Agarwood: From Vietnam’s Forests to the Soul of Your Home
This is not just an incense stick — this is our story.
The First Memory of Agarwood
When I was a child in Vietnam, every Lunar New Year or ancestral memorial was a momentous family occasion. My grandfather, dressed in a traditional áo dài, would carefully take out a piece of brown wood with white veins from a mother-of-pearl inlaid box. He placed it in a polished bronze censer and lit it. Thin smoke rose like a strip of silk, carrying a warm, sweet fragrance that filled the room. To me, that was the scent of memory.
At the time, I only knew that the wood was agarwood and that it was expensive. After the war, when food was scarce, having agarwood to burn was a luxury. Later, I realized that a piece of agarwood like that could have been exchanged for many meals. But to a child, it was simply joy — the warmth of a family reunion during the New Year.
As I grew older and traveled to many places, I kept searching for that scent. I sometimes found incense in a Japanese shop in San Francisco, or through a Chinese friend who introduced me to it. Yet nothing ever resembled the agarwood of my hometown.
What Makes Agarwood Special
Agarwood is no ordinary wood. Only when an Aquilaria tree is wounded does its resin slowly accumulate, over many years, to form this fragrant wood. That is why agarwood is so rare and highly valued — in ancient times it was offered as royal tribute.
Vietnam is still regarded as one of the homes of fine agarwood, especially in Quang Nam, Khanh Hoa, Da Nang and Phu Quoc, where it is sometimes called the “diamond of the forest.”
Agarwood Through History
Agarwood’s story has been woven into trade and religion for millennia. In India and the Middle East it is known as oud. In China it was prized as early as the Han Dynasty and used in imperial perfumes, and from the 15th century European traders carried it to Europe. The rarest type, Ky Nam, is closely associated with Vietnam.
For centuries, agarwood has been burned in temples, at home altars and during prayer and meditation across Asia and the Middle East, and it remains a symbol of reflection and calm.
Agarwood in Modern Life
Today agarwood is no longer tied only to ritual and tradition. Many people enjoy it as part of quiet routines: meditation, yoga, reading, or winding down at the end of the day. For those of us with long, screen-heavy workdays, lighting a single stick can mark a short, intentional pause.
Our Connection with Agarwood
We were never traditional agarwood traders. We work in technology and e-commerce in San Francisco and often travel between the U.S. and Asia. By chance, I was given a tube of agarwood incense in Da Nang, Vietnam. When I lit it, childhood memories came flooding back. That was the scent I had been searching for.
Since then, agarwood has become part of my daily routine — and my team’s. On long workdays, a small stick of incense gives us a moment to step away from the screen. I am grateful to my teammates for embracing this Asian tradition with such open hearts. We often joked: Why don’t we make agarwood incense that is ethical, authentic and accessible?
Still11 – Where Technology Meets Tradition
That was the beginning of Still11. We met our partner, Harry Nguyen, a biochemical engineer in Vietnam with decades of experience working with agarwood. With his local expertise, we developed incense sticks that keep the character of traditional agarwood, made with careful attention to quality.
It takes a large amount of agarwood to produce even a small quantity of its essential oil, which is part of why good agarwood incense is rare. Each stick represents a long journey: from Aquilaria trees, to the resin, to careful hand-rolling that creates a fine, delicate smoke.
Still11 was born from this serendipity, with the hope of sharing a piece of that memory and stillness with you. Thank you for joining us on this journey.
Team Still11
Stillness is a choice.