image by Glamour Schatz on flickr
The Financial Times dug up some mold on oud, and while they’re talking about agarwood like it’s news, the stuff was sniffed out by perfumers centuries ago. Believe it or not, that modly old wood is one component of the genius behind natural ambers and many a wood-scent cologne.
It’s also insanely expensive, and there’s not really a great way to harvest it sustainably – you pretty much have to break the tree to bits to get at the good stuff. Arguably, if you keep prices high and break very few trees to bits each year, demand for the scent can be managed. But that does run contrary to capitalism at least as I know it thus far.
Here’s hoping there’s a manageable way I just don’t know about yet.
