Like the rest of our Collection, Assam Black is single origin distillation from agarwood trees that were at least sixty years old at the time of harvest. What I mean by ‘single origin’ is not just a general region, or country, or island. What I mean is that all trees used in this extraction were harvested from one and the same jungle in the Tripura district of Assam. But that’s not all!

The beauty of it is, this oil is the result of organized cultivation efforts put in place by the Indian Government back in the 1950s. Massive amounts of Aquilaria Agallocha seeds were planted in the jungles of Tripura, in an effort to preserve wild growing agarwood trees. No less than sixty years later, we’ve harvested an amazing crop of sustainably planted trees, and extracted an oil that smells anything but cultivated!

We don’t mean to slight our well-meaning competition, but compare this cultivated 60-year-old oil to the 5- to 10-year-old distillations on offer elsewhere, and we’re sure you’ll see that unless we point out these facts some unsuspecting fanciers might be lead into believing all ‘Ouds’ were created equal. Not to mention the ever-depleting supply of wild agarwood; now it is high time we start thinking about how the future of Oud will unfold.

With the new craze of statue-carving out of Oud wood, it is downright appalling what goes on behind the scenes of the Oud producing world to get hold of the last few batches of wild raw materials. In an effort to go organic and eco-friendly, we reach out to you to think twice before endorsing any further harvests of wild agarwood from the all but barren jungles. When distilled Artisanally, carefully harvested cultivated Oud wood can yield Oud oils of comparable quality to wild harvests. And Assam Black is living proof of this.

Black, woody, and insanely potent, Tripura Oud is a new point of departure from the classic barn-funk aroma of Assam Oud oil. A heady, zesty, spicy and unmistakably black Oud fragrance that speaks wealth, discernment, refined taste and the ultimate style. (We wonder what Tom Ford would have to say about this one?)

Extraction date: May 2008. This oil has aged naturally for over three years! What does that mean? No lamping, no sunning, no airing! No force-aging, period! This oil has not been oxidized in order to smell comparable to a naturally aged oil. Left alone to age and marinate in its own delectable scent molecules, this oil guarantees a good several decades of shelf life, unlike the artificially oxidized oils on offer elsewhere, whose shelf-life is cut into less than half by the effects of force-aging.

Extraction yield: 25 tolas. Once we run out of the initial distillation, we cannot reproduce this oil again. Claim your own tola (or two!) of this beautiful Artisanal extraction, and help make a difference in preserving the sacred Aquilaria tree!

3 full grams (by weight!) of sustainably harvested Artisanal Oud Oil™.