@PEARL and everyone else
Please accept my sincerest apologies for the late reply. I won’t bore you all with the details but just super duper busy.
@Rasoul Salehi
1)
https://www.kyarazen.com/age-agarwood-tree/#
I believe this will be very helpful to your question.
2)
I would just like to clarify that I didn’t meant getting 2% yield per kg was
impossible but most people would not be able to correctly achieve it or achieve it at all.
Our yield for Shah Jahan was 1.67% and for Bahadur was 1.69% per kg respectively. It would have been a bit higher but the person who I rented the equipment from suddenly wanted it back right there and then. No amount of money or negotiation (something I pride myself on, lol) worked. So we had to cut the distillation slightly short.
To my knowledge the person whose equipment (and his relatives and friends) I rented, have tried to recreate bahadur and shah jahan 4 times already and there is currently a 5th attempt being made. Each time their yield has been just above 0.03% and the scent has been totally totally different.
I do not say this to boast, the point I am trying to make is that they saw me do nearly everything from start to finish. From changing their setup slightly, to putting the wood in the pots. Yet they have been unable to re-create. Imo they were not focused enough and didn’t pay attention to the details.
Little tweaks and the ability to predict the outcome to a certain degree, come with experience. I would encourage you to conduct some of your own distillations; it is not hard at all. I know people who have distilled on their gas cooker at home, on their bbq and on many other heating mediums, using cooking pots and everything in between. I have myself used the glass lid of the cooking pot as a condenser in one of my experiments and it has worked. As I previously mentioned in another post, my favourite way to learn is to do it myself/to experiment. I encourage you to try it. The knowledge you gain will be very satisfying.
3)
The wood you have, was picked randomly and the only criteria was that it smelled good. A very small bit from each piece was tested before being offered up for sale.
Yes there is a whole other market for wood that has already been distilled. I know people in china and Thailand who only sell post-distillation wood, for making jewellery, incense and many other things. If incense sticks are being made, then a lot of other things will be added to it, depending on who purchases it, to make sure the stick does not go out and the burn is even etc. There is even a big market for the white wood of tree that are chopped. Nothing is “wasted”.
In Assam (using this example again as it is the most recent), once the oil has been removed to the distillers satisfaction, the wood is super heated and whatever comes out like the waxes etc, is sold to some of the big perfume houses to make attars and alcohol based perfumes, cosmetic companies and whoever else wants to buy. The wood is sold to incense companies amongst others.
4)
I think everyone is fully within their right to ask as many questions as they want or feel need answering. Some people will answer everything you ask. Some people will give you half answers and some people will just shut you down. When I first decided to conduct my own distillations to see how the oud that had been used in generations of our family comes to be, I, like you, asked many questions and was shut down by nearly everyone most of the time, so I did my own re-search, experiments, went on courses, talked to academics etc and tried to build upon what I was learning little by little. Learning new things and seeing the fruit of that knowledge will be immensely satisfying for you. Like you said, asking the question and getting the answers that lead to more questions is the most fun bit. LOL
@Rai Munir
I think it depends on the distiller. Once a distillation is “completed” and oil collected, it will be separated from the water. Then to “dry/cure” it, it will be left naturally or a chemical/compound will be introduced into the oil to speed up the process and then removed/separated. The resulting post-distillate from that distillation will be further processed to extract anything else that is left over. Even the water from the distillation will be sold.
Please see example below of something I tried back in 2009 to check the scent of different extraction methods on rose oils:
View attachment 5147
From left to right
1) Rose Otto steam distilled (clear)
2) Rose Oil Hydro Distilled (slight yellowy tinge)
3) Absolute method 1 (oil had a stronger yellow tinge)
4) Absolute method 2 (oil was more viscous, half solid and clear)
5) Absolute method 3 (clear)
6) Rose Concrete (fully solidifies)
@tyson
I tip my hat to you sir (said with affection)
@PEARL
An issue is that the data source is often the one who manipulates, twists, and turns it to sell,
but you decide which oil is hot or not; not the distiller, story or pot.
Agree with you totally.
@Grega
Regarding questions I have one of my own. Is it possible that certain oud oils that are cheaper can smell better to many people than some pricier ones?
IMO you are right and technique/method does play a part.
@Taha
you are a man after my own heart. Good to see you back. Your picture showing different results inspired me to go and dig out some of my own old experiments from back in the days:
I hope people find it interesting
View attachment 5151
From left to right, cultivated Vietnamese wood all parameters same other than those stated: zero soak stainless steel pot, zero soak copper pot, soaked ss pot, soaked copper pot. The aluminium bottles are lined.
View attachment 5152
From left to right, Wild Malaysian Wood – full ss setup, full copper setup, full glass setup, ss pot glass condenser, copper pot glass condenser, all three glass ss & copper pots being collected using glass condenser while temperature is being gradually increased, all three glass ss & copper pots being collected using glass condenser while temperature is being gradually decreased.
View attachment 5149
From left to right, wild thai wood – each time the soak.temp.size was changed
View attachment 5150
Studying the effects of oud oil(cambodi plantation cheap but ok smelling)left in various intensities of direct sunlight + direct UV Lamp.
View attachment 5148
These are some of the notes I have taken over the years. I absolutely love taking notes.
Most of the questions that have been asked on here have now been answered I feel. A bit by one member and another bit by another member and so on. Just put everything together and you will have an answer that could lead to so many more questions. That is the fun bit. ;-)
