Indian oud is agarwood oil and wood from north-east India, chiefly Assam, produced from the resinous heartwood of Aquilaria malaccensis. It is the darkest and most challenging style of oud, a woody note with a heavy, animalic, leathery and earthy character that many connoisseurs regard as the classic, uncompromising form of the material.

What does Indian Oud smell like?

Indian oil, often sold as Hindi oud, tends to open with a pungent, farmyard-like animalic blast, mixed with damp earth, smoke and wet leather. Over the next hour this settles into a bitter, resinous, deeply woody body with a faint cheesy or fermented edge and a long, dry, musky drydown. Compared with the fruity sweetness of Cambodian oud or the honeyed balance of Laotian oils, it is rougher, drier and much less sweet. The strength of the barnyard facet is widely attributed to the long soaking, in effect a light fermentation, that the wood undergoes before distillation.

Where Indian Oud comes from

The main source is Aquilaria malaccensis, with A. khasiana also found in north-east India and Bangladesh. The town of Hojai in Assam is one of the country's key centres for agarwood oil extraction and trade. India is now promoting cultivation of the tree in its north-eastern states, including on homestead land.

• Also known as: Hindi oud, Assam oud, Assamese agarwood
• Fragrance family: Woody (animalic)
• Type: Natural (widely reconstructed as an accord)
• Main origins: Assam and other north-eastern states of India
• How it's obtained: Long soaking of resinated wood followed by hydrodistillation
• Key aroma molecules: Sesquiterpenes and 2-(2-phenylethyl)chromones, plus fermentation by-products from soaking

Indian Oud in perfume history

India was among the earliest suppliers of agarwood to foreign markets. Seventh-century sources, including the travel writings of the Chinese monk Xuanzang and the Sanskrit Harshacharita, mention aloe oil from ancient Assam, and the bark of the same tree was used to make sanchipat, the traditional Assamese manuscript material. In Japan's kōdō incense tradition, wood classed as sasora was associated with India and given a "hot" character.

Indian Oud in modern perfumery

Heavy demand and illegal harvesting have pushed A. malaccensis to Critically Endangered status in the wild, so most Indian oil now comes from cultivated trees. The raw oil is a staple of Gulf attars, while Western perfumes usually borrow its animalic, leathery effect through accords.

How Indian Oud wears and what it pairs with

Indian oud is a base note of exceptional power; a drop can dominate a composition for many hours. Perfumers tame it with rose, saffron, sandalwood, amber, labdanum, musk and spices.

Safety and regulation

A. malaccensis was listed in CITES Appendix II in 1995, and the rest of the genus followed in 2004, so exports need permits.