r/TheOudCollective

Wow, okay i never thought i would come across an oud i didnt like; but i recently ordered some samples from a (“trusted”) vendor and they all sort of put me off in a way. I ordered an array of oils from regions/provinces of borneo, papua, sumatra and a couple hinans, along with a couple essential oils. I eagerly opened them all in front of a friend and shared with them a few sniffs of each. After smelling them all very quickly i returned shortly after with more intention and was not really impressed with or drawn to any of them. Despite being from several provinces in borneo, sumatra and papua across several species including Hirta, Macrocarpa and Gyrinops, they all sorta carried a similar note that was difficult for me to pin down and difficult for me to enjoy.
This was going to be my intro to many regions and species i had not yet experienced so I was looking forward to liking them all in different ways. There are oils that lean more green, or more smokey, or more woodsy but there is this signature across them all that I can best describe as a sweet, powdery floral suntan lotion and or a bubblegum flavored antacid medication, only exception being the Hainans. By coincidence I also bought an oil (kalimantan, bornero where most the samples were from) from a different, more artisanal brand and it was nothing like these, even though it carried its own powdery note. Obviously the more expensive and artisanal oil would be better but I dont even want to try these on skin I am that turned off by this cloying mystery note.
In a relatively short amount of time I feel like I have experienced a range of oud qualities, maybe one adulterated oil, a couple of questionable quality but not offensive and some good quality commercial distillations too. They all carry a volatility that has quality to it that is not necessarily present in these oils and has me stumped. I have a few Thais, a Hindi, a Burmese, a Borneo, a Philippines, one mix of regions, all of varied quality from commercial to artisanal, some wild some farmed some fermented and yet eight little samples of various species and terroir from one vendor all have an off-note that is lotiony, soapy sweetness. Help!

Hello everyone!

We would like to announce that we have a new member of the mod team u/-Renton-

His passion beyond just oud oils and Agarwood is his specialty in Japanese agarwood Kyara/Kinam.

This announcement was made for everyone’s knowledge. Thank you.