Sandalwood oil of the day

Mr.P said:
I have aged a fair number of sandalwoods i have aged over long (20+ year) time spans. They have maintained their character, mellowed a bit.

They can pick up some atlas cedar like notes as they oxidize and also some sharp almost vinegar like notes in extreme cases especially if there is lots of surface exposure to oxygen. The pale color is not necessarily a sign of dilution but it could be. Try burning a drop on a coal or stick see if it smells like cooking oil.
Click to expand...
I've been going thru my Sandalwood collection and wiping down the bottles and checking on them. You are exactly right about mellowing. I also noticed the atlas cedar you mentioned in one, which I don't mind, and a vinegar in another, that one also lost viscosity if I'm using the word right, it became thinner. I going to move them to cooler climbs. Will have to make soap. I wish I had known. I sat on too many thinking they would keep or improve.

Now I'm curious about these vintage sandalwoods from decades ago that go up for sale, I'm curious about their storage. The majority of mine older than 5-15 years aren't healthy.

Maybe I need a controlled temperature habitat. I was actually looking at something similar to a unit pictured in the forum recently.
 
Last edited:
PersonelHigh said:
I've been going thru my Sandalwood collection and wiping down the bottles and checking on them. You are exactly right about mellowing. I also noticed the atlas cedar you mentioned in one, which I don't mind, and a vinegar in another, that one also lost viscosity if I'm using the word right, it became thinner. I going to move them to cooler climbs. Will have to make soap. I wish I had known. I sat on too many thinking they would keep or improve.

Now I'm curious about these vintage sandalwoods from decades ago that go up for sale, I'm curious about their storage. The majority of mine older than 5-15 years aren't healthy.

Maybe I need a controlled temperature habitat. I was actually looking at something similar to a unit pictured in the forum recently.
Click to expand...
Interesting, glad your observations confirm my own. It's a little bit puzzling because some oils make it through pretty much intact. The atlas cedar and acetic notes have been most pronounced in larger bottles with lots of headspace. This note becomes the most extreme in something like a 1 L aluminum flask that has been gradually emptied over a long period of time in my experience.

I think it comes down to the storage and authenticity of the oil. By far the nicest sandalwood I have in my collection is from 2001 and it has not lost any of its charm. Also An Najwa's 1960's mysore is immaculate - has held up spectacularly well. So over the time spans you are talking about I wouldn't expect good oil properly stored to lose its charm. But I agree there are very bland vintage oils out there.

I wonder what causes some sandalwood to become dull - adulterants, low quality oil, inappropriate storage?
 
Last edited:
I am wearing that 1990s SQ Mysore from @An Najwa again trying to understand the profile. As I already said this batch has some very distinctive sweet woody notes that set it apart from most of the oils i have smelled since the 90's. Saturated sweet and dry powdery woodiness, this is more sweet woody slight floral sandalwood as opposed to the musky/urine type, milky type, or indonesian dry woody type. I feel like I understand the top and middle notes of this oil but have not really been able to tune in to the dry down. Not sure if that's due to the oil itself or due to my working through different materials in the course of a day. I have to remember to apply this before bed some time
 
Last edited:
EJayB said:
I have been sampling a lot of sandalwood lately and found 1 from Kupang that smelled great for 5 min then nothing! The gcms paperwork looked good but the oil’s scent would vanish after 5 and never show back up🤷🏻‍♂️ very odd
Click to expand...
I’m sampling an NTT sandalwood I just got, it’s the best sandalwood I’ve tried so far (only tried 4), it’s a beautiful Album scent but not too creamy or citrusy or woody, it’s perfectly balanced. But as you said it just lasts an hour or two then disappears. It’s transparent and ever so slightly yellow kind of like an ambergris tincture. I got it from Cauzar Oud from Indonesia, was this your source too?
 
Saudalhajri said:
I’m sampling an NTT sandalwood I just got, it’s the best sandalwood I’ve tried so far (only tried 4), it’s a beautiful Album scent but not too creamy or citrusy or woody, it’s perfectly balanced. But as you said it just lasts an hour or two then disappears. It’s transparent and ever so slightly yellow kind of like an ambergris tincture. I got it from Cauzar Oud from Indonesia, was this your source too?
Click to expand...
Vacuum distilled oils exist, they have much shorter duration on skin, and are generally inexpensive. Not a substitute for steam distilled oil at all for my uses. Also sometimes with unusual pigmentation - darker coloration tending to brown.
 
