The resurrection - a clean "stink" Oud Oil

“Stink” first, “Sweet” later

To man or woman who loves “weird” smell

If you like “weird” smell, you are not alone. I have seen people who love the smell of 

• “swimming pool” 
•  “Leather”: new leathery shoes, sofas
• “Fermented food and drink”: durian, Kimchi, skate, stink tofu, surströmming, etc

One thing is common of the above smells: they bring happiness to you.

No judgement here, you are not weird, you like potent smell. And just like you, I enjoy the leathery smell, fermented food, and durian. And I am glad that we are not alone, there are many people like us. For example, in 2018, people lined up at the San Francisco Conservatory of Flowers to try the “Corpse Flower” which has smells of rotting bodies (Gander 2018).

People knew they would experience the smell of decomposed bodies, they still lined up to try it.

 Let me share with you another story.

An elder Arabian man who loves the pungent oud

One of our clients is from Saudi Arabia and he is an oud lover. His taste is different because he loved pungent oud, real “hardcore” one.  He asks if we can do any “intense” Oud smell. He wants something animalic, and smells “strong leathery”.

Some people might judge his sense of taste because it is unusual to smell “strong leathery”. He shares with me

“ Someone told me that if I wanted the “leathery smell” that bad, why bothered with Oud? Why not going buy a leathery bag, a new sofa, or even a new car instead?” 

He explains that there are two differences

1. First, the leathery smell on the bag, car seats, sofas only last for a few months. He could not keep buying these because he only wants the smell, not actual usage.
2. It is inconvenient for him because it would be weird for him to keep sniffing on these items.

He loves Oud that has this leathery note but he also concerns on how distiller made these Oud oils.

How do distillers make “stinky” Oud oil

Oud oil is made from Oud chips (Agarwood). And Oud chips do not stink. It is quite the opposite. Oud chips smell heaven when burnt so how do distillers distil “stink” Oud?

The first step to get the oud oil is to soak the pulverised agarwood underwater or “soaking”.

Many distillers soak these wood in barrel    without the lid    because it takes a shorter time. 

The problem with this method: flying insects may lay eggs in these barrels. Some of them die inside the barrels while laying eggs. 

The elder Arabian man said he received an oud bottle with an object inside. The object looked like a part of an insect. It may or may not affect the aroma but it showed the poor craftsmanship of the distiller.

So he asked if we could do something better for him. And so we took the challenge

Introduce “The resurrection” a "clean" super leathery Oud

To some people, the smell of leathery is stinky, and they don’t like this smell. However, since you are still reading, my guess is either you like “stink” Oud or want to find out more. So let me explain the difference

Other stink Oud really stinks. It stinks from the beginning till the end. It never changes. 

The Resurrection is different.

The whole process lasts about several hours and you only need a tiny dab on your wrist or clothes to experience it.

The process of making this oil

If you think to make this oil “stinky and leathery” oil is an easy task, you will think again after I show you the proces.

Material: The material is pre-distilled agarwood chip, it means resinous chip used only. Many distiller used “spent” agarwood (agarwood that was distilled) to distill again. The oil from this type is lack of character, it can be stink but it will not be a good “stink”. The Resurrection is different, it is distilled by first grade material. In fact, it is the same material of our renown Warming Sun Oil.

After pulverising this agarwood, we store it in an airtight container to keep the closed environment under control. First, it keeps the flies and maggots away.

Secod, it maintains the low level of oxygen.  When the oxygen is low, it slows down the decomposed process. It also delays rotting. also . The acidic and alcohol will form during this fermentation process which will kill many “bad” bacteria. Think of it like a fermentation process, and this is where the “leathery” or “stinky” notes come from.

So really, the “stink” and “leathery” notes from this Resurrection Oud Oil is not from Rotten materials but Fermentation. The difference is clear

After one month, we open the barrel to get the material out

We then put everything under the distilling chamber and start “cooking” slowly.

After many weeks, the oils are finally ready.

A happy man who found his clean “stink” oud

The Arbian elder is happy after trying this Oud. He told us when he dabbed on his skin initially, he got instant gratification. The aroma was intense and “stink”, exactly what he wanted. 

In the morning after applying the oil, his wife told him that he smelled weird and expressed that she did not like the smell. However, when he got back home in the afternoon, he showed her again how the oil changed. She could not believe it, it was nowhere near the scent she experienced in the morning. It transformed into a woody ouddy smell.

Final word

If you are new to agarwood oil, please do not try this oil first because it will ruin your experience. This is no ordinary oil. 

However, if you are different, you like “weird” scent like our customer do. You like pungent, leathery, stinky scent, then I encourage you to give it ago. 

To sum it up, it is barnyard, stinky, or leathery at first. However, serveral hours later you will likely find a pleasantly surprise woody note with a hint of sweet and spicy.