How is oud squeezed from trees? This question often comes up. You may picture someone pressing a tree. That image is off. Oud oil starts as resin in agarwood. You get it through a boiling process, not by squeezing.
Producers cut the infected agarwood into small pieces. They soak these pieces in water for about a week at around 30°C. The moisture softens the wood and loosens the resin. Next, they heat the soaked wood in a distillation pot at close to 100°C. You get steam that carries the resin’s essence.
You then collect the oily droplets from the cooled steam. This condensed oil is oud. You might hear it called agarwood oil. This is the short version of how oud is “squeezed” from trees. It is more about heat and water than physical pressure.