Indian oud

Definition

Indian oud, or Hindi oud, is the agarwood oil distilled from Aquilaria malaccensis (syn. A. agallocha) harvested in Assam, Tripura, Manipur and Arunachal Pradesh, in northeast India. This is the species that carried the first oud listing under CITES and that still anchors the most animalic agarwood category on the market.

Olfactive profile

The Indian profile is deeper, more barnyard, more leather and more animalic than Cambodian oud distilled from Aquilaria crassna. The opening often carries a fermented edge and a cumin-sweat note, before settling into a tarry, smoky, persistent leather (source: Premiere Peau, Indian Oud).

Against Cambodian oud it reads less floral and less honeyed, more visceral; against Laotian oud it is less clean-woody, with a heavier sesquiterpene base (agarol, agarospirol, jinkohol). Houses that work it neat or signature it include Ensar Oud, Areej Le Dore, Henry Jacques, the Amouage Oud collection, the Roja Dove Aoud line, and select Tom Ford Private Blend oud releases.

Production and CITES

Harvesting stayed wild until very recently, which placed critical pressure on wild A. malaccensis stands. India has since built a plantation supply chain with controlled fungal inoculation of the trees that triggers resin formation, especially in Assam, from the 2010s onward (source: Legacy IAS, CITES Review of Agarwood).

A. malaccensis was listed on CITES Appendix II in 1995, following India's proposal at CoP9 in 1994. Every international shipment now requires a CITES permit. Premium Assam-origin oils trade at 100 to 500 euros per gram, making this the most expensive tier of the agarwood market.

Related terms

Indian oud is set apart from other agarwood terroirs by its species, its animalic profile and its regulatory seniority. The useful neighbors are the general category, the CITES framework, and the Arabic name for pure oil.