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original copy & paste from http://www.arabianoud.com/en02/news_details.asp?news_id=24

oud to joy
مارس 2009
Have you ever wandered through Ajman city centre and been arrested by a fabulous aroma drawing you back to its source like a magnet? If so, you have probably been walking past an oud shop which stocks exotic fragrances from all over the Arabian world. But how much do you actually know about where oud comes from or how it's processed?
Oud is on of the most mysterious perfumes known to man. Legend has it that when Adam was expelled from Heaven he took a leaf of the Aquilaria tree with him. As the leaf dried, it scattered through out south East Asia, producing trees with a heavenly scent.
Lure of the east
The romance doesn’t end there. During the16th century, Arabs traveling through India were beguiled by the beautiful fragrance surrounding them. They were told it came from the wood burning in the fires. The visitors were given some oud as agift, which they took back to Arabia. Such was its popularity, that one of the men returned to settle in India, and regularity sent the oud back to Arabia. When an Aquilaria tree is affected by a fungus, it produces a romantic resin in response to the attack.
This resinous heartwood is called Garwood or oud.Originally, the fungus formed after the tree was infested by woodworm in order to produce the fungus.
According to shadi samra customer relations manger at Arabian oud,"the oud comes from the oldest trees, about 75 to 150 years old, infected at least 60 years ago".
During the dry, winter season, trees are uprooted and the infected parts are removed, smoothed and cleaned. They are then categorized according to quality, each with its own characteristics. One way of the testing is to actually taste it, the more bitter the taste the better the quality. Color is also informative, and a good oud should be uniform both inside and out. One kilogram of the best oud can cost as much as Dhs 200000