Thanks for the vote of confidence
Solely Musk and Sandalwood - nothing else added
The Mongolian Fried was made with 1940’s Mysore and with a traditional “oil fried” Mongolian pod and was made @50% by weight.
My Tibetans I generally make @35% by weight.
I age them all a minimum of 5 years before they are ready.
Historically - there are 2 general ways of preserving pods, given that they are flesh.
Drying (which is how most have likely seen them)
Smoked - which we often don’t see as it imparts wood smoke and some argue takes away from the animalic / musk scent - but then again some like the woodsmoke as it adds Umami and depth.
There’s a 3rd rarely seen method :
Oil-Fried : generally only seen in Mongolia, rarely seen with Outsiders (non-Mongols) and even more rarely outside of China, and hardly ever seen any longer these days. The pods are flash fried in an “oil that’s never changed, just added to”. Exactly what that oil is, no clue. My best guess is in Horse Oil. The old stories are that the oil itself is more potent than a pod as a result of charging over and over with flash frying the pods. But it’s an old preservation method, and is generally considered a superior method of preservation and does not take away from its potency. Historically, as trade was by land and sea and often loaded in crates for months or years at a time - these pods never went bad or lost potency and were favored for that reason.
In my experience - and the way that I make them - can definitely smell a regional difference when I make them.
Hope that helps
