Kinam Oud: What the Rarest Grade of Agarwood Actually Is
What kinam oud actually is
Kinam is a grade, not a species. The tree is the same aquilaria that produces all oud, and the mechanism is the same: the wood is infected, the tree floods the wound with resin, and the resin is what smells. What separates kinam is how much resin ends up in the wood and how long it took to get there.
The test traditionally used is water. Ordinary agarwood floats. Kinam is so saturated that it sinks, and the resin can be scraped off the wood with a blade and rolled into a ball between the fingers. Reports describe that saturation taking a century or more to build.
In Japan the same material is called kyara, and it sits at the top of the incense tradition there. Kinam, kyara and occasionally kynam all refer to the same thing. If you want the wider material, our guide to oud covers how agarwood forms, and oud, agarwood and aoud sorts out the naming.
The price, and why it is hard to pin down
Kinam is routinely described as the most expensive wood on earth. The figures behind that claim are less tidy than the claim itself. Reported trade prices run from roughly USD 500 per gram at the lower end to several thousand, and the very highest grades have been reported above USD 10,000 per gram. Kinam oil has been quoted around USD 1,800 per gram.
Those numbers come from traders and specialist suppliers rather than from any published index, and every one of them has an interest in the number being large. Treat the range as the honest answer and any single figure as a claim.
What is not in dispute is the direction. Kinam is scarcer than the materials people reach for as comparisons, it cannot be farmed to order on any useful timescale, and the supply is a fraction of total agarwood production.
So how much kinam is in a bottle called Kinam
This is the question the marketing never answers, so here is the arithmetic.
A 50ml bottle of this fragrance retails around a thousand US dollars. At the prices reported above, a single gram of genuine kinam can cost more than the whole bottle. Whatever is in it, it is not a formula built on meaningful quantities of the raw material.
That is not a criticism, and it is not specific to this house. In perfumery a note name describes the character a composition is reaching for, not a certified quantity of a raw material. A fragrance listing kinam oud is telling you what it smells like it is reaching for. The same is true of almost every expensive note on almost every list, and our piece on synthetic oud versus real oud goes further into how that works.
Knowing this should change what you judge the bottle on. Buy it because the composition works on your skin, not because you believe you are buying a gram of the rarest wood on earth for the price of a nice watch strap.
Clive Christian Kinam
Released in 2026 as an exclusive for the Clive Christian boutique at the Dubai Mall, and composed by Christian Provenzano. Provenzano also composed Penhaligon's Halfeti in 2015, which we cover in our Halfeti guide. The same nose is behind both of the Dubai bottles in this journal, which is a coincidence worth noticing if you get on with one of them.
Kinam opens with spiced warmth. Saffron, davana and nutmeg set a rich, slightly bitter top that signals something serious is coming.
The heart turns unusual. A cool metallic accord cuts through osmanthus and Rose de Mai, keeping the florals from going sweet. Then the base arrives: kinam oud over sandalwood and amber for a deep, resinous trail that lasts.
The metallic note in the middle is the part worth trying before you commit. It is genuinely unusual, it is what stops this being another warm oriental, and it is the thing people either single out as the reason they bought it or cannot get past.
Released: 2026
Perfumer: Christian Provenzano
Notes: Top: Saffron, Davana, Nutmeg / Middle: Metallic Notes, Osmanthus, Rose de Mai / Base: Kinam Oud, Sandalwood, Amber
Size and price: 50ml, AED 3,800
Availability: in stock at Parfum Central
View Clive Christian Kinam Parfum
If the price is the obstacle
Two other Clive Christian bottles get at parts of the same territory for less, and both are in stock.
Private Collection Woody Leather Oud Amber
Named after its four structural pillars, which is unusually honest for a fragrance name. Woods in the opening provide the dry, aromatic foundation; leather introduces animalic depth.
Oud in the heart adds woody-resinous depth, the material that shifts the leather from European into a broader register. Amber provides warm, resinous support in the base; musk extends the close-skin projection.
Notes: Top: Citrus and Spices / Middle: Woods, Leather, Resin accords / Base: Amber, Oud, Leather, Musk
Size and price: 50ml, AED 1,400
View Private Collection Woody Leather Oud Amber
XXI Blonde Amber
Structured around a warm, soft amber at its centre. Mandarin in the top provides sweet, ripe citrus; pink pepper adds dry spice; peach contributes warm, fruity softness.
Jasmine in the heart adds white-floral depth. Blonde amber in the base is the structural anchor: warm and resinous in a lighter form than the darker amber variants. Tonka bean adds sweet-vanilla warmth.
Notes: Top: Mandarin, Pink Pepper, Peach / Middle: Amber, Jasmine, Tonka Bean / Base: Musk, Patchouli, Sandalwood
Size and price: 50ml, AED 2,300
View XXI Blonde Amber
Comparison table
| Fragrance | Character | Size | Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kinam | Saffron, metallic, oud, sandalwood | 50ml | AED 3,800 |
| XXI Blonde Amber | Mandarin, jasmine, blonde amber | 50ml | AED 2,300 |
| Private Collection Woody Leather Oud Amber | Woods, leather, oud, amber | 50ml | AED 1,400 |
Frequently asked questions
What is kinam oud?
Kinam is the rarest and most prized grade of agarwood. It is the same resinous heartwood as ordinary oud, formed when an aquilaria tree responds to infection, but kinam forms only under unusual conditions and over a far longer period. In Japan the same material is called kyara.
How is kinam different from ordinary oud?
Resin density. Kinam is so saturated with resin that the wood sinks in water rather than floating, and the resin can be scraped from it and rolled between the fingers. Reports describe the resin taking a century or more to build. That slowness is the whole reason it is scarce.
Why is kinam so expensive?
Because it cannot be produced to order. Reported trade prices for genuine kinam run from around USD 500 per gram to several thousand, and the highest grades have been reported above USD 10,000 per gram, which would make it the most expensive wood on earth. Figures vary widely by source and grade, so treat any single number with care.
Does a bottle called Kinam actually contain kinam oud?
Not in any meaningful quantity, and the arithmetic is the reason. At the prices reported for genuine kinam, a single gram can cost more than the entire bottle retails for. In perfumery a note name describes the character a composition is reaching for, not a certified quantity. That is normal practice across the industry and not specific to this fragrance.
Is kinam the same as kyara?
Yes. Kyara is the Japanese name for the same grade, used in the Japanese incense tradition. You will see both words, and occasionally kynam, for the same material.
Who composed Clive Christian Kinam?
Christian Provenzano. He also composed Penhaligon's Halfeti in 2015, which is the other Dubai-adjacent bottle we write about in this journal.
Where can I buy Clive Christian Kinam in the UAE?
We carry it, in stock now. It was released in 2026 as an exclusive for the Clive Christian boutique at the Dubai Mall. Every bottle is guaranteed authentic and ships in its original packaging. Orders are dispatched within 1 business day and DHL Express delivery takes 3 to 5 business days. Shipping is AED 30 within the UAE and AED 88 internationally, insured and tracked.
Where to buy it
All three are in stock at Parfum Central, guaranteed authentic and shipped in their original packaging. If it is the oud rather than the house that brought you here, the full oud fragrances collection is the wider starting point.
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