How Is Oud Sorted? From Harvest to Grades

Before a piece of oud reaches you with a grade and a name, it passes through a journey of sorting and classification that begins after harvest. In this article — the first of the oud-grades guide — we explain how oud is sorted: from cleaning the wood, to ordering it by richness in resin, color, and density, all the way to the grades you hear in the market. And understanding this journey makes you read the "grade" with awareness, not with dazzlement.

What is meant by sorting oud?

Sorting oud is the process of ordering the pieces by their quality after harvest, to be classified into grades that differ in price and use. For the oud that comes out of the tree is not equal: some pieces are rich in resin, dark and heavy, and some are paler and lighter. And sorting separates them so each knows its worth.

And this process is ancient in the oud trade, resting on the sorter's expertise more than any machine. It is a blend of sight, touch, weight, and experience, and so its results vary a little from one house to another.

The stages of sorting

Oud usually passes through successive stages:

• Cleaning and carving: removing the white wood not saturated with resin, and keeping the dark aromatic parts.
• Primary sorting: separating the pieces by richness in resin, their color, and their density by sight and touch.
• The sink test: immersing some pieces in water to know the density of their resin (the sinking is often richer).
• Classification into grades: ordering the pieces into grades given names like "Super" and below.

And the pieces may also be sorted by size, weight, and shape, because some uses require large pieces and others suffice with chips.

By what is oud sorted?

The sorter relies on several indicators combined, not on a single one: the density of the resin (the most important), the color of the wood (the darker, the more it often indicates more resin), the weight and the sinking, and the size, thickness, and shape of the fracture. And we will detail each indicator in its articles in this guide.

And the important thing is that sorting gathers these indicators together; for a dark, heavy, sinking piece with a good scent on burning is graded high, and a pale, light, floating piece is graded lower. But the scent remains the final judge that cannot be dispensed with.

Where is oud sorted?

Sorting often begins near the source: in the production regions of Indonesia and others, where the people of experience sort the oud after gathering it. Then it may be re-sorted several times at the traders and middlemen, all the way to the final seller. And each stage may re-order the pieces according to its criteria and its market, and so the "grade" may change along the chain.

And this explains an important matter for you: that the oud which a seller buys directly from the source and sorts themselves, they know its grade and its indicators more closely than one who buys it already sorted from a middleman who does not know its history. So the seller's closeness to the first sorting is part of the credibility of their grade.

How do you read the seller's sorting?

Since sorting is a human craft, the best thing you can do as a buyer is to assess the sorter's honesty and consistency, not to memorize the names of the grades. Ask: does the seller state the indicators of the grade (color, sinking, scent), or settle for the name? And are their grades consistent over time, or wavering? And do they allow a sample so you test for yourself?

For the seller who shows you why they classified this piece so — and shows you the indicators — gives you a trust that a shiny name without detail does not give. And with time you learn to sort for yourself, so your own grade becomes the most honest evidence.

Sorting is a human craft, not a machine standard

The most important thing you should know: that sorting rests on human expertise and taste, not on a device that gives a standardized number. And so the same grade may differ from one sorter to another, and from one country to another. For what one house calls "Super," another may call "Excellent" or "First grade." And this is not a fault in sorting, but it means that the "name of the grade" alone is not enough.

And so we advise you not to settle for the name, but to ask about the indicators behind it, and to test with a sample. And in the following article we explain the first and most traded of these names: what does "Super" mean?