Identifying Authentic vs. Fake Agarwood: The Six Most Common Types of Fakes on the Market and How to Recognize Them

> This article is the first in our identification series. **Let's start with the conclusion: the key to identifying agarwood is not simply judging whether it "looks like agarwood," but determining "whether this piece of material has truly undergone resin formation."** The appearance of most fakes can already achieve ninety percent similarity; the flaws are often hidden in the logic of how the scent changes and the patterns of resin distribution.律里。

I. First, Build the Correct Mental Model

The formation of natural agarwood is the result of trees of the Aquilaria genus in the Thymelaeaceae family being wounded, then secreting resin that deposits together with fungal metabolites, distributed **locally and irregularly** within the xylem. This mechanism determines that natural agarwood must possess three characteristics:

1. **Non-uniform** — the resin appears in dots, lines, and patches, intermingled with white wood 2. **Has boundaries** — the transition between resin and wood is natural, not neatly cut 3. **Has variation** — the aroma changes with temperature and time, with layered progression

All fakes, in essence, tamper with these three points: **either making it more uniform (to appear higher quality), or making it heavier (to appear sinking grade), or making it more fragrant (to appear premium).** Remember this sentence, and the six types of fakes below will all line up.

II. Breaking Down the Six Common Types of Fakes, One by One

### Type 1: High-Pressure Oil Injection / High-Temperature Oil Pressing

**Principle**: Ordinary white wood (with no or very little resin formation) is vacuum-treated and then injected under high pressure with oils (vegetable oil, chemical oil, or even bitumen-like substances) to make its density reach sinking grade.

**Flaws**:

• The whole piece is black and glossy, with an oily feel that "floats" on the surface, like it has been painted with lacquer
• After cutting, the interior and exterior colors are identical, with no white wood transition whatsoever
• Sticky to the touch; wiping with a tissue leaves obvious oil marks
• Scent: a single sharp "fragrance-oil" impression, no layers, stifling after prolonged smelling

**Key identification point**: Naturally sinking-grade material will inevitably have mottled patterns of resin intermingled with wood on the cut surface; **a "fully black sinking-grade" piece that is uniform throughout can almost be directly ruled out**.

### Type 2: Oil Soaking / Soaked Material

**Principle**: Low-grade agarwood or white wood is soaked for a long time in fragrance essential oil, allowing the surface layer to absorb the scent, so that in the short term it "smells very fragrant."

**Flaws**:

• The aroma is extremely strong right when you get it, but fades rapidly after one or two weeks — this is the most typical characteristic
• The surface color is uneven in depth but the boundaries are harsh; color easily comes off when scraped with a fingernail
• The resin lines are "blurred" together, lacking natural clarity
• After being left for a long time, oil stains may seep outward

**Key identification point**: **The rate of scent decay is the core criterion.** Genuine agarwood's scent "becomes more stable the more you wear it," while oil-soaked material "becomes fainter the more you wear it."

### Category 3: Dyeing / Coloring

**Principle**: Chemical dyes are used to dye light-colored wood dark to imitate a high-oil appearance.

**Flaws**:

• The color is too uniform and lacks the dotted and linear distribution of natural oil lines
• Wipe with a cotton swab dipped in alcohol or water, and the color comes off
• The color \"floats\" and lacks the kind of moisture that comes from within after oil saturation

**Key identification point**: **Wet wipe test**—natural agarwood does not fade; dyed material reveals itself with one wipe. Use this method with caution on old material to avoid damaging the surface.

### Category 4: Pressed incense / pressed powder

**Principle**: Agarwood scraps and incense powder are mixed with adhesive and pressed under high pressure into blocks, beads, and plaques.

**Flaws**:

• Weight distribution is abnormally uniform (natural material varies in weight from bead to bead)
• No wood fiber structure is visible on the broken surface; it appears as \"powdery agglomeration\"
• Powder cracking marks are often found at the edges of the holes
• No natural grain direction; the grain appears \"stirred\"

**Key identification point**: **Look at the fibers on the broken surface**. No matter how much oil agarwood contains, it is still wood; the broken surface should have a composite structure of wood fibers and resin.

### Category 5: White wood imitation (the most common \"low-price trap\")

**Principle**: Non-resinous white wood from the same genus is sold through slight processing or directly as \"agarwood\".

**Flaws**:

• The density is clearly too light (mostly floating)
• Almost no oil lines, or only scattered light-colored oil spots
• The scent is extremely faint, sometimes only a \"raw wood smell\"
• Commonly seen in low-priced bracelets, low-priced carvings, and various \"agarwood wood\" products

**Key identification point**: **\"Agarwood wood\" and \"agarwood\" are two different concepts.** Agarwood wood refers to the wood of the agarwood tree, most of which does not contain resin; agarwood refers to the resin-containing part. The price difference can reach dozens of times. When you see \"agarwood wood bracelet, 99 yuan with free shipping,\" what it sells is indeed agarwood wood, not agarwood.

### Category 6: Fragrance blending / chemical incense

**Principle**: Synthetic fragrances are used to create an \"agarwood note,\" commonly seen in incense sticks, coiled incense, and essential oil products.

