@kesiro cobb osteotome I agree that oxidation can occur in oud oils but I wonder about how fast it occurs and how long it would take an oil to have appreciable loss of notes or performance due to oxidation. I think we have to assess the age of the sample, the conditions of which it was stored in and where
@Nikhil S got the sample. I think this would give us a better picture to say whether or not his findings could possibly be attributed to oxidation. Speaking from a pseudo-scientific gobbledygook perspective I have a theory, other than oxidation, as to why oils can thicken over time. There was a picture at the end of Ensar's video for Sultan Salman or another of his Sri Lankan oils IIRC, it showed a greenish oil that had what I'd only think were big bubbles of air or water droplets suspended in the oil, it was beautiful, I took a screen shot but can't find it. My theory is that even after proper curing oils will still have a microscopic amount of that air or water droplets that continue to come out over time leading to a thicker oil, maybe I'm wrong, I don't know. Here is a pic of one of Adam's oils that shows this to a much, much lesser effect.
@Shabby I agree that some of AA's oils have a relatively longer learning curve as I've experienced that myself. His oils are among the
Haut de la par tie supérieure when it comes to scent profile, but to be frank I have tried a few that I didn't think had good longevity, and I wondered why. Don't get me wrong, longevity and projection aren't necessarily indicators of an oils or the feedstocks quality, but it is something many go for and makes an oil more economical in itself. For example, take two great oils-1 requires one swipe for the desired effect the other takes three, the former oil will last three times as long making it more economical over the life of the bottle. Speaking from a pseudo-scientic gobbledygook perspective IMO any given specific sample of agarwood would contain a finite amount of sesquiterpenes, oxygenated compounds, monoterpene, chromone derivatives and other fragrant molecules. Consequently, distillation of that agarwood would draw out a finite amount(or a high % thereof) of said constituents. Take for example something
@Ensar Ferrari stated about Chiem Po Chai and how it was a NON-efficient distillation whose method killed the yield. If he was able to draw out that same finite amount(or a high % thereof) of fragrant molecules over a reduced yield, then we are talking about an oil that is "nutrient dense". Now think about a distillation method that boost the yield, I wonder if drawing out that same infinite amount(or a high % thereof) of fragrant molecules over an increased yield actually results in an oil that is "nutrient poor"? Or is it that the boosting method finds a way to draw out an even higher percentage of that finite amount, maybe I'm overthinking or flat out wrong but I do wonder why some of the oils don't last that long.
