factors are responsible for price variations, such as the color of the essence, its texture and the tree’s origin. Oud wood that is 5 years old has a more intense, leathery, animal fragrance—qualities that are highly sought after by the Middle Eastern fragrance connoisseur. Western-inspired fragrances with a sophisticated or luxurious image are also popular, with a notable number of European labels emphasizing notes of oud wood.
