Rose & Oud....The Yin & Yang ☯ of natural aromatics.
Rose & Oud can be seen as the Yin and Yang ☯ of natural aromatics.
Most artisans (if not all) have made their own renditions of this mysterious relationship between the two.
What does the yin yang symbol represent anyway? ☯
In a nutshell; it represents the relationship between any 2 extremes,...and the constant state of change in transition from one to another.
In Chinese philosophies, this can be seen as an analogy to life.
Day and night for example! and all the degrees of change between the two within one single day....this, is a perfect example of Yin and Yang and the dance between the two.
What about Rose and Oud?
To get a bit philosophical, let's trace the origin, and dive deep into the states where those 2 have been created.
Oud:
Oud is a product of suffering and healing! (Wait....What?)
yes. Agarwood is formulated when the Agarwood tree has an infection. a bacterial/fungal infection. What oud is, is the "antibiotic" which the tree produces if you will. The tree gets injured by insects...Ants drilling holes in it.....or any external man made factor.....all are made to injure the tree, which stimulates the tree to excrete this material to cure and preserve itself. Thus, oud is actually a product of stress and hardship! The tree directs its energy into producing this healing balsam to mend those injuries. Year after year, if the stress is continuous, this balsam is produced time and time over until it solidifies and becomes harder and harder. This hardened resinous wood is what you know as "triple super, sinking grade" oud. Stress and healing cycle over decades. The older and longer the "tree-suffering", the "better oud" you get!
On the other hand,
Rose:
Rose represents a fresh start... New life....Youthful vibrancy at dawn! (what do you mean?)
Roses are delicate and are short-lived. They bloom right at dawn, and are best harvested at that time. The chemical composition of a rose, consists to a large percentage of alcohol (Phenylethyl Alcohol 7.99-8.44%), and due to the light molecular weight of most of the molecules, roses tend to be highly fragrant! the molecules evaporate very fast.
To preserve most of the oils and aromatics found in a rose, the harvest takes place at dawn right after a full bloom. Right after the harvest, roses are then sent to the distillery to be distilled. (we're strictly talking about the distillation of Rosa Damascena /Rose Damask here)
So...
The dance between Oud and Rose is a dance of life & death, of the beauty and the beast, of the young and old.
Balancing those 2 aromatics can be a challenge to most perfumers, but once done right, it's a breathtaking creation!
Our rendition of this dance can be found in a symphony that we've orchestrated, under the name of "Purple Haze" on this link.
Try it and let us know what you think in the comments below.