What is the difference between Ky Nam and Agarwood?

Ky nam and agarwood are two precious woods that many people seek. However, in terms of value, they have a difference that makes it difficult for many people to distinguish. In this article, Humik's Hai Tram Huong Expert will help you distinguish agarwood and ky nam most accurately.

Thien Hai

9/21/20243 min read

What is agarwood?

Agarwood is formed from the long process of the wound healing process of the oil tree. Over time, the essential oil will be condensed into agarwood, becoming a rare and high-class wood.

Image of genuine agarwood, dark brown.

Image of genuine agarwood, dark brown.

The more essential oil agarwood has, the more expensive and valuable it is because the essential oil inside has a gentle fragrance, attracting many people. Currently on the market, agarwood is traded everywhere and creates many different products, bringing many special meanings to health, culture and spirit.

What is Ky Nam?

Ky Nam is a phrase that is not very popular because of its rarity. The process of creating Ky Nam is similar to Agarwood, which is the accumulation of agarwood in the injured wood. Ky Nam is only found in nature because the formation process is very difficult and humans have not been able to find an effective method of planting Ky Nam agarwood.

Ky nam is often red because over time, the oil has become plastic and thick like honey wax. Ky nam wood is heavier than other types of agarwood and can sink in water.

Image of genuine agarwood, dark brown.

Simple way to distinguish between ky nam and agarwood.

Ky nam has long been considered the most precious wood among rare woods. The scent of ky nam is very characteristic, has the effect of protecting health, limiting diseases and has many spiritual meanings. Because of those wonderful meanings, ky nam has a higher value than common agarwood.

The easiest way to distinguish between ky nam and agarwood

Although ky nam and agarwood have the same formation process, the rarity and value that ky nam brings is higher than agarwood. It is difficult to distinguish ky nam and agarwood, because to see the difference, you need to be a long-time agarwood player, very knowledgeable about agarwood and especially have a deep sense.

However, according to expert Hai Tram Huong at Thien Moc Huong, there are also many ways to distinguish them through their characteristics and properties. Specifically as follows:

1. Based on color

There are 4 types of Ky Nam, each with a different color. You can rely on this characteristic to distinguish such as:

Bach Ky has a light gray or gray-white color.

Thanh Ky wood block has a gray-green color, slightly green.

Huang Ky has a yellow-brown color and is slightly dark.

Hac Ky has a black color and the black color of indigo.

For Agarwood, it is usually a striped brown color, the more essential oil, the darker the color. The oil veins are prominent and evenly distributed on the wood grain.

Agarwood has prominent oil veins and evenly distributed on the wood grain.

Agarwood has prominent oil veins and evenly distributed on the wood grain.

2. Based on scent

This is the factor that helps to most clearly identify Ky Nam and Agarwood. The scent of Ky Nam is strong and always exudes fragrance even when kept in a sealed box. This is also understandable because the amount of essential oil on Ky Nam is very large, so if you smell it closely, it feels strong. For Agarwood, the scent is milder and sweeter, faintly but still lingers in the air for a long time.

3. Based on the amount of essential oil

Ky Nam inherently has a lot of essential oil, and the quality of the essential oil is good, so it is soft and moist. When dropped in water, it will sink because of its high weight. Agarwood often has less essential oil, but this is not certain because there are many types of good quality agarwood that are still enough to make Agarwood sink in water.

Ky Nam has great value and is more rare than Agarwood.

Ky Nam has great value and is more rare than Agarwood.

4. Based on taste

Taste is also a way to distinguish Ky Nam and Agarwood. Because when tasting Ky Nam, it will have a sweet, bitter, sour, and spicy taste, while Agarwood only has a bitter taste.

5. Based on the color of smoke when burning

The last sign that agarwood expert Hai Tram Huong said is the easiest to recognize Ky Nam and Agarwood is the color of the smoke. Ky Nam when burned produces blue smoke, the smoke will rise high and straight. Agarwood when burned has white smoke, the smoke forms a spiral shape and quickly dissipates in the air and the burning gas has good effects on health.