Kings loved it. Queens loved it. Traders crossed continents for it. Today, perfumers are still obsessed with it.

Oud, also known as agarwood, comes from the dark, resinous heartwood of certain trees native to Southeast Asia. It is rare, precious and unlike almost anything else used in fragrance.

Woody. Smoky. Deep. Sometimes sweet, earthy or almost leathery. Oud does not sit quietly in a fragrance. It gives it depth, warmth and a presence that stays with you.

Some love it immediately. Some take time to understand it.

But oud is difficult to forget.

And that is probably the easiest way to explain it: you can read about oud all day. You only really understand it when you smell it.