**Flaws**:

• After lighting, the scent is harsh and overpowering, the lingering fragrance lasts too long, and there is an obvious chemical, cloying sweetness
• The smoke irritates the eyes, and after burning, an unpleasant odor remains in the space and is hard to disperse
• Abnormal ash color (adulterated with combustion aids, talcum powder, etc.)
• The aroma of the same batch is completely identical — natural incense differs from batch to batch

**Key identification point**: **Smell the "aftertaste," not just the "top notes."** Natural agarwood smoke is gentle, its lingering fragrance is clear and elegant, and after it disperses the space has no uncomfortable feeling.

III. Quick-Reference Table of Six Types of Fakes

| Type | Main Method | Most Effective Flaw | Difficulty of Judgment | |---|---|---|---| | High-pressure oil injection | Vacuum pressure oil injection | Uniformly all-black throughout, no white wood on the cut surface | Low | | Oil soaking | Long soaking in essence | Aroma rapidly fades within one to two weeks | Low | | Dyeing | Chemical dyes | Color comes off when wiped with a wet wipe | Low | | Pressed incense | Incense powder + glue pressed | No fibers on the cross-section, stirred-looking grain | Medium | | White wood impersonation | Wood that has not formed resin | Low density, almost no oil lines | Low | | Essence blending | Synthetic essence | Pungent aftertaste, eye-irritating smoke | Medium |

IV. General Five-Step Identification Process

**Step 1: Ask about the source first, then the price.** There is no such thing as cheap natural sinking-grade agarwood. When the price is seriously mismatched with labels like "sinking grade/old material/soft thread," suspect the label first, not your own luck.

**Step 2: Look — Three Looks**

• Check whether the resin distribution is **in dots, lines, and patches, with oil and wood intermingled**
• Check whether the **boundary between oil lines and white wood transitions naturally**
• Check whether the **colors across the entire string show reasonable variation** (each natural bead is different)

**Step 3: Smell — Two-Stage Method**

• **Smell at room temperature**: Does it have layers (top, middle, and base notes)?
• **Smell when heated** (electronic incense burner at 60-80℃): Natural agarwood unfolds its aromatic charm when heated, and the fragrance is clear and penetrating; fakes often produce pungent, burnt, or chemical odors when heated

**Step 4: Weigh and Test** Sinking is a density indicator, **not an authenticity indicator**. Fakes that are oil-soaked or glue-injected can also sink. The correct approach is: first confirm authenticity, then use sinking to judge grade.

**Step 5: Send for Testing** Look at the **test items and conclusions** in the test report, not just the cover:

• If the conclusion includes "alcohol-soluble extractives ≥10.0%, agarotetrol ≥0.10%" → it at least meets the medicinal agarwood standard of the 2025 edition of the *Chinese Pharmacopoeia*
• If it only says "Thymelaeaceae plant" → it is merely a **species identification**, not a quality assessment
• If there are no test items at all → treat the certificate as invalid

> One more note: **The agarotetrol content of qinan(kyara) is generally low, and most do not reach the pharmacopoeia's medicinal threshold**, but their extractive content is very high and their aroma is outstanding. Therefore, the pharmacopoeia's agarotetrol index cannot be used to judge the quality of qinan(kyara) — this is a very common point of misjudgment.判点。

V. Three Pieces of Advice for Beginners

1. **Build your olfactory memory first, then talk about buying.** Spend a few hundred yuan on a traceable sample or incense sticks and etch the smell of "real" into your memory; this is more useful than reading a hundred articles. 2. **Do not buy sinking-grade old material on your first purchase.** Fakes are most concentrated in the high-price range. Start with floating-grade material and small loose beads. 3. **Accept "imperfection."** Natural agarwood always has flaws — white edges, holes, uneven oil lines, beads of varying weight. **What is perfect beyond belief is usually genuinely unbelievable.**

Frequently Asked Questions

**Q: Is sinking grade agarwood always genuine?** A: Not necessarily. Sinking only means the density is sufficient; oil-soaked, glue-injected, and compressed incense can also sink. Sinking grade is a "grade indicator," not an "authenticity indicator."

**Q: Is the online advice to "burn a little and smell it" reliable?** A: It can serve as a supporting check, but pay attention to the sampling location (take a resinous part rather than white wood) and keep the dose small. A burnt smell masks a lot of information, and a direct-flame test is less accurate than low-temperature heating in an electronic incense burner.

**Q: If there is an appraisal certificate, is it definitely genuine?** A: It depends on the certificate's **test items**. A certificate that only identifies the tree species proves "this is a Thymelaeaceae plant," not "this is resinous agarwood."

**Q: If an agarwood bracelet smells fainter after being worn a long time, did I buy a fake?** A: Not necessarily. After natural agarwood develops a patina, the surface is sealed by an oil layer and the fragrance becomes "muted"; this is normal. Gently wiping with a cotton cloth slightly dampened with warm water, or letting it rest in a cool, shaded place for a while, often restores it. But if it **fades rapidly to almost nothing within a few weeks**, be wary of oil-soaked material.

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**Related Reading**

• "The Complete Guide to Brunei Agarwood: Why It Is Called 'the Hue'an Style Within the Sin Chew Series'"
• "A Full Interpretation of the Agarwood Section in the 2025 Edition of the〈Chinese Pharmacopoeia〉"
• "How to Patinate and Maintain Agarwood Bracelets"
• "Qinan (Kyara): Why It Can Transcend the Agarwood Classification System"

*This article is original content of the Agarwood Network. Appraisal conclusions are for reference only; for high-value transactions, the reports of third-party testing institutions should be taken as authoritative.*