“How Is Oud Squeezed From Trees?”

This is a question we hear often — and it’s easy to picture someone literally pressing a tree to extract oud oil.

But that’s not quite how it works.

Oud oil, also known as agarwood oil, comes from the resin found inside infected agarwood trees.
It’s not pressed out — it’s drawn out using heat, water, and time.

Here’s how it actually works:

1. Harvest
   Producers start by cutting agarwood into small pieces. But not just any wood — it must be infected with a natural fungus that causes the tree to produce the rich, dark resin known as oud.

2. Soaking
   These wood pieces are soaked in water at around 30°C for about a week. This softens the fibers and helps release the resin trapped inside.

3. Distillation
   After soaking, the wood is placed in large distillation pots and heated to nearly 100°C. The steam draws out the resin’s aromatic compounds.

4. Collection
   As the steam cools, it condenses into water and tiny droplets of oil. These oily droplets are collected — and that’s your precious oud oil.

So no, oud isn’t “squeezed” in the literal sense.
It’s distilled, through a slow, natural process of water, heat, and patience — the traditional way.