Attar Oudh

Oud Fan
There are many varieties of Sandalwood. Many have distinct signature notes to them.
Mysore Sandalwood is heralded as the finest but it really is a matter of taste. That people have recently been calling everything Mysore, when clearly it is probably not is just down right deceit.
In recent times the clean Mysore which i sniffed with clear notes of warmth and lactic nuances that a pure Mysore wood emits, comes from the house of Lucky oud by Mr. Rafi , a connoisseur turned seller, he knows the oils and quality very well...It's called Santal Luxe.
Another guy i would recommend is Dr. Prasun from Craft oud.. he also have authentic Mysore oils..
These r tried for aroma of the actual wood.. there might be some which i missed.
 

Jazzoid

True Ouddict
This is my first post so forgive me if this is a bit of a non sequitur. When I began as a perfumer, about 12 years ago, I wanted to make a sandalwood perfume. Curious, I bought small amounts (anywhere from 3 to 15 ml.) of sandalwood oil from all over the world, most of which claimed to be from Mysore, and from wild trees, at that. Out of about 2 dozen, only one was indeed wld Mysore. Is it possible that most of us have never even smelled the stuff?

Any name that gets a good reputation can be used as a marketing tool, like overuse of the term 'kinam'. This forum is absolutely invaluable in that respect. Thanks to the knowledge of commentors and artisans, discussion can focus on batches rather than the madness that goes on in the 'real world.'
 

William Birch

Oud Fanatic
Today I finally received my 60 year old Mysore oil from Aroma Sublime and it’s a very very unique oil.

Very floral opening with a huge punch of butter(I know I say that in almost all of my posts, it’s just that I get the smell of butter from sandalwood in general.) and almost a petrol(gasoline) type smell too it not a bad smell by any means just not something I’ve experienced before.

The bottom is nice and creamy and woody with a bit of musk and some camphor like notes.

Very very interesting this is my first time buying from Aroma Sublime and I’ll definitely be purchasing from them again.

This is also my first time with an oil this old so it may take my nose a bit to adjust to smelling such a mature sandalwood oil.
 

William Birch

Oud Fanatic
That people have recently been calling everything Mysore, when clearly it is probably not is just down right deceit.
Yeah I think that could be a real problem with buying sandalwoods online(and even in person) is so many dishonest people will just straight up lie about what their product really is.
 

OudForm

Oud Fanatic
Today I finally received my 60 year old Mysore oil from Aroma Sublime and it’s a very very unique oil.

Very floral opening with a huge punch of butter(I know I say that in almost all of my posts, it’s just that I get the smell of butter from sandalwood in general.) and almost a petrol(gasoline) type smell too it not a bad smell by any means just not something I’ve experienced before.

The bottom is nice and creamy and woody with a bit of musk and some camphor like notes.

Very very interesting this is my first time buying from Aroma Sublime and I’ll definitely be purchasing from them again.

This is also my first time with an oil this old so it may take my nose a bit to adjust to smelling such a mature sandalwood oil.
You might be confused here or misinterpreted the description but the oil itself is not 60 years old rather the trees are. The oil is 5 years old. FYI
 

oud.time

Sandalwouddict
Today I finally received my 60 year old Mysore oil from Aroma Sublime and it’s a very very unique oil.

Very floral opening with a huge punch of butter(I know I say that in almost all of my posts, it’s just that I get the smell of butter from sandalwood in general.) and almost a petrol(gasoline) type smell too it not a bad smell by any means just not something I’ve experienced before.

The bottom is nice and creamy and woody with a bit of musk and some camphor like notes.

Very very interesting this is my first time buying from Aroma Sublime and I’ll definitely be purchasing from them again.

This is also my first time with an oil this old so it may take my nose a bit to adjust to smelling such a mature sandalwood oil.
If you enjoy this oil then I think you will definitely enjoy the ones that CraftOud are putting out.
 

Al Shareef Oudh

Master Perfumer
This is my first post so forgive me if this is a bit of a non sequitur. When I began as a perfumer, about 12 years ago, I wanted to make a sandalwood perfume. Curious, I bought small amounts (anywhere from 3 to 15 ml.) of sandalwood oil from all over the world, most of which claimed to be from Mysore, and from wild trees, at that. Out of about 2 dozen, only one was indeed wld Mysore. Is it possible that most of us have never even smelled the stuff?
There are many varieties of Sandalwood. Many have distinct signature notes to them.
Mysore Sandalwood is heralded as the finest but it really is a matter of taste. That people have recently been calling everything Mysore, when clearly it is probably not is just down right deceit.
I am glad this topic has been raised. I saw the other day on a thread a comment regarding 'how mysore should be' and my first thought was 'what are you comparing it to'.

I know the vast majority of people see mysore as a type of sandalwood. Some people see it as a sandalwood from a place named mysore. Both of these have some truth in them, however if you want to know what is really mysore sandalwood then you have to understand the history and be 100% certain that you have smelt something from that source.

