@powdernose, please do not think I am trivializing you or what you posted.
In fact, I agree with a lot of your points. But I also disagree with some (further down below).
The problem (
not the 'disagreements', that's further down below) is twofold:
1) there are FAR too many topics simultaneously being discussed.
2) Some of them are pointless to discuss without establishing certain premises first. We have disagreed on a
fundamental premise, and so, no point in trying to build a castle with dry sand. It'll be a waste of time. That fundamental premise -
- shavings vs true incense grade wood, and whether they can both yield oils of the same caliber, and true to the aroma of the raw material. Now the thing is, I clearly did say that I have come to the realization it's not smart to cook high grade wild wood, and that cheap cleverly-cooked farm oils are the "smarter" choice.
For myself, the two don't even come close. Not even remotely.
But everything I had typed in the original Blind Test thread was in relation to the market at large, and what does and doesn't matter for that. Including the yardstick that the bulk of the market uses for judging oils.
So what I am trying to say is: I MYSELF am arguing in favor of cheaper oils from cheaper wood (cheapest even, practically-bunk plantation oils). I actually got an earful (eyeful?) in an email from a guy a couple years ago when I released 2 separately oils, the only difference between the 2 oils being the raw material grade. He found them to be virtually identical, and he went on to scold me about the costliness of the costlier (hence pricier) oil. I neither decide on the cost prices of different grades of wood, nor do I ever force anyone to buy any oils. I don't think I deserved that scolding. 
Summary: as far as the foolishness of using high grade materials is concerned, I am wholeheartedly agreeing with the argument that high-grade wood should be reserved for burning, and that scrap wood should be used for making oils. Those who can distinguish grade-variation between oils are very few (I personally believe e.g. @Nadeem is someone who can) and hence catering to their sensibilities is not viable from a business point of view.
Clear? So I hope I will not shoved into the opposing side, when it comes to the issue of foolishness/worthwhileness of using high grade materials. Yes, for me, the two cannot compare. But this isn't about me. For the bulk of the market, it appears the wood grade is irrelevant.
- I'm only writing this second point as a separate point because the previous one got too long. Still on shavings vs true incense grade wood, and this is the first and most fundamental of my disagreements with you: I am making the claim that distillation-grade shavings smells like firewood. Whether you nuke it, or heat it gently. Get in touch with any distiller, get an oil and a fistful of its raw material wood, and you'll see for yourself.
The reason why this is such a fundamental point, beyond which it is useless to venture unless its been settled, is because everything else stems from it.
And what are 'techniques' any way?! Those who think 'modern day clean oils' are a product of techniques... what do you actually think those techniques are? (I do, for the record, agree that for the most part the majority of modern-day 'clean' oils are a product of techniques.. but not what one might think)
A combination of: (1) disagreement about the nature of distillation-grade shavings, and (2) not really knowing what "techniques" implies, but using the term freely, can only result in one massive... waste of time.
It will amount to nothing.
Food for thought: one single batch of wood can be distilled to produce around 15 different distinct oil aroma profiles. And the raw material for all 15 of these batches... was wood that smells like firewood on the heater. 
(i.e. nothing like the oil, i.e. the reason for my usage of the term 'alchemy')
As for my disagreements with you:
1)
Demanding vendors share photos/videos (or even actual wood, with every order) for every product. For one, I myself told you that
my own oil Dao was cooked from wood (shavings, and pretty decent ones at that) which would smell nothing like the oil, and that the distillation choreography was done 'blind' based on the choreography for the superior sister
Keo because it was from the very same harvest. So it would have been pointless to ship out those shavings with every purchase of a bottle.
It is useless to compare the wood and oil side-by-side because there will be zero resemblance, except if the raw material was true incense grade (which, as I stated above, is foolish, and if we are talking
actual chips then those oils are gonna be prohibitively costly). Secondly, not all vendors live in SE Asia, so how can you expect them to share the raw material for every single batch? I'm sure for every bottle of Heinz ketchup that you buy, you don't demand Kraft Heinz to present every single ingredient to you to individually taste and verify (salt, vinegar, etc). If you like the ketchup you like it, if not you try Del Monte's.
2)
Lack of information. OUCH. This one hurts. I think more information is freely available online for oud than any other finished product I can currently think of. And in my case, sharing too much in the past has screwed me. Beyond anything you can imagine. And you're telling me there isn't enough transparency?
