Running this online retirement lifestyle journal brought me to many places and experiences which I would not have otherwise (I mean you can start one too 😄 ). I just spent 3 fascinating nights in Bangka Belitung Islands, Indonesia to learn about Agarwood - the King of Incense scent from Heaven.
Agarwood comes from mainly Aquilaria trees which are found from east India, through Indochina, the Malay Peninsula to the Indonesian archipelago. It's a tall, rod straight tree with a green crown of leaves at the top. Fully matured trees of about 80 years old reach a height of around 100 feet.
We were in Bangka island east of south Sumatra. The Aquilaria trees here are wild and they are rare - they will only get scarcer due to over exploitation and deforestation.
Face to face with my first Aquilaria tree with Agarwood and it is wild - it is a rare privilege to lay a hand on this gem. This huge tree stood alone surrounded by many other species and thick undergrowth. The exact locations of wild Aquilaria trees are closely guarded secrets.
Agarwood hunters look for Aquilaria trees with injuries such as worm, beetle or ant holes. The tree defends itself by producing dark, hard resins that seal off the injured, fungus infected section(s). It is this resin which is the basic ingredient for making aromatic incense, oil and perfume. Agarwood resin is worth more than its weight in gold.
Agarwood resin is known as Gaharu in Indonesia (and Malaysia). It is known internationally as oud, which is an Arabic word meaning "from wood".
Other causes of resinification in Aquilaria trees are animal bites by squirrels etc, leading to fungus infection.
Less than 1 in 10 Aquilaria tree produce resinous wood (Agarwood), which accounts for its rarity and high value. Besides the traditional markets in the Middle East (for incense) and Europe (for perfumes), affluent China's growing taste for Agarwood incense and scents, as well as perfumes, pushed demand for Agarwood to unprecedented heights. Agarwood is also sought after for investment, much like gold. Insatiable demand and dwindling supply make the industry fertile for black markets and other shady intrigues.
The Agarwood hunters are skilled in harvesting the resinous sections of the Aquilaria tree without killing the tree. Poachers simply fell the whole tree and haul it out of the forest as logs.
Death of a centenarian 😢 I can hear the silent tree scream in pain as the chainsaw mercilessly cut its hapless 100 year old body off from its source of life 😰
A typical Agarwood cutting from a wild Aquilaria tree. The resinous parts are darker than healthy wood.
The Agarwood cuttings are brought back to the distillery where the white wood are meticulously whittled away by hand, bit by bit.
Almost 100% pure Agarwood resin, more expensive than gold, weight for weight. (There will invariably be small bits of white wood embedded in the resin but these are removed as much as possible.)
The almost pure Agarwood resin are ground down to fine chips in a grinder.
The grounded resin is processed with a distilling system working the same way as traditional water / steam distillers. The resin are slow cooked in a sealed steel kettle with water at around 80℃ unpressurised.
The distillation takes about 5 days to complete. The result is precious pure essential Agarwood resin oil or oud oil. Oud oil is often referred to as "liquid gold" for obvious reasons.
To me as a novice, this pure Agarwood resin essential oil (oud oil) smelled like a blend of zesty fresh orange and apple peel, and freshly crushed grass. It is neither pungent nor overly strong. Oud is believed to an antidepressant and anti-aging agent when rubbed into skin (where it will linger for a few days).
While oud oil is made in dark medieval looking alchemist labs in their countries of origin, it is marketed globally by perfumers in clinical white lab coats and pretty / handsome celebrities or models. Oud oil is used in various fragrances. Eau de toilettes contain around 2% oud oil, colognes around 3-5%, the highest quality (read most expensive) perfumes contain no more than 10% to 20%. Bulk fillers such as alcohol and water make up the remainder in the fancy bottle.
I wish I can be back in Bangka to learn more about Agarwood, the island, its beaches and capital city Pangkal Pinang (as there wasn't much opportunity during this trip).
We travelled between Batam and Bangka by Lion Air (45 minutes flight time). Everyone we spoke to have nothing good to say about Lion Air, but both our flights were on schedule and everything (from ticketing, check in, boarding, flight, to disembarkation) went smoothly.
Reference: Wikipedia
Date: 11-13 Oct 2019
Hi,
ReplyDeleteI love Bangka agarwood fragrance. I have few of Bangka agarwood bought few years back. Im from sg.