Al Jazeera Documentary about Oud

AJ+ Arabic has produced a brief segment about oud: “The price per kilogram for one of the finest kinds of oud incense is $9 million! als does it smell?”

“80 Ferrari cars equal the price of this piece of wood, a very rare piece that weights 16 kilograms.
20 million dollars = 80 Ferrari cars!
If you owned it, you’d burn it. Don’t be amazed! This piece is one of the highest quality ouds called kinam.
There are many kinds of oud. It prices have risen rapidly due to the high demand on it in the past ten years.
The regions of the world that consume the most oud are: the Arab Gulf countries, China, and perfume-producing European countries.
The trees that produce out grow in southeast Asia.”

Al Jazeera has also produced a documentary titled “The Smoke of Gold” which examines oud as a social icon in the Arabian Gulf states, a symbol of hospitality and warmth, the smell of which is purported to chase away the blues. The documentary is filled with details and valuable information about this beguiling material and its methods of extraction and production. It charts its journey from India and Southeast Asia (Thailand and Malaysia), the only areas where the trees it’s extracted from grow, to France and Britain. The full documentary is available to watch online (in Arabic, without subtitles) on Al Jazeera Arabic YouTube channel:

(Translated by Ashraf Osman)

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