i'm trying to figure out how to phrase this... i'd really like to get it right and hear some opinions on the specific thing that I'm trying to wrap my head around but when I start writing as it seems to get complicated to explain briefly...
"Oud" is a funny category because it includes plants in different species and even different genera. At times it seems to be like this one category of raw material includes a wider range of aromatic variation than pretty much any other comparable category. Let's say we compare "oud" as a category to "rose" or "sandalwood" and each category includes all typical species in that category and typical extraction methods. I think it's safe to say that the depth and breath of the spectrum of olfactory variation among the ouds will greatly exceed those among the sandalwoods or roses.
Some other categories are Jasmine oils, vetivers, patchoulis, lavenders, nerolis, cedars, and geraniums. None of these (to me) delivers the breadth and depth of variation that the ouds deliver.
I'm wondering a couple of things… Mainly if anybody can think of another type of plant that has this much variation (I can think of only one and I want to keep it to myself until I hear what other people come up with on their own); and second: whether it may just reflect the amount of energy I've put into scrutinizing oud, or if it really is related to the actual degree of chemical variation in oud relative to other materials
Because of the complex ecological nature of oud formation (for example damage by humans or insects followed by secretion of resin followed by gradual oxidation and light fermentation in the tree as it ages) it makes sense to me that there is so much variation in this particular material.
If I were to make the perhaps absurd proclamation that I have determined that "oud is the most complex and diverse category of fragrant materials" what would your thoughts be on this?
I can think of one other only that gives it a run for its money, but I don't entirely trust my judgment so I want to hear what other people think.
Oud as aromatic emergence in Agarwood is so diverse because of the microbiological component in its formation - not only immune response of the tree - the exudation of the resinous sap (like in Frankincense for instance- which entire aroma is the result of the plant production) but for the attacking microbes - fungi and bacteria, whose contribution is so crucial.
The proper and deeply explanatory term for that is 'Microbiological Consortium' - a large group of multiple microorganisms working together or along each other, and in every single instance - of every single tree (or a branch) that particular group reflects the unique environment where the tree grows and what kind of coincidental collective of fungi and bacteria happen to be around at that moment. Everything influences such conicidence of choise (climate, type of soil, type of vegetation - the all-important 'Terroir' and 'micro-climate' down to very specific location (like growing on the northern versus southern slope of the same mountain) - choice of chance uniquely combining some out of nearly 50 possible different microorganisms at any given wounded bit on a tree - anywhere from 3 to 20 different microbes may be present at any given moment, collectively representing of the microflora at the forest floor, at the surrounding trees (for instance, a bacteria that usually lives typically on Mango tree' leaves, apparently is found in the Kinam formations), plus those brought through air from afar and those brough by the insects by direct contact - specifically by ants and termites (who both also grow fungi as little gardeners in their colonies); and - the termites are also identified as a peculiar and possibly crucial factor in the wild Kinam formations).
That means that a different profile of infectious agents can vary even on a single tree - at its different parts, let alone between different jungles at different locales. Thus, the overall number of the possibilities for combinations (which types and how many different microbes are present together at once) - plus quantative variations of combinations (how much of each of the microbes is present) - is practically limitless - what creates nearly endless diversity in shades of the resulting aromatic compounds (factoring in the Time itself of course - the greatly varying duration of the fermenting and the immune responsing - all working in cycles - initial 'damage (or just the working of the advanced aging - in now so rare very old Agarwood trees) -the immune response - the infection- the new immunse response- the reinfection again - new fungal attacks and new immune responses, and so on and so forth... - the longer the better).
True, that some microbes are more characteristic, more typical and more prevalent and can be associated with certain locales - creating the image of 'typical' profiles of the scent of Oud from those locales (for instance 'Malinau' versus 'Tarakan' or 'Koh Kong' versus 'Pursat') - but as the real Biology of living Nature is a very messy, overflowingly rich and in ever-changing Play that refuses to be neatly categorized for human convenience, there is plenty room for surprises, deviations, variations
- as I said earlier, even on the same tree at any given moment.
