...I have written a couple of reviews recently in which I have been scathing of the mythology accredited to oud. I think this mythology is becoming perilous, in that there is a regular traffic of claims & counter-claims as to what contains real oud & what doesn't, & the virtues of real oud relative to the synthetic. I have been brought to a state of vexation by this; and rather than burst forth sarcastically in a review, perhaps I can attain unto some kind of assuagement in this place. I have recently learned that Tom Ford's 
Oud Wood Eau de Parfum contains synthetic oud, and also that Kilian's oudy 'fumes do so. In a department store recently I broached the matter of the provenance of oud to one of the apothecaries on duty, and was told very authoritatively that a certain 'fume she would show me presently does ^very certainly^ contain real oud, only to learn from the data-sheet, that she herself showed me (!), that it is in fact synthetic oud that this 'fume contains. (However, I will ^not^ stoop to despising retail staff, unless they make a deliberate concerted attempt to deceive me; & this instance was merely one of being somewhat careless in reading the data-sheet.) The 'fume was Mizensir's 
Perfect Oud. It is clear that it is becoming immensely difficult to find definitive expositions à la oud. This is only to be expected given the crisis that the traffic in oud is in, and the extreme preciosity of this substance. It is fortunate that I am not distraught by the knowledge of the syntheticity of the 'oud' in 'fumes that I possess - see my review of "Collection Extraordinaire - Precious Oud" by Van Cleef & Arpels in which I set out my philosophy at the matter. So, I would greatly enjoy a ^very^ frank discussion of the matter, in which I would urge such participants as there might be to set aside to the maximum possible any such wishful thinking as wherewithal they might be beset concerning perfumes that they possess or are very fond of. An interesting source of teaching bearing upon all this is the ~Ensar Oud~ website: it does have, to my mind anyway, a solid ring of honesty about it; ^but^! it ^is^ a selling site, which is, I think, to be kept forwardly in mind. Specific 'fumes about which I would be particularly glad to have some kind of assurance (or mis-surance, if so it must be!) about are the Xerjoff ~Oud Stars~ 'fumes, Ropion@Malle's "The Night", Laurent Mazzone's 
Hard Leather, the various oudy 'fumes by Boadicea the Victorious, Terry de Gunzburg's "Terryfic Oud" line, & the Bond Nº9 oudy 'fumes. All these are quite to really-quite high end, & at least the higher-end ones really ought, to my mind, to contain real oud. Also, I found it fascinating to read, on the aforementioned ~Ensar Oud~ website, how a high grade oud is traceable to a particular known piece of infected agarwood; and how the very highest grades of infected wood are so replete with the oil that they actually sink in water! whence 'sinking-grade'. It would explain (I hope!) how it is that Thameen brought out strictly 100 bottles only, ever, of their 
Palace Oud, which retailed for £2750 per 30ml bottle. This traceability to a particular piece is also true of the higher grades of ambergris, so I have read.
Oud Wood Eau de Parfum contains synthetic oud, and also that Kilian's oudy 'fumes do so. In a department store recently I broached the matter of the provenance of oud to one of the apothecaries on duty, and was told very authoritatively that a certain 'fume she would show me presently does ^very certainly^ contain real oud, only to learn from the data-sheet, that she herself showed me (!), that it is in fact synthetic oud that this 'fume contains. (However, I will ^not^ stoop to despising retail staff, unless they make a deliberate concerted attempt to deceive me; & this instance was merely one of being somewhat careless in reading the data-sheet.) The 'fume was Mizensir's Perfect Oud. It is clear that it is becoming immensely difficult to find definitive expositions à la oud. This is only to be expected given the crisis that the traffic in oud is in, and the extreme preciosity of this substance. It is fortunate that I am not distraught by the knowledge of the syntheticity of the 'oud' in 'fumes that I possess - see my review of "Collection Extraordinaire - Precious Oud" by Van Cleef & Arpels in which I set out my philosophy at the matter. So, I would greatly enjoy a ^very^ frank discussion of the matter, in which I would urge such participants as there might be to set aside to the maximum possible any such wishful thinking as wherewithal they might be beset concerning perfumes that they possess or are very fond of. An interesting source of teaching bearing upon all this is the ~Ensar Oud~ website: it does have, to my mind anyway, a solid ring of honesty about it; ^but^! it ^is^ a selling site, which is, I think, to be kept forwardly in mind. Specific 'fumes about which I would be particularly glad to have some kind of assurance (or mis-surance, if so it must be!) about are the Xerjoff ~Oud Stars~ 'fumes, Ropion@Malle's "The Night", Laurent Mazzone's Hard Leather, the various oudy 'fumes by Boadicea the Victorious, Terry de Gunzburg's "Terryfic Oud" line, & the Bond Nº9 oudy 'fumes. All these are quite to really-quite high end, & at least the higher-end ones really ought, to my mind, to contain real oud. Also, I found it fascinating to read, on the aforementioned ~Ensar Oud~ website, how a high grade oud is traceable to a particular known piece of infected agarwood; and how the very highest grades of infected wood are so replete with the oil that they actually sink in water! whence 'sinking-grade'. It would explain (I hope!) how it is that Thameen brought out strictly 100 bottles only, ever, of their Palace Oud, which retailed for £2750 per 30ml bottle. This traceability to a particular piece is also true of the higher grades of ambergris, so I have read.
QuercusAlbus