EMERALD VALLEY OUD 2025 • single-tree wild Oud oil • Kampot Lowlands, Cambodia

EMERALD VALLEY 2025 • single-tree wild Oud oil • Kampot Lowlands, Cambodia

(100% wild in-house artisanal Oud oil, authentic wild natural agarwood essential oil)

• production : Low-temperature distilled in early Feb 2025 from one mature tree from the wild forest lowlands of Kampot province, Cambodia. Distilled in-house at Aroma Sublime headquarters, in our stainless steel still with a glass collector. We chose to distill this particular tree in stainless steel to showcase an exceptional, fully mature, wild agarwood tree capturing it’s full, wild, raw, aromatic spectrum. (but with no soaking or fermentation)
Why steel and not copper for this Oud distillation? Yes, the vast majority of our in-house Oud productions are distilled in copper, as this best represents Aroma Sublime’s particular style, history, and philosophy of Oud distillation. But for this particular tree we opted for stainless steel, a careful choice meant to showcase and highlight the particular nuances of this exceptional tree and terroir. (learn more about how the distillation vessel affects the scent of Oud in our article here...)

• scent highlights: Complex, dynamic, rich, juicy, this is a classic Southern Cambodian lowland profile, including baked apple, dried fruits, fresh tobacco, sweet brown spices, brown sugar, with gentle, well-harmonized smoke, ovine-animalic, and pheromonal aspects.

• scent description: Straight from the bottle this Oud’s depth and dynamism is obvious; you’ll sense the complex sweetness and spice, an ovine-animalic aspect (sheep and sheep’s wool), and a delicate, refined smokiness. But make no mistake, this is definitely not a too-intense, overwhelming, or controversial affair. Its literally mouthwatering; a juicy, delicious thing from start to finish, with only light notes of controversy that can be easily appreciated by most. There is an outstanding human-pheromonal presence that leans toward the feminine.
From moment you open the bottle, its all here; a medley of gourmet dried fruits, molasses, sheep’s barn & sheep’s wool, a fine smoky Scotch whiskey, antique wood, simmering sweet brown dessert spices, fresh amber pipe tobacco, fall leaves, and soft natural leather. This Oud features exceptional dynamism and movement and myriad micro-notes. As it settles into its unfolding, you might notice fresh apple cider, apple pie, brewed red and black tea, vanilla extract, overripe black cherry, dried apricot, cassia, nutmeg, Demerara sugar, candied orange zest, gourmet golden raisins, sheep's wool or sheepskin, soft natural leather and suede, carpenter’s shop, antique cherrywood and mahogany, overripe blood orange, buckwheat honey, and much much more for the attentive nose to discover. Deeper into the dry-down this Oud settles into an extended smooth finish of candied citrus zest, brown sugar, apple pie, new lumber, and fresh blonde cigars. Very good longevity and a luscious, sweet and satisfying finish.  

• notes of controversy: Minimal. Very light, well-harmonized soft ovine-amimalic barn and smoky elements.

• species: A. crassna

Additional notes on Oud from Aroma Sublime:

Give it to me straight… from the bottle?
A note on how we describe and assess Oud.
Our Oud oil descriptions never include aromatic impressions when the oil is sniffed straight from the bottle, or for the first 60 seconds after it is applied to your skin, since most Oud will initially present itself so intensely and overwhelmingly in those moments, that a scent analysis would be irrelevant and misleading. The scent descriptions we offer typically begin about 60 seconds after application to skin or other test substrate. Read more on this topic in our Learning Center.
Beginner level article: The Ritual of Oud for Beginners: How to Best Enjoy Oud.
Intermediate level article: Hype, Poetry, or Precision? On the Art of Describing Oud and other complex aromatics.

• Absolutely wild. When we say wild, we mean wild! All our “wild” designated agarwood and oil is from genuine 100% naturally occurring wild forest agarwood trees with no human interventions prior to harvest. Occasionally we might offer other options, but they will be clearly indicated as either “cultivated” (farmed) or “semi-wild” (agarwood growth influenced by human intervention in a natural setting). When we say wild, we mean wild! Learn more on this topic in our Learning Center article: Sustainability in Sourcing Wild Agarwood: How Aroma Sublime is Meeting The Challenge

• "Oud" versus "agarwood" disambiguation: For our purposes, here on the Aroma Sublime website, "Oud" will usually refer to the essential oil of agarwood, and "agarwood" to the raw wood itself. This website's terminology seeks to reflect the most common English usage for each form of the materials. It should be noted that for many English speakers, "Oud" might also refer to the raw wood, particularly among connoisseurs. Read more on this here.

• One-tree wonders. We strongly prefer single-tree agarwood harvests and single-tree Oud oil distillations. This has both environmental and aesthetic benefits, capturing the unique essence of a single, fully mature, agarwood tree. When this single-tree preference is not possible we strongly favor combining wood from only a few fully mature trees​ from the same geography, of known provenance, ​supplied by trusted and experienced harvesters. ​(the only exception would be in the case of carefully planned blends or co-distillations which we always describe with precision.) More and more you will see us moving toward single-tree productions. It’s part of our commitment to sustainability and our joy in honoring the individual aromatic “soul” of each tree we harvest. Learn more on this topic here.

•​ Beyond Words. We try to describe our Oud oils as accurately as possible using common vocabulary from a Western cultural perspective. There might also be some specialized technical or aromatic nomenclature as we seek also to educate and inform our customers. We hope to strike a balance; offering accessibility and straightforwardness while also providing some technical and specialized vocabulary when we think it is informative or necessary.  Our Oud descriptions are subjective and may vary slightly over time due to the effects of aging on Oud's aromatic profile, however, Oud oils will generally only improve with age, and the key features of a particular oil will generally be quite stable over time. We try to repeat the assessment process and update the detailed aromatic description for every Oud oil in our catalog at least once every 12 months. We pride ourselves on detailed accurate descriptions of our Oud oils, and we are happy to receive your constructive feedback on this topic. Read more on this topic in our Learning Center article: Hype, Poetry, or Precision? On the Art of Describing Oud and other complex aromatics.