STRONGLY disagree. I would double-underline if that was possible.
And ya know what...
only for you, I will give the option to get a free wood chip for 0.5g each of Royal Lao and Nashila (instead of full bottles).
3)
The whole 'Alchemy' thing. This is already detailed above, but I thought of slotting it here as well so that all the disagreements are neatly listed together in one place.
Look, I am all for transparency, I am all for tons of genuine questions, but I also think there's a right way to go about things.
I can give quick one-liner replies to the questions you posted (all valid, all understandable), but... I am a big believer in sound epistemology. If we don't agree on the foundational premises, then I think there's no point in discussing the offshoot nitty gritties - including the legitimate questions you posed.
So... as a first step, I would recommend you get in touch with some distillers, get oils (and a fistful of their respective raw materials) from them, and see for yourself. Until then, you are arguing with theoreticals and I'm arguing with first-hand experience (oud is my profession)...
And we'll get nowhere.
If you don't have contact info of distillers, shoot me a PM, I'm happy to share some.
I hope this post of mine will demonstrate that's not the case. I
am willing to play ball.
Oud is my passion, and I
love sharing my passion. Just ask the guys who've added me on WhatsApp. Aside from when I'm off in the jungle, or at a remote distillation facility or otherwise off the grid (or asleep), I am always available. Always willing to share info. Heck, a bunch of folks have even caught me in the middle of grinding up 'sexy wood', so they get to feast their eyes on that live via WhatsApp video, as well as all
home distillations (unlike remote distillations in villages, I do have internet at home) and they get to see those live.
I'll just part with this-
Not many distillers actually cook incense grade wood, and even more disappointing is the fact that most distillers even using misleading labels like "Super grade oil" and "Double Super oil" - a classic fallacy of equivocation. The bulk of the market (average Arab consumers) <understandably> assume that it means the oils were cooked from those name-sake grades of wood. Whereas the reality is that they were cooked from oud 'firewood'.
Here's an earlier Cambodian batch, one of several batches that I bought and brought back to Malaysia I think in 2016 (I cooked more Cambodian oud than ANY other oud during this time, to try to shed light on all the un-represented flavors of Cambodian agarwood). And just to show you its not a random photo I pulled from the internet, here's my son building an oud castle with that wood in the Phnom Penh hotel room where I stayed:
View attachment 6360
So please understand, whatever I am saying, I am saying as someone who has
himself personally cooked crazy wood like this (and hence know
actual as opposed to
theoretical grade:yield implications, as well as grade:scent implications
– and for a small subset of the market.. grade:mind-effects implications), but has
also used shavings of all types and grades as well (from 'oud firewood' shavings all the way up to true incense-grade shavings, practically "miniature chips"). And I don't hide these facts. In fact, I have deliberately,
many times, offered sister-batches of oils distilled from different grades side-by-side, solely for the purpose of allowing customers to draw their own conclusions.
Some have been able to instantly tell the difference.
But yes, for the most part, the product of 'oud firewood' (kayu minyak/ habuk/ serutan/ khisaimai/ lue/ shavings) is perceived by the bulk of the market as no different (or hardly different) from the product of superior
true incense grade wood.
Whether its a case of 'sour grapes' or whatever else, is a different topic. The point of contention, where we disagree, is: (1) whether the aroma of the average raw material is represented by the oil product or not, and hence (2) whether "alchemy" / "1+1=3" is appropriate terminology for such distillations or not.
I don't even know how we got here...
dude, I was arguing FOR cheap cleverly-distilled (organic) plantation oud oils. Its
NOT in my best interest to be saying these things, because I personally wish everyone could easily identify truly high grade oils, because I only cook
that type of wood with passion. Plus I get to do it in the comfort of my home
(higher grade = higher yield, so no need to go live in a nasty village to run a distillation). By openly saying that the majority of consumers are unable to distinguish grade-differentiation by smelling oils distilled from different grades of wood, I'm basically making it easier for consumers to resolve not to bother with the costly high grade stuff and hence sentencing myself to nasty village projects, and cooking without passion, and long website downtime while I'm away, and so on.
Not what I would like.
So, I hope you will appreciate my frankness.
And once again, if you don't have contact info of distillers, shoot me a PM, I'm happy to share some. Listing them here would violate the forum rules.
