Hailing from a humble Assam village to a global fragrance house, Ajmal Perfumes has built its legacy on craftsmanship and heritage. The company began in 1951 when Haji Ajmal Ali, then a simple rice farmer in Hojai, Assam, ventured into the jungles to harvest precious agarwood (oud) resin. His grandchildren recall that the seeds of Ajmal Perfumes were sown by Haji Ajmal in the year 1951. Seventy-plus years later, Ajmal has grown into a scent dynasty, offering 300+ fragrances and operating hundreds of stores worldwide.
Our vision remains rooted in that heritage: to take the soul of Assam’s oud to the world, merging it with modern perfumery. In the words of our CEO, Abdulla Ajmal, every fragrance we create carries the purpose and passion first set by our founder.
Glimpse of Factories and Craftsmanship
Today Ajmal Perfumes operates major manufacturing facilities in the UAE (Dubai) and in Assam, India, combining advanced technology with skilled artisans. For example, our flagship Dubai factory spans 150,000 square feet (a $10M investment) and houses a high-tech automated production line and an in-house research wing. These factories can produce up to 100,000 bottles per day, which is enough to supply all of our global boutiques and duty-free outlets. Yet despite such scale, we deliberately keep the process human-centered: as Abdulla Ajmal explains, “Our processes in the factory are automated, yet we still have an army of artisans because modernization should not come at the cost of employment.” In practice this means machines fill and label the bottles, but expert noses and hands still supervise the entire process of blending the scents and finishing the products.
Ajmal’s Assam estate is equally impressive. Hojai in Assam is the largest homeland of oud today, which hosts our old plantation and distillation facility. Here we grow the raw material for our finest scents. We were among the first to launch a reforestation program in Northeast India, and today over 10 million agarwood trees flourish on Ajmal land. This farm supplies ethically sourced oud and rare botanical oils to our UAE labs. In fact, Ajmal is now popularly regarded as the “King of Oud” because we are the largest consumer, buyer, and supplier of oud worldwide. Our manufacturing process makes sure that every drop of oudh oil we use is authentic and sustainable. Ajmal is the only perfumery house in the world that’s absolutely vertically integrated, producing its own raw materials rather than relying on commodity oils.
Master Perfumers, Rare Ingredients and Perfumery
Ajmal’s perfume creation is a union of Eastern tradition and Western innovation. We train perfumerists to blend classic Arabic notes with modern accords. Each fragrance is an emotion in a bottle: behind the scenes our R&D chemists and master perfumers experiment with precious ingredients daily. We can access elusive essences like Rose de Mai (May rose) or wild Mysore sandalwood that few others can. And of course the star of our show is oud (agarwood oil). Oudh gives Ajmal scents their warm, woodsy depth.
Once an idea by the R&D team is approved, a small team of trained artisans hand-tests and adjusts the blend. They play with accords, layer notes, refine openings and dry-downs, and verify that the fragrance feels balanced and full of character. When the final formula is ready, the perfume concentrate, which begins purely as aromatic oil, moves into large stainless steel maceration vessels. Here it is slowly blended with alcohol and water under controlled conditions. The mixture rests for several weeks, allowing the oils to soften, mix, and mature. This quiet period of maceration helps the scent develop depth and smoothness, just like aging improves fine ingredients in culinary or artistic crafts. After the maceration is complete, the fragrance goes through filtration, clarity checks, and another round of evaluation to make sure every note expresses itself as intended.
Only then does the perfume reach the beautiful bottles designed by Ajmal’s in-house engineers and creative teams. The filling and actuator fitting are completed on modern automated lines that maintain precision and hygiene. Skilled workers supervise each step, observe the flow, check bottle weights, test spray performance, and confirm that the final product meets Ajmal’s standards of craftsmanship. What begins as a drop of oil becomes a finished fragrance that holds emotion, heritage, and the warm, woody soul of oud at its heart.
Some of our signature fragrances showcase this craftsmanship. For instance, modern lines like Aurum or The Untold Stories series use oud along with French citrus, Bulgarian rose, and creamy woods for a unique fusion of East and West. Surprisingly, all of this magic happens under one roof, from blending vats to the bottling line, so quality is never compromised. All in all, Ajmal’s approach of “farm-to-fragrance” and owning and managing our ingredients from tree to bottle truly sets us apart on the global fragrance map.
Global Reach, Mission and Vision
Ajmal Perfumes today is both rooted and global. We operate more than 350+ exclusive stores across several countries and export to nearly 60. Our fragrances travel through luxury boutiques, duty-free shelves, and retail partners, reaching customers across 5 continents. In India alone, Ajmal is present across more than 3,000 points of sale, which makes it easy for a fragrance to move from our factory to someone’s hands almost anywhere in the world.
Even with this scale, our mission remains the same. Ajmal exists to enrich lifestyles through creativity, authenticity, and ethical practice. We aim to be a globally respected fragrance house that shares the artistry of Arabic perfumery with the world. The values of our founder, Haji Ajmal, continue to guide us, while Abdulla Ajmal envisions Ajmal as a global leader in fine perfumery. This vision drives us to train new perfumers, expand plantations, and open new boutiques across international markets. Today, Ajmal stands for heritage and innovation, and we take pride in being one of the world’s largest producers and users of quality oud. Each perfume depicts 73 years of passion, precision, and craftsmanship. We invite you to look through our collections and become part of the story!
Words can only tell part of the story. Step inside the Ajmal factory through this video and witness the craftsmanship, people, and processes behind every fragrance.
