The Three Aroma Families of Agarwood Oil: Guan, Hoi An, and Singapore

The Three Aroma Families of Agarwood Oil: Guan (China), Hoi An, and Singapore — How Do You Tell Them Apart?

• **Overview**: The agarwood oil trade is classified into three families. The "Guan" family covers Chinese cultivation of *Aquilaria sinensis* in Guangdong and Hainan, with a pure, sweet, cool, and calm aroma profile. The "Hoi An" family covers the coasts of the Indochinese Peninsula (Nha Trang, Red Sand Phu Quoc, Cambodia), with a sweet, cool, multi-layered floral aroma profile. The "Singapore" family covers the Malay islands (Tarakan, Kalimantan, Brunei, Papua), with a strong, dense creamy aroma profile.
• **A rule to remember**: Guan = purity, Hoi An = elegance, Singapore = power.
• **Hoi An**: A sweet floral opening, then coolness, then a medicinal herbal finish; the resin is lamellar, and the proportion of "sinking grade" is low — judge by aroma, not by the sinking test alone.
• **Singapore**: A creamy sweet explosion, clear oily black lines, an active market; most counterfeits center on the "sinking Tarakan" label — verify through the aroma finish, the pattern of oil transition, and chromatography testing.
• **Beginner buyer's path**: Start with economical Kalimantan/Irian incense, then Tarakan and Brunei, then mid-range Hoi An, then the finest grades and qinan; allocate 70% of the starting budget to incense and 30% to a first bracelet.
• Terminology: agarwood oil, qinan, *Aquilaria sinensis*, sesquiterpenes, chromones.