When
Trina Mallett’s third child, Hailee, was born, nothing
went the way Mallett had planned. Unlike her older
siblings, Hailee had colic, so for the first Oud (agarwood
or agar) comes from trees found in India, Cambodia,
Yemen, Thailand and Ethiopia.
It is a certain fungal infection that comes from
Aquilaria trees, which is peeled off the tree. The chips
are initially pale and light in color; the heartwood
turns dense and dark as a result of the growth of a
dangerous mold.
Oud has a very strong and unique scent that is available
in chips, which are lit and burned. The scented smoke is
called Bakhoor.
Oud is also available in an oil form, which is placed in
small perfume bottles.
People apply the oil on certain areas such as behind the
ears and on the wrists for a long-lasting scented
effect.
Oud oil is produced by mashing agarwood and placing it
in distilling pots and covering them with several inches
of water. The lid is then closed and the pot is heated
until the water boils. The boiling water ruptures the
cells of the wood and the vapor of agarwood oil and
steam rises to the top of the pot and escapes, released
through a tube leading to a condenser. The condenser
cools the vapor and is itself repeatedly cooled by
water.
After soaking, the barrels of agarwood mash are emptied
into distilling pots and placed over wood fires for
distillation. The heating process may look primitive,
but the fires are tended by skilled workers who control
the temperature quite carefully.
As the vapor passes through the condenser and is cooled,
it reverts to a liquid form and is collected in a vessel
where the oil and water separate. The water is drawn off
leaving the agarwood oil.
Several distillations will generally occur, with the
first producing the highest grade of agarwood oil and
the last, the lowest. These distillations may continue
over a week’s time. After distillation, the remaining
mash from the distilling pot is left in the sun to dry.
It will then be ground up and used to make joss sticks
(incense). Before being bottled, the agarwood oil is
filtered to remove dirt and impurities.
Bakhoor, the scented smoke, is made from placing the Oud
chip on a bed of natural coal or lighted charcoal, which
allows the wood to burn and puff the fragrance of the
authentic Oud. Once the chip is burned out, it should be
thrown away.
Traditionally in Saudi Arabia, when Oud is lit, the Oud
burner is passed around from one person to another as
part of Saudi hospitality. An old odd fact about Bakhoor
is that when a host is tired of his visitors and wants
them to leave, he/she would burn a chip of Oud and walk
around the room. Guests would then know that this is a
polite signal for them to leave.
Oud in its oil form (dehan) is a considerable
investment. It is sold and measured in 12-milliliter
bottles called tola. Prices for one tola range anywhere
from SR300 to SR8,000. Anything below this price might
be a copy or a Chinese imitation.
According to Um Mohammed, a Saudi woman who mixes Oud
and has been selling it for a living for over 30 years,
says there are other kinds of Oud aside from oil and
Bakhoor. There is a special mix called Mabthouth.
“Mabthouth
is an Oud paste that is made by crushing Oud wood and
adding different scents from Oud dehan and flower oils.
Then, the paste is shaped into balls,” she explained.
“This paste gives a different smell than what a normal
Oud chip would give. As soon as you put the Mabthouth on
the flaming coal, you will smell different kinds of
Arabian scents all together.”
There are different kinds of Mabthouth that are produced
every year. Um Mohammed said that she takes each mixture
under study before displaying and offering them to
clients. Price range for Mabthouth goes from SR100 to
SR500 per box.
Um Mohammed takes small poor quality pieces of Oud (wood
chips), crushes them into tiny morsels and mixes them
with different oils. When burned, this mixture gives off
a better scent than the poor quality pieces when burned
alone. This is only done to improve the quality of Oud.
Only natural materials are used to manufacture Arabian
Oud mixtures. Um Mohammed uses musk, patchouli, oak,
jasmine flower, rose flower, saffron, cedar, amber,
bergamot, sandalwood and, of course, agarwood.
Saudi women use a certain method of Bakhoor burning:
They walk around the house holding the burner to scatter
the smoke in every room. They also wave their abayas and
clothing above the smoke so that it picks up the scent
and stays there for long. Other Saudi women use Oud and
Bakhoor as body perfume by applying dehan on their hair.
They put some of the dehan on the tip of their fingers
and run it through their wet hair, or they just wave
their hair on the smoke coming out of the Bakhoor
burner.
Imam Bukhari reported that Oud is known to be an
excellent scent for strengthening the body and the mind.
According to him, the Prophet (peace be upon him) said:
“Treat with Indian incense (Oud Al-Hindi) for it has
healing for seven diseases; it is to be sniffed by one
having throat problems and put in the mouth for one
suffering from pleurisy.”
Oud is also used to traditionally treat asthma, chest
congestion, colic, nausea, kidney problems, thyroid
cancer, lung tumors, and post childbirth. It is also a
general tonic in China, India and Japan.
International perfume brands such as Tom Ford, Armani,
Dior, Kilian and more are now embracing Oud for its
distinctive long-lasting scent and are including it in
their luxurious perfume mixtures.
Popular brand stores in Saudi Arabia that are famous for
selling high quality Oud are: Arabian Oud, Ajmal and
Abdul Samad Alqurashi.