Last edited:
I’ve had that happen with a couple sandalwoods lately. I know price isn’t always the best determinant for value but these were cheaper oils. Two have an initial blast and then quickly fade and become skin scents. One doesn’t really have a smell. I currently have three that I consider best of the best and sometimes they seem to disappear. But with each of those they can pop up out of nowhere later and often seem like I’m not the one wearing them but that it’s someone else in my vicinity that is. But I also think I might get a bit nose blind with sandalwood. If I remember to do it I now I will try not to apply any near my face. Maybe on the back of my neck or crown of my head. That way all the volatiles aren’t immediately burning out my nose and preventing me from getting the most out of the oil. For me that ability of the oil to reappear later is what I’m starting to consider.
 
Shiningrobes said:
I’ve had that happen with a couple sandalwoods lately. I know price isn’t always the best determinant for value but these were cheaper oils. Two have an initial blast and then quickly fade and become skin scents. One doesn’t really have a smell. I currently have three that I consider best of the best and sometimes they seem to disappear. But with each of those they can pop up out of nowhere later and often seem like I’m not the one wearing them but that it’s someone else in my vicinity that is. But I also think I might get a bit nose blind with sandalwood. If I remember to do it I now I will try not to apply any near my face. Maybe on the back of my neck or crown of my head. That way all the volatiles aren’t immediately burning out my nose and preventing me from getting the most out of the oil. For me that ability of the oil to reappear later is what I’m starting to consider.
Click to expand...
Sandalwood is a tricky one in the sense it is easy to get desensitized and the desensitization can build over time and can last for days after the last application in my experience. I don't have as much discipline as I used to so I accept the loss of sensitivity but I used to take periodic weeks off from Sandalwood just to maintain my ability to smell it clearly and to really tune back into the most beautiful aspects of it.
 
I’ve been on a real bender lately and have needed to take breaks. Luckily I have a few now with such distinct and different notes that I can sometimes rotate them. The worst part is that of those three I mentioned I’m starting to think of them all as something I can’t live without. Something I know a lot of us on here can relate to.
 
Image00003.jpg

Comparing Sulaym's and Rising Phoenix's (RP) mysore sandalwood.

Similar in composition, but I feel RP's sandalwood that's more viscous, has a deeper, more buttery experience.
 
I've been enjoying mesoud's NTT sandalwood oil. Very full well-rounded presence that is generally missing in the commercial oils I have smelled. It's amazing to have materials like this going directly from producer to consumer, the degree to which the Internet has transformed the world is too easy to take for granted. We are in a kind of golden age, at least from my hobbyist / consumer perspective.
 
2002 Tamil Nadu deg-distilled sandalwood oil. this was given the multi week treatment like Mesoud is doing with oud. Velvety, musky powdery, dry-woody, very similar to the aroma from my yamada sandalwood slabs (from about the same year) on the subitism. Stellar oil, I've kept it in topped off bottles and there has been relatively little progression or change in the aroma other than a deepening of some notes.
IMG_9832.jpeg
 
Last edited:
A dab o' @Al-Hind Oud Mysore 2023 no. Uno. Smooth sandalwood opening, tilted towards the sweet/sugary; robust woody-musk note is evident, delightful dry-powdery quality; layering beautifully with a green ck oil background from an earlier wear. Good stuff!
 
Mr.P said:
Vacuum distilled oils exist, they have much shorter duration on skin, and are generally inexpensive. Not a substitute for steam distilled oil at all for my uses. Also sometimes with unusual pigmentation - darker coloration tending to brown.
Click to expand...
vacuum sandalwood oils are darker? thats unexpected! you'd think they would be lighter considering the lower temperature used. ive never smelled one. ive only had absolutes and hydrodistillations!
 
Goodness Nose said:
vacuum sandalwood oils are darker? thats unexpected! you'd think they would be lighter considering the lower temperature used. ive never smelled one. ive only had absolutes and hydrodistillations!
Click to expand...
I have seen orange and also clear - limited experience here I admit - hope what i am saying is accurate.
 
Mesoud NTT today. Really top notch oil IMO
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

S
Simple Mukhalat – Rose, Oud, Sandalwood (2AM Blend) (YOLO)
Replies
10
Views
547
DubOudh
DubOudh
A
Sandalwood Review: 1977 “Jubilee” – Vintage Mysore Sandalwood Oil Factory Sandalwood
Replies
5
Views
1K
mobyus
mobyus
Hamza H
KEDAH, HAINAN - New Oil Releases
Replies
0
Views
257
Hamza H
Hamza H
William Birch
Taiwan and Oud questions.
Replies
6
Views
957
headspace
headspace
Sky.by.Mark
Extraits vs oils
Replies
5
Views
679
Joe
Joe
Back
Top