SANDALWOOD ESSENTIAL OIL AGMARKED – woody, creamy and velvety note with hints of warm milk, incense and soft leather

A woody scent with warm, creamy undertones, typical of sandalwood. Sandalwood oil is one of the most expensive materials available to perfumers. However, many essential oils cost much more and are much less versatile. With the exception of oud, no essence imparts such sensual warmth as sandalwood. Oil production is scrupulously controlled by the Mysore government, and the finest oil is agmarked or approved by the Ministry of Agriculture. Only the heart of mature trees (about 30 years old) is used, and recent reports from Mysore indicate that the use of sandalwood for carving and furniture making should be reduced to ensure a sufficient supply of trees for future oil extraction. The oil is present in varying amounts in all parts of the wood. It is not released from the wood itself. This distinguishes it from other woods, such as guaiac and sanders, whose central part is formed under the influence of resin, which is released primarily when the bark and outer wood are damaged. The creamy-sweet scent blends harmoniously with bitter-spicy notes. Sandalwood has strong binding properties and versatility, enhancing other notes, especially the woody base notes. Sandalwood (Santalum album L.) has long been used in India for religious purposes and as a perfume material since ancient times. It remains the most valuable perfume material. The tree itself is parasitic. Immediately after the seeds germinate, the roots attach themselves to neighboring plants and consume their sap until the host dies. The evergreen sandalwood tree (Santalum album DC), which reaches a height of 6–10 m, grows naturally in the southern part of the Indian subcontinent. The wood of the sandalwood tree is tough, durable, termite-resistant, and has a pleasant scent. Since ancient times, the sandalwood tree has been considered sacred in India, China, and Southwest Asia. It is known that in India, as early as the 9th-10th centuries, essential oil was obtained from crushed wood through distillation, a method that was only mastered in Europe five centuries later. Both in the East and in Europe, this oil was long used solely as a therapeutic remedy. Perfumers only began to recognize the importance of using sandalwood oil in perfumes in the 19th century. Demand for this oil grew rapidly. Massive deforestation of sandalwood trees began in India, leading, despite all customs and government restrictions, to the threat of extinction of the Santalum album. On plantations, the tree takes about 30-40 years to reach ideal harvesting condition. Indian companies obtain sandalwood oil through dry steam distillation of coarsely chopped trunk and root wood. Distillation sometimes lasts up to 72 hours, depending on the pressure and dryness of the steam used. The oil yield is 4-6% of the weight of the wood added. Studying the chemical composition of sandalwood oil and the structure of its main components has required years of work by eminent chemists. As early as 1910, F. Zemmler had determined the structure of alpha-santalol present in the oil. In 1935, L. Ruzicka elucidated the structure of beta-santalol. However, it took another 50 years to evaluate the role of individual components and the details of their structures. Without going into numerous publications, it should be noted that the concentration of alpha- and beta-santalol reaches 90%, and the presence of 4-8% alpha-bergamot in the oil is also significant. The microcomponents are probably not of great importance, although among them are carbonyl compounds that have a rather strong odor. The quality of the oil is determined by the amount of sandalwood isomers: the more, the better. The temperature and duration of distillation influence the quality of the oil. The primitive method of steam distillation at normal pressure requires long distillations. In this case, oxidation products with an unpleasant odor accumulate in the oil. Sandalwood oil is one of the most important oils in perfumery, cosmetics, and soaps. Virtually every type of high-quality product uses this oil. It also has strong fixative properties.