Scent Testing: The Seventh Step in the Journey of Oud
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After the pieces were arranged by sorting, comes the step that looks to the essence of the oud, not its exterior: scent testing. For the scent is the soul of oud and the first reason for its worth, and evaluating it is the heart of the whole evaluation stage. In this article we address how the scent of the pieces is tested, what is evaluated in it, and why this test remains a sensory judgment that requires a trained experience.
Why is scent testing the heart of evaluation?
Two pieces may resemble each other in size, color, and density of veins, yet differ greatly in scent — which is, in the end, what the customer buys. So scent testing is the finest and most important of the indicators of evaluation, for it looks to the quality for which oud is sought in the first place: its fragrance.
We spoke of scent as one of the indicators of the initial estimation in the forest in how does the gatherer judge the worth of a piece?; but here the test is finer and more organized, taking place on clean, dried, sorted pieces, so the judgment on the scent is clearer.
How is the scent tested?
The scent of oud is tested in more than one way: the piece may be smelled cold as it is to perceive its initial scent, its surface may be lightly rubbed to draw out a clearer scent, and the piece may be warmed a little so it releases a deeper fragrance that reveals its true character upon heating. And each of these ways uncovers a facet of the piece's scent.
The scent of a piece cold may differ from its scent when warmed. For some pieces reveal their depth only upon heating, so the seasoned evaluator combines the cold sniff and the warming to reach a full judgment on the piece's character.
What is evaluated in the scent?
Evaluation is not limited to the "strength" of the scent, but includes its character, depth, and stability. The type of scent and its general qualities are considered, along with the extent of its depth and fullness, and its stability and lastingness. And these descriptions are estimative and sensory by their nature, differing with the nose and the experience, and so the test relies on evaluators who have trained their senses to distinguish the fine differences.
And we are reserved here about claiming a decisive scientific description of the scent; for evaluating it is an estimative art more than a laboratory measurement. And honesty requires that we describe the scent by what is actually perceived of it, not that we clothe it in marketing descriptions it does not carry.
From scent testing to grading
When the scent of the pieces is tested within their homogeneous groups, a picture of each piece's character comes together for the evaluator, added to what he knew of its size, color, and density of veins. And with this complete picture, grading becomes possible: arranging the pieces on the ladder of quality based on the sum of their indicators, not on a single indicator.
And so scent testing has provided the most important input for grading. And in the following axis of this journey we move to the eighth step: grading the pieces into grades.
Fair grading combines scent, size, and resin density together. For a small piece with a strong scent differs in its grade from a large piece with a moderate scent. The scent is a pivotal indicator, but it is read with the rest of the indicators.
Every piece had its scent tested before being graded. At Oud Treasure we bring oud directly from its sources in the islands of Indonesia. Begin with a sample by which you test the scent, the origin, and the grade yourself.
Browse natural oudRequest a sampleThis article is the seventh axis of the journey of oud from the Indonesian forest to the Gulf customer's majlis, and it is preceded by sorting.
And for the indicators of estimating worth review how does the gatherer judge the worth of a piece?
