Sri Lankan Oud
Note Profile
About
Sri Lankan Oud is agarwood oil from Gyrinops walla, the tree Sri Lankans call wallapatta. It is not an Aquilaria oud, and it is the only note here that is not. The trade describes it two ways depending on the lot. Fresh and plantation material is refined, incense-like, cool and faintly creamy, with almost no barnyard. Long-aged wild oil swings hard the other way into castoreum, horsehair and dark musk. Dark resinous wood is the only thing every source agrees on.
Scent Profile
Dry_woody is the one claim all three sources make. Hermitage Oils calls the wood 'old, dark, resinous and comparable to that of heavily aged, lacquered furniture stored in a cellar'. Amber_resinous follows it everywhere: balsamic to the Sri Lankan grower, 'pure meditative wood and resin' on the forum, resinous at Hermitage. Smoky is the incense character the Ouddict review leads with, 'refined, incense-heavy profile with minimal barnyard or funk'. Animalic and leather are where the lots part. Hermitage's eleven-year-aged wild oil is 'animalic, skanky and more broadly faecal' with castoreum, horsehair, ambergris and muskrat. The fresh wild lot on Ouddict has only 'a faint whisper of animalic warmth - subtle musk and clean leather'. Both name leather, so leather is firmer than animalic and animalic carries the widest spread in the vector. Creamy_woody and sweet_vanillic come from Pintanna Plantations alone, which calls it 'warm, creamy, and reminiscent of sandalwood, with hints of spice and vanilla'. One source means a spread on each. Cooling_mentholic and aromatic_herbal are the forum's 'cool, herbal incense - camphorous but rounded, like temple air after prayer'. Fruity and floral are zero because a source says so, not because none mentioned them: 'No florals, no fruit'. That is what separates this from the Cambodian, Vietnamese and Malaysian ouds, which all carry fruity or above.
ScentWheel
Read off the wheel, not a label applied to the note.
Origin
Resinous heartwood of Gyrinops walla, a species native to Sri Lanka and found nowhere else. Steam- or hydro-distilled. Sold as Wallapatta, Walla Patta or Silani Oud as well as Sri Lankan Oud. Sri Lanka started commercial wallapatta plantations in the 2010s after wild stands were stripped, so most current supply is young cultivated wood. Wild aged lots exist and are a different product. Gyrinops is listed on CITES Appendix II alongside Aquilaria.
Usage in Perfumery
A base note in oud compositions where the perfumer wants agarwood depth without the fruited sweetness of Cambodian or Vietnamese oil. Attested on 17 fragrances across 6 brands in Parfumo, all niche or artisanal. The refined grade sits well under incense, sandalwood and frankincense. The aged wild grade behaves like a Hindi oud and needs the same handling.
Similar Notes
Perfumes featuring Sri Lankan Oud
A selection of reviewed perfumes where Sri Lankan Oud appears prominently.
No perfumes featuring this note have been reviewed yet. Check back soon.