Guerlain perfumer Thierry Wasser, in Tunisia to talk about neroli.
Nobody was distilling it
[Trygve] Harris first came to Oman in 2006 to source frankincense for her aromatic essential oil store in New York. “But even in Oman, I could only get Somalia oil, not higher-quality Omani oil. Nobody was distilling it for sale back then. Not even Amouage!” she recalled, speaking of Oman’s top perfume company, which specialises in producing luxury frankincense fragrances (a 100ml bottle of Amouage perfume with frankincense base notes costs £283).
In 2011, she relocated to Salalah, Dhofar’s capital, and set up Enfleurage.
— From Oman's Ancient Biblical Scent, a profile of Omani frankincense at BBC Travel. (And see also, part 1 and 2 of our profile of Harris.)
The scent of nirvana
A spot from Firmenich Naturals on oud production in Bangladesh, with perfumer Hamid Merati-Kashani.
Prayers toward the heavens
Frankincense, one of three fabled gifts the wise men brought to honor Jesus, has been used for millennia as an incense in cooking and religious ceremonies. In Catholic churches today, the tendrils of smoke rising from burning frankincense are thought to carry prayers toward the heavens. Now, the earthy smell that evokes memories of spiritual communion for so many is under threat: Human activity is predicted to cause a 50% decline in frankincense harvests over the next 20 years, according to new research.
— Read more at World’s supply of frankincense could go up in smoke at Science.
Green mandarin & cardamom
Two spots from Firmenich Naturals. The first is on green mandarin from Brazil (with perfumer Amandine Clerc Marie), followed by (below