I have written about this previously on my website but i will share the history here as well.

Unbeknownst to many, the term ‘Mysore’ initially became famous due to one specific factory – the Government Soap Factory in the city of Mysore. The products from this facility were so well crafted that soon everyone around the world with a passion for scent was speaking about “Mysore Oil”. Its swift rise to fame was then followed by the wonderful soap the very same factory produced and people soon opted for the shorter and easier name of ‘Mysore’ to replace the longer ‘Government Soap Factory’. Nowadays whenever somebody hears the term ‘Mysore’ they immediately think ‘Mysore oil’ or ‘Mysore sandalwood’. The reality is, if you want real mysore sandalwood oil then it has to be from the Government Soap Factory, now Known as Karnataka Soaps And Detergent Limited.

What many people do not realise is that the very same company – Government Soap Factory even though the name is changed- that had distilled Mysore sandalwood oil decades earlier and contributed to its fame and prestige are still in business today and they continue to produce high quality Mysore sandalwood oil. The challenge is getting your hands on this oil. Some incorrectly claim that pure high-quality Mysore sandalwood oil isn’t currently available – that simply isn’t true.

So that is the story of Mysore sandalwood oil. Now today, people distill sandalwood from the city of mysore and call it mysore sandalwood, people distill sandalwood from india and call it mysore, people distill sandalwood from india grown outside of india as mysore sandalwood. Once the consumer decides to move away from the criteria of what made the original oils mysore, then i guess there is some level of mysore in all these other mysores.
 

The Scent Guru

Agarwhoreder
Staff member
Thank you @Al Shareef Oudh for this history and information. I had assumed previously it was a geographical term.

So due to the way in which the term was coined (like Kleenex is a tissue) "Mysore" has become a basic generic term for whomever's top-quality offering and really meaningless?

A non-Mysore oil from another region potentially could be higher quality, right?
 

oud.time

Sandalwouddict
Thank you @Al Shareef Oudh for this history and information. I had assumed previously it was a geographical term.

So due to the way in which the term was coined (like Kleenex is a tissue) "Mysore" has become a basic generic term for whomever's top-quality offering and really meaningless?

A non-Mysore oil from another region potentially could be higher quality, right?
Unscrupulous sellers will label oil anything they think will bring them more sales. And I'm sure that happens with Mysore all the time. And yes high quality oils can come from anywhere.

In my experience, from buying from reputable vendors, is that the Mysore named (region) oils share similar profiles. For example the oils from older trees that I have (aroma sublime,craft) all carry a similar profile.

The dozen or so other Mysore (region) oils I have also share similarities. Yes some are more honey. Some more butter. Some more "spicy". But I find these to be completely different from the sri lankan, indonesian or hawaiian oils. Now I haven't tried many oils from other regions of India to know how they differ. Perhaps these oils are from trees that come from all over India? I have no way of knowing other than what the vendor tells me.

But what I do know is that when I see the word Mysore (region) from a reputable vendor I have an idea of how it is going to smell. And that I will most likely enjoy it.

This is just my experience. Oh and price doesn't matter as I have enjoyed <$10/g oils more than >$50/g oils.
 

Al Shareef Oudh

Master Perfumer
Do they produce different grades of oil at different price points?
From what I know they produced two grades, standard and premium.
Thank you @Al Shareef Oudh for this history and information. I had assumed previously it was a geographical term.

So due to the way in which the term was coined (like Kleenex is a tissue) "Mysore" has become a basic generic term for whomever's top-quality offering and really meaningless?

A non-Mysore oil from another region potentially could be higher quality, right?
Yes it is a bit like Kleenex, everyone calls tissue Kleenex because of the original Kleenex, but not all tissues are made by Kleenex.

Other sources could also be producing sandalwood oil of higher or lesser quality, that will come down to the skills and wood employed by the distiller.

There is an on going academic debate on what makes a sandalwood oil high quality, some count the alpha santalol and some the beta santalol and some a combinational method of counting the two. The issue with these are whilst they show the count of the active ingredient they don't always stack up for the smell. There can be high counts of santalol and the oil doesn't smell so nice. And on the other hand there can be lower counts of santalol and the oil smells amazing, this is one of the reasons GCMS analysis can be read in so many ways and be misleading if the reader doesn't know what to look for or if they simply look for santalol readings.

As such when we speak about quality if referring to smell, then the woods out of India or the santalum album have a higher chance of smelling more pleasant than the Australian variety santalum spicatim. You also have the Island sandalwoods Santalum ellipticum and Santalum Yasi.

The interesting thing is, from a smell perspective sometimes you will get sandalwoods from the none Indian species that smell amazing. The most beautiful sandalwood I have smelt was a Hawaiian and the santalol count was low 80% .
 
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