Overnight, the casual agarwood collector and perfumer has become priced out of agarwood oil. As a boutique rare oil supplier, I too am slowly being priced out of some of the truly memorable agarwood oils of my career which turned my search to something comparable. I didn’t know much about white oud when I first imported an artisan distillation years ago but it was an immediate like. I felt it was too new to offer and so like many of our other wood oils, I allowed it to age out until I felt it was ready for the shop. When I look at this oil with the lens of a perfumer, sniff it with the heart of an agarwood lover, swipe beads with the soul of scented perfumer, I’m clear about its rightful place in our agarwood collection.
The white oud profile is so similar to aquilaria malaccensis and agallocha, that it recalled early agarwood purchases in my inexperienced days, before the apothecary became official. Thankfully with experience and time, I’ve honed my evaluation skills to not make these types of errors now that it counts. Buaya means crocodile which in indonesian culture can mean swamp, the environment where the tree can be found.
Small artisan distillations by my Kalimantan producer combined with time to age out green notes, results in an essential oil that is sultry, smokey, with a butter back bone that could easily become a musk composition. It also holds the chills vibes I love in an agarwood oil. White oud wears on the skin for several hours and even to the next day. Its widely respected in many cultures for ceremonial anointing. I use it ceremoniously in my own anointing rituals to calm my soul and feel connected to old earth things like Sequoia trees and calamus root and warm soil.
dwoodburd (verified owner) –
I adore this. Aquilaria ouds are so singular and precious in a way that makes me mostly inclined to wear them on their own, and I do love this by itself as well for a hit of steamy, smoky jungle heat and deep, leathery tang. However, the way it melts and merges into a blend without sacrificing its integrity or overwhelming the other components, but rather lending a massive touch of complexity and class– is really hard to overstate. I am truly impressed. It feels exotic and interesting in a way that might be construed as a bit heavy/ meaty… but I am here to say that this is an oil of utmost refinement and quality…. Rich, bright, umami smoke unfolds into layers of complex sweet woods, and yes, it is very masculine and dense and whatnot, but opens as it sits on the skin into an almost linaloic character– juxtaposed with a neroli-like floral bitterness, amongst the smoky, salty leather– that I just can’t seem to get enough of. It has inestimable value in perfume, and– to me– begs to be combined with florals and other woods into truly transcendent, universal luxury. Am currently swooning over it with Jasmine Sambac, Nootka Wood and Himalayan Cedar, starry-eyed. The possibilities! I highly recommend, and have only joyful, reverent gratitude for everything purchased here. It is a very special thing to have these outstanding aromatics made accessible in such a way, purveyed and showcased so beautifully, and shipped with care… by an ethically grounded person who really believes in providing quality. ! . All of the stars. :), <3.