Alter Oud: Between Memory and Inheritance

In 2023, d.grayi’s Alter Oud was a finalist for the Art and Olfaction Awards.

But Alter Oud didn’t begin as an idea about oud.

It began with a realization and experience that altered my sense of reality while studying perfumery.

 Real Oud vs. Remembered Oud

The first time I smelled real Vietnamese agarwood through perfumery, I was shocked.

It was complex, alive, constantly shifting.

And immediately, I thought about how many Vietnamese people, including those I grew up with, had never smelled it.

Instead, we knew oud through something else:

• synthetic incense
• softened interpretations
• approximations of something sacred

Growing up, the scent of burning incense at the family altar, bàn thờ, was constant. Even when artificial, it carried warmth, familiarity, and a sense of grounding.

That scent is still ingrained in me.

The Space Between Two Worlds

Alter Oud lives in the contrast I experienced every day:

• the speed and pressure of modern life
• the stillness of returning home
• the shift from outside noise to something rooted and quiet

Coming home meant stepping into a different rhythm.

Incense smoke rising slowly.
A bowl of jasmine rice.
Offerings of fruit releasing sweetness into the air.
Spices and herbs lingering in the background.

It was a different world, one that felt slower, but more real.

Reconstructing the Memory

Rather than recreating oud as a luxury material, Alter Oud explores its dual identity:

• the real Vietnamese oud I encountered later
• the constructed oud I grew up with

Both are true.
Both carry meaning.

The composition reflects that tension:

Top: Mangosteen, saffron, dark fruits
Heart: Incense, jasmine rice, Vietnamese spices
Base: Vietnamese oud, turmeric, amber

Sweetness drifts into smoke.
Familiar warmth meets something deeper and more complex.

Oud and Access

At the center of Alter Oud is a question:

What does it mean when something sacred becomes inaccessible?

Natural Vietnamese oud is deeply revered but increasingly commodified and priced beyond reach.

For many, it becomes something distant:

• known, but not experienced
• inherited, but not accessible

Not lost through neglect, but through cost.

 A Moment of Recognition

The nomination from the Art and Olfaction Awards recognized not just the composition, but the perspective behind it.

An exploration of:

• identity through scent
• cultural memory
• and the distance between origin and experience

 Final Thoughts

Alter Oud is not just about oud.

It’s about:

• what we remember
• what we inherit
• and what we’re no longer able to access in the same way

A scent shaped by both reality and approximation,
existing somewhere between them.