Microbes' life cycles directly contribute to the aromas of some other plants too - mostly of roots submerged in soil (like of Nagarmotha and even Vetiver - with microbes living in symbiosis on the plant's roots);
but! - another one other stiking, perfumery-crucial (and fabulous) example other than Ouds is Iris (Orris) root essence, which is fully microbiological in origin - meaning that its entire scent is the result of the microbiological transformation of otherwise odorless - utterly bland - starchy Orris root - that needs to be stored for years and years after its harvest - for the aromatic creation to take place - as the root is eaten by the bacteria (originally - naturally but sparcely present on it; nowadays it is introduced through inoculation - to speed up the (otherwise very slow) process);
the bacteria eats and excretes the fragrant metabolic products - literally creating the fabulous aromatic essence by digesting the cellulose-like odorless precursors in the root. Unlike with Ouds though, the diversity of the microorganisms in play is absolutely minimal - there are only two bacteria types identified as responsible - one is aerobic and one is anaerobic. And that explains - that however fabulous the scent of Orris root essences is, the profile of the aroma is much less diverse between various locales and even species of the Iris plants - in comparison to Ouds, resulting in far more similar Orris essences, with much less variety in the key ingredients - in fact down to three isomers of a single type of a molecule - as the key fragrant ingredient - the highly prized irones):
In the Orris root example, it is more about the length of that process, of slow transformation (and the initial growth time for the plants), so the percentage of that precious essence will climb up from the absolute zero to something worth extracting - and as with Ouds, Time is the most precious investment; to produce minimally adequate Orris root essence, 8-9 years are required - as minimum - all up to 20 years in making - if you have that sort of patience and the financial backing (and the mice will not eat the roots in the storage). That is why the truly high-end refined Orris essences (true Absolutes) are price-comparable to artisanal wild-Oud oils.
Another even more odd example of 'Noble Rot' (and essentialy closer to Oud formation than of the Orris root oils) - is the essence from the sediment of the Cognac production - so called Vine Lees - the yeast (that dies out once it consumed all the sugar in the grape juice - or deliberately killed to stop the fermentation) which is collected at the bottoms and the walls of the vine and brandy barrels, and then distilled into a powerful fruity-pungent-sparkly essential oil, called Lie-de-Vin - or the 'Cognac oil'.
Since the microbiological profile in the production of vine is very strictly controlled (as it greatly affects the flavour) the variety of the yeast is also minimal on comparison to the 'zoo' of the microbes in Oud formation- resulting in practically only two varieties of the the same essence -'Green' (Lie de Vin Vert) and 'White' (Lie de Vin blanc) - Green is more complete (and aromatically more interesting to my taste - like a champagne - on steroids), old-fashioned, distilled in old copper stills, left unrefined - while 'White' is distilled in stainless steel, filtered thoroughly and rectified (resulting in more uniformal Grappa-like-sweet'n'sour-grapes'-seeds scent).
These three examples - Oud, Orris root and Cognac's Lie-de-Vin - are all a result of a dramatic transformation, of initially odorless (or minimally weakly aromatic - like Grapes) material - into intensely fragrant and captivating essence - by the means of radical microbiological transformation - fermentation of various types. Yet the remarkable diversity of the Oud forming microbes - fungi and bacteria creates unmatched variety in the aromas of Ouds - from different trees from different places, at different stages of life(decay really) factored by the magic of Time.
There are two other aromatic materiala with unusual non-direct originations that come to mind - both emerge as the result of very complex biological trasnformations by more than one player:
- one is Honey (or Beeswax) absolute - a result of interaction between bees and flowers, and what bees regurgitate and excrete really further down - yeah, now you will live with the lovely fact that Honey is the bees' vomit
🙂 no microbes are directly involved though.
-and the second example is none other than the illustrious, magical, weird Ambergris - beginning with the indigestion of hard and sharp squids' beaks in the stomachs of the sperm whales (cachalots), the intense protective response by their stomachs in producing the key element - the covering enveloping waxy mass, then expelling it (a vomit again) and then lengthy environmental transformation - mostly oxidation (by air) and slow multi-paths' degradation under influence of light and sea water, to transform initially nearly odorless Ambrein - into a variety of magical fragrant elements of Ambergris - with incredible diversity in shades of the resulting Ambergris - yet, no major microbial contribution is present in this case of such formation, the chemistry is more simple and straightforward than with the Ouds - only eaten squids and irritated whales' stomachs as the biology goes
😉 the rest is inorganic - Air, Light and Time.
That is all I can think of - as non-straightforward, even convoluted - netiher botanical nor animalic formation of aroma-materials - that results in diversity, variety, and surpises - from a stench - to the sublime...
The bottom line - Oud IS idiosyncratic - unique, unusual, unlike anything else, complex, peculiar and surprising.
