Thanks for sharing your thoughts Ensar.
I can see that there's something positive that can come out of this discussion (namely education), so despite my previous withdrawal I do not mind responding, for the benefit of the readers.
I am fully aware of the practice of inoculating wild trees. As a matter of fact, I mentioned it a while ago on my website already (describing Malaysian agarwood - Malaysia, to my knowledge, being the first place where this practice started). The first oud dude I met in Indonesia was none other than an agarwood farmer who I met within hours of touchdown in Jakarta. Moreover, I am friends with the foremost scientist in the world of oud cultivation in Indonesia. I have visited his plantation, and had discussions with him before, during, and after my visit. I have smelled his oils, and I know exactly what inoculated Indonesian oud oils smell like... and don't smell like. And I know what burning inoculated wood smells like as well.
As for my distiller, his knowledge of Indonesian wood is vastly superior to mine. So I assure you, neither one of us is being duped.
Your attitude is the correct one, of course. Sadly, the general rule in the oud world is, he's a liar unless it can be proven otherwise. You can't simply take a person's word for it anymore.
That's the attitude I have, and the reason why I've only advertised 2 oils as having been extracted from the shavings of sinking grade wood. If it was 'marketing noise', and one that worked, I would have been noisier.
I will reiterate: when I said the wood in the photo was the "finest material" my distiller had ever worked with, its not because it is sinking grade. Or because it surpasses sinking grade wood in resin-concentration. Since that wood is irrelevant to the discussion at hand, I will insist on not commenting on it. It has nothing to do with Noir/Kemenyan. I feel a bit upset being put up on the stand, so to speak. That wood has nothing to do with Noir/Kemenyan. And my refusal to talk about it is not because I don't have an answer but because it is irrelevant. For now.
I will say this much: the answer to your questions lies in none other than one of your very own posts. : )
I should add that one look at that photo is enough to see that the wood is NOT sinking grade. You really thought I was trying to pass it off as sinking-grade wood? I am fully aware of the ±14 grades of Indonesian wood. The one in the photo is AB kulit tebu. I am not that ignorant, that I would mistake it for super, double-super, or king-super agarwood (these being the three grades of wood that sink in water).
Now, when you said "I am going on what I see as the evidence he put forth" that IS the correct attitude, and your request is not just understandable but required as well.
So far, cultivation efforts have failed to produce sinking grade wood. So the 'sinking-ness' of the wood, coupled with the relatively low price I am able to get it / sell it for, should be enough to show how and why Noir and Kemenyan were possible.
There's more to it, but I cannot reveal my oud supplier's identity for obvious reasons. But there's one more reason (the MAIN reason) why I am able to get sinking wood for such a good price, and that is my supplier. Unfortunately, I cannot reveal his identity, or how and why he's the reason I am able to get such great prices.
Speaking of good prices for sinking wood...
Thomas, $3,000 would have been the best-case-scenario cost price back in the day, for the original Borneo 3000, according to Ensar's equation. $6,000/kg and a 0.05% yield would give a cost-price of $3,000. And as for producing it today, Ensar mentioned it would cost $25,000 based on a 0.05% yield.
But I say, like I said before: this equation doesn't apply to Borneo 3000, just like it doesn't apply to Noir/Kemenyan. They were distilled from the shavings collected from carving sinking grade wood. And the price of the shavings is a fraction of the cost of the chips and chunks.
In short: Noir/Kemenyan's authenticity at $470 per bottle is as possible as the original Borneo 3000's authenticity, when it was first released at around $370 per bottle. If Noir/Kemenyan defy facts and figures, then by the same token so does Borneo 3000. If Noir/Kemenyan are fake because of the < $25,000 price, then Borneo 3000 was a fake for being < $3,000.
And if my being absent from the scene of the harvest and distillation of the wood for Noir/Kemenyan render the oils questionable, then ouds like Oud Nuh, Oud Khidr, Oud Royale II and most/all of your Vintage LTD oils will face the same ruling.
I want to apologize in advance if I don't respond in a timely manner. Aside from having a full-time job and running AgarAura on my, I had a son not long ago. So its hard to find time for discussions sometimes. : )
If the discussion takes an unjustified unpleasant twist, I hope it will be understandable why I won't be partaking in it then.