Santalum album · Mysore, Karnataka
Sandalwood
The grade the rest of the world measures sandal against.
What it is
Santalum album, grown in the Mysore region, yields an oil that is warm, creamy and close to milky, without the sourness of cheaper origins. It is the reference against which every other sandalwood is described, usually unfavourably.
Why it is scarce
It has been over-harvested to the point that supply is state-controlled and most sandalwood in commercial fragrance is now a synthetic. A tree needs decades before its heartwood is worth distilling, which makes every honest supply chain a long one.
How it smells
Creamy, dry rather than sweet, with a faint sourness at the very top that disappears within a minute. It does not project. It gets under other materials and holds them down.
Its other job
Sandalwood is also the base that mitti attar is distilled into, so it appears twice in this collection — once as the subject of A.003 and once as the vehicle that carries A.001.
Why we use it
Because a creamy sandalwood is the easiest thing in perfumery to fake and the hardest to fake well. A.003 is an argument for the oil, and most of what the bottle costs is the oil.
In the collection
A.003 Quiet Hour
Sandalwood is the material this edition is built on, and the reason it costs what it does.
