Question:
I mentioned this question as an aside in today's SOTD thread but figured it would be worth its own thread.
I live in the Middle East, where oud based fragrances are traditional and widely available, and I am somewhat familiar with the way the Middle Eastern versions are put together.
But I've read that, since much oud comes from South and SE Asia, oud based fragrances are produced in countries in those regions.
Do any Basenoters have experience with ouds from Malaysia or other countries in the Far East which produce oud based perfumes? I'm wondering how they differ from the ones produced in the Persian Gulf region.
noggs

Answer:
err
whats oud?

Answer:
Sorry about that.
Oud, or oudh, or aoud, is Arabic for agarwood, or eaglewood. I thought I had seen references to oud on the forum so I though it was commonly understood.
From what I've read, a certain type of tree gets infected with a fungus, which causes the tree to secret resins to retard the growth of the fungus. Over time the resins build up to darken the wood, which when burned creates a very deep, pungent, almost tarlike aroma. The oil from the infected wood has been traditionally used in China and in Arab countries as perfumes.

Answer:
It is featured in the montale line which gets discussed a fair amount here. Check the female discussion board for a really good recent thread. Also M7 contains it, but after smelling the montales, that did not impress me.
It is an important ingredient of perfumes from the middle east. Sorry, don't know about its use from farther east than that.

Answer:
Very limited input here: I've received oud oils from India and the middle east. Each of them seemed to be of a better quality, but differences in smell were clearly noticeable. I cannot tell the origin of the ouds from India. The tree is always from the far east, but the oil production and refinement, I read, has been an Arabic domaine for centuries. From web sources I get the impression that all better oils are made in the Middle East to this day. And the best woods are regularly exported to the Gulf Area where proceesing is done.
That appears plausible, as that's where the money is, and most likely the biggest market for the fragrance too. After learning details about Montale I extended my curiosity to the oils (pure and blended). Some Montale Aouds (colognes with a high content of oud and essential oils) are almost as strong as my strongest oil, but there are obviously Arabian oud blends which are a lot smoother than Montale aouds can be. Montale seems to use Arabic ouds, but sometimes they also indicate where the wood comes from, and the oud character is clearly not the same in all their creations.
The oud content in YSL M7 must be minimal. I do not think that anyone who has not been familiar with oud might be able to detect it. But I am also convinced that the lot would be missing if it were not here at all. It's like the salt on your eggs, and has a lot of future. I am surprised that new perfumers like LesNez do not jump to that!

Answer:
Yes, aoud based fragrances are a big deal here in the Gulf area.
Some specialist houses like Arabian Oud and Al Qurashi, both out of Saudi Arabia, or Ajmal, from the U.A.E., offer hundreds of various oils and blends.
Although I've smelled numerous Montale products, so far I've bought only one, the Aoud Damascus. It is very nice, but I can buy any number of rose and oud blends produced locally at a fraction of the cost of the Montales, which BTW are quite a bit cheaper here than in Europe or the U.S. But a $20 Ajmal smells almost as good, and an equivalently priced one is much better.
For people outside the Middle East who want to try ouds, I think that Montales are about the only way to go. But in my opinion the oils offered for sale in the Middle East are much deeper and richer.
The most expensive fragrance I own is a $300 10 ml bottle of an oud oil blend. It is definitely something special. Although there are very many pure ouds available I prefer the mukhallets, or blends. The straight ouds are a bit hard to take sometime. But even in the blends the oud is usually very dominant.
If you think that $300 for a 10 ml bottle is expensive, then think about $3000 for a 10 ml bottle, which will get you into the upper quality level. I've been allowed to test some of those, and yes, I can tell the difference ;-) They are truly fantastic, as they should be for that price.
noggs

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Agarwood is it endangered?
http://www.enfleurage.com/ac-agarwood-2.html
wikipedia on Agarwood
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agarwood#External_links
seems as though Agarwood is found in rainforests and has had a following since ancient Chinese Dynastys
The last chapter of Chandler Burr's book about Luca Turin has Turin in the Muslim perfume center of Mumbai. A great deal of the tale of oud is told there.
Turin meets an elderly perfume maker who knows as much as Turin about perfume and chemistry.
good stuff

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I've been interested in "Attars" for quite a while, especially oud.
I've been meaning to ordering some thing from www.arabianbazaar.com, but there are so many at a wide variety of prices so I'm lost

Answer:
Originally Posted by noggs
Although I've smelled numerous Montale products, so far I've bought only one, the Aoud Damascus. It is very nice, but I can buy any number of rose and oud blends produced locally at a fraction of the cost of the Montales, which BTW are quite a bit cheaper here than in Europe or the U.S. But a $20 Ajmal smells almost as good, and an equivalently priced one is much better.
noggs Great advice. I really want to visit the UAE now and raid the Ajmal store.

Answer:
After making my previous statements I thought I'd better make sure I know what I'm talking about ;-) So last night I did a comparison of Montale's Aoud Damascus and Ajmal's Sausan. Keep in mind that the Montale cost 6 times as much as the Ajmal, and that prices for Montale here in Saudi Arabia are less than half of what they are in the U.S.
There is probably a better match with the Montale among the Ajmal collection. I picked Sausan almost at random, but I knew that it was roughly similar to the Montale.
My first impressions, which really lasted throughout, were that the Montale is is softer, smoother, slightly sweeter, and a bit richer than the Ajmal, which seemed leaner and drier, a bit more medicinal. I feel that the oud component in the Ajmal is a bit stronger than that in the Montale, which may partially account for this difference. The Montale highlights the rose just a bit more than the Ajmal.
As they dried down the differences became less noticeable and I wasn't sure which one I preferred. The Montale still seemed a little softer and sweeter than the Ajmal. The Ajmal was like a dry wind compared with Montale's slightly more balmy breeze.
I'd have to give a slight edge to the Montale, but that may depend upon my mood, whether I wanted something leaner or just a bit richer. I would say that the Montale is overall a higher quality product. But considering the price differential (which is very high especially if you take into account how much the Montales go for outside of the Middle East) the two are very close.
The price paid for the Ajmal was $13. But it is only a 65 ml bottle versus the 100 ml size of the Montale. So taking into account the size difference, the price variance isn't as great as I first wrote, but still substantial.
noggs