Oud

What it is

Resin formed inside agarwood trees infected by a particular mould. Only a small fraction of trees produce any, the wild species are endangered, and the real oil is among the most expensive liquids traded anywhere.

What it smells like

Dense, smoky and resinous with a medicinal, almost barnyard edge. Western noses often need several wearings before it stops reading as a fault, and the synthetics at this price level lean sweet and woody rather than truly animalic.

Where it sits

Which layer of the pyramid it is listed in, across every fragrance here that carries it. A base note is one you smell for hours; a top note is usually gone within the first.

What it turns up with

How much more often than the catalogue average. 1.0x would be chance, so these are the things that genuinely travel with it rather than the things that are simply common.

When it is worn

Against the average fragrance here. The line marks that average, so a bar past it means this is worn in that season or setting more than most.

Houses that use it most

Counted across the fragrances here, which reflects what we cover as much as what a house makes.

Montale (19), Amouage (16), Rasasi (15), Mancera (12), Lattafa (9), Nishane (8).