Smell & Tell | Love Letter to Sandalwood

When

Wednesday March 20, 2024: 6:00pm to 7:30pm  Add to Calendar /   Add to Google Calendar

Where

Downtown Library: 4th Floor Meeting Room

Description

Indian sandalwood oil (Santalum album) has virtually disappeared from the perfumer’s palette due to overexploitation and degradation of habitat. Synthetic replacements exist, but the latter takes time—an ironic fact when one considers that the heartwood and roots of Santalum album trees must be 30 years old to be viable for harvest.  

Australian sandalwood oil (Santalum spicata) is currently used as a substitute for Indian sandalwood, alongside synthetics. It’s an excellent fixative (makes perfumes last longer), but lacks the distinct sweet, creamy, woody and ethereal qualities found in Indian sandalwood (Santalum album). Note to chemistry nerds: the reason is a lower percentage of total santalols.  

The scent flight for this Smell & Tell program includes two aged Indian Sandalwood oils; Australian sandalwood used by the fragrance industry, two Indian attars from Kannauj; a vintage French perfume that’s become more sandalwood-forward via aging (yes, it can happen); and essential oils distilled from sandalwood species that natural perfumers are dabbling with. (Vintage essences shared at this Smell & Tell are from the presenter’s personal collection.)  

P.S. There’s a reason why we’ll smell two Kannauj attars (one of the attars is 20 years old, the other isn't). If India loses its sandalwood trees (or has to use oil from Santalum album grown outside India, from trees that aren't viable for harvest) it will own its role in the history of attar perfumery, but not its future.  

The Smell and Tell series of art+science programming is led by Michelle Krell Kydd, a trained nose in flavors and fragrance who shares her passion for gastronomy, sensory evaluation and the perfume arts on Glass Petal Smoke. Smell & Tell builds community through interactions with flavor, fragrance and storytelling