Fragrant Harbour Vintage Oud Oil

$100.00
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Fragrant Harbour
Origin: Hong Kong Hainan 

For sometime we have been on the search for Hong Kong oud, an ambitious search that was mostly futile. Even our Chinese friends could not help with the request with many purveyors of the finest wood and kinam/kyara even questioning whether it existed, casting doubt on our aspirations.

Recently we struck gold with not only hong kong wood, but also with this extremely rare gem of an oil. This is a vintage co-distillation from the skunk works of Taiwan. An absolutely astonishing find, that we could not have imagined when setting out on this search.

As for the regions distilled, these are the most coveted regions, the backbone of Chinese oud. Hainan is a region largely known today for its cultivated wood, most collectors haven't tasted its vintage wood and one can't only imagine the cost of it today. I enquired with a prominent Chinese oud collector about Hainan oud once, and was taken aback by the effort and enthusiasm for collecting and grading the finest Hainan pieces from years gone by. The passion and painstaking effort for one region, was something unparalleled. As for the price it was simply astronomical.

We've touched upon Hong Kong already (you can read a little more on it here) and given the superstar status of both regions, one can begin to appreciate the ambition and passion behind a project such as this.

To distill these individually would be a phenomenal achievement in itself, but to successfully pull off a co-distillation is rather breathtaking and accolade worthy. This may be the only time we have an oil quite like this, and words simply cannot do this oil or the work of our Taiwanese friends justice. From here on we'll let the oil do the talking...

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FAQ

Product categories

What is oud oil?

Oudh is the resinous material from the agarwood tree, produced after it has been infected for several years or even decades. It is the rarest perfume oil on the planet, having been treasured for millennia as a prized and precious scent. 

Oudh oils are extremely complex and expensive essential oils. Fetching thousands of dollars by the kilogram. It is rare for oil yields to be beyond 1.5%. It takes several kilograms of wood to yield only millilitres  of oil. The yield and quality of the oil depends upon the quality of the wood used and the skill of the distiller crafting the oil by hydro distillation.

Oudh oil is swiped onto ones skin from the applicator stick inside a bottle, and applied to the pulse points and clothing. This is to allow for projection and for the scent to develop and release its scent profile throughout the day.

Oudh oil can also be blended with other essential oils creating an attar or mukhallat, offering its strengths and creating a unique fragrance when mixed in tandem by an experienced perfumer. Perfumes and blends crafted from Oudh can be very expensive and have become increasingly common in the western market over the last few years since being introduced.

What is oud wood?

Oudh is the resinous material from the agarwood tree, produced after it has been infected for several years or even decades. It is the rarest perfume oil on the planet, having been treasured for millennia as a prized and precious scent. 

Oudh is one of the most expensive substances known to man and has been revered for thousands of years in various cultures and different religions.

The most expensive wood is found in wild trees untouched for decades or even centuries in rare cases, followed by organic trees grown by man but not interfered with, and lastly by cultivated trees grown on large plantations and injected with chemicals in order to produce the resinous oudh faster.

Oudh Wood is the true original form of Oudh long before oils & perfumes, it is traditionally burned on a coal or electric heater in order to release its precious and luxurious aroma that has been treasured for millennia. Each culture has its own way of using Oudh, whether it be burning chunks of raw wood, incense sticks or chips through the kodo style.

What is ambergris?

Ambergris is an especially rare and unique rock-like perfumery ingredient. 

Composed of squid beaks and other matter, it is thought to take years to form before being expelled and slowly ageing as it spends decades, even centuries in the vast openness of the earth's oceans.

The best ambergris is usually white, at least in terms of rarity, demand and price.

Thereafter follows brown (a lesser aged version) and finally black (the rawest and freshest version).

The best is very subjective and dependent upon the needs and vision of the perfumer. For a more animalic and funky scent, the perfumer may opt for brown or black ambergris, so as to bring the scent through in the final perfume.

White is often used both for its unique scent as well as its fixative properties - that is making a scent last longer on the skin.

The scent of white can be described as oceanic, sweet and slightly animal, of course varying batch to batch.

What is sandalwood?

Sandalwood grows throughout the world and is derived from trees from the Santalum genus.

Sandalwood oil has traditionally been sourced from India for millennia from the Santalum Album species. Today sandalwood is sourced from all throughout the world, from Hawaii to Tonga to India and Sri Lanka and even Indonesia. 

Sandalwood in the raw timber form, is used for the manufacture of incense sticks, carvings and even furniture. While the highest quality batches are used for fumigation like oud wood on a coal burner.

Sandalwood oil is unparalleled throughout the Eastern perfumery tradition. It has been used for numerous different purposes such as a carrier oil for other ingredients and even in the traditional Indian Attar industry. 

It has also been used to macerate ambergris and other rare ingredients, as well as in candles & your favourite Western designer and niche spray perfumes!

Payment & Shipping

What shipping options do you offer?

All our orders are sent with tracked delivery with either FedEx express courier or standard tracked delivery via Royal Mail.

Standard delivery rates

Royal Mail Shipping is $15 for international tracked shipping worldwide

Royal Mail Shipping is $10 for domestic special delivery service in the UK only

Express Courier Rates

We use FedEx for international orders by default

FedEx international is $35 and is free on orders over $400

DHL Express is $75 for international shipping and $35 on orders over $400.

What payment methods can I use?

We accept multiple different payment methods.

Through Shopify payments we accept various types of credit and debit cards, and in addition to this we accept shopPay, PayPal & Klarna.

For customised orders we offer invoices the traditional way, and invoices via PayPal and Shopify payments.

We offer financing through our partner provider Klarna, offering you an affordable way to break up your purchase.

About us

Just what is artisanal oud?

So you've seen the word "artisan" in abundance and now you might be wondering what do we mean by artisanal oud? 

Artisanal oud refers to a new generation in oud production and evolution in the way we think about, procure and enjoy oud. 

Artisans spend years mastering their craft, focusing on the art and their passion for their respective disciplines. Money is not the priority, that would be the antithesis of the artisanal approach to oud. 

Artisanal oud, represents a shift from mass produced, diluted and dishonest oud offerings throughout the world. To us it means going back to basics, at ground level, and working with the folk on the ground to recapture the essence of oud tradition.

An artisan needs to have control of every parameter, knowledge of every part of the puzzle and above all, a vision that brings all the moving parts together.

At The Attar Store, we have deep relations with the finest and most legendary of distillers of essential oils, the best perfumers & the veterans and legends of the Eastern oud tradition. 

This gives us an unparalleled understanding and insight into each of our products, from origin to conception.