A tree gets sick, and the result sells for thousands of dollars a kilo

Agarwood, better known as oud, is a favourite fragrance for many perfume lovers, but it does not exist in a healthy Aquilaria tree. It only forms after the tree is wounded or infected by a specific mould, and in response to the infection, the tree produces a dark, fragrant resin, which is then harvested and used.

‘The tree’s trauma is bottled and sold for thousands per kilo,’ says Vinniit Aroraa, an Indian perfumer and founder of RAD LVNG. Genuine wild oud can run into thousands of dollars per kilo, partly because nobody can force a tree to get sick on schedule.

Aroraa explains that perfumers have spent centuries chasing the worst smells on earth because, diluted and blended just right, they turn into the very thing that makes people smell unforgettable. Oud is one of four such ingredients, alongside musk, castoreum and ambergris, that smell revolting on their own but form the backbone of some of the world’s most expensive fragrances.

Nearly all fragrance ingredients are synthetic today, since the animals and trees involved are too precious to be harmed and strict laws are in place. Chemists have spent decades reverse-engineering these natural scents in a lab, molecule by molecule.

Image: Wikimedia Commons/by MuslimDon