SOME ADDITIONAL NOTES ON OUR SANDALWOOD SELECTION
There are two primary themes operating in the world of Santalum album sandalwood essential oil:
Approach #1 is the large-scale sandalwood industry seeking to create a consistently clean, round, straightforward sandal aroma with a high santalol content, always looking toward a kind of quintessential "perfect", “clean”, “pure” sandalwood aroma. Any kind of divergent complexity, unexpected aromatic notes, or noticeable impressions of the terroir are discouraged here. This is really important when predictability is desirable, such as for the perfume industry. Aging an already good oil (carefully processed pure sandal oil from older trees with a high santalol content) in this category will almost always make it more buttery and round and smooth eliminating sharper top notes that tend to feature in younger oils.
Approach #2, is one that favors divergent sandalwood aromas that reflect unique tree and terroir as well as special processes in growing, harvesting, wood aging, processing, distillation, and aging of the oil itself. Of course, it must first come through as a true sandalwood aroma and higher santalol content will be a desirable factor. However, this paradigm also favors interesting and unexpected aromatic notes as long as there is also discernible refinement and quality that would meet some kind of consensus among people with some kind of reasonably informed perspective. That is to say, it can't just be "interesting", it must be "interesting and good!"
- our 2 Mysore oils: Golden Bough and Mysore 60 year are more representative of Approach #1
- Zen 68 is a middle path between
- Zen One and Zen Heart are definitely more Approach #2, with Zen Heart being the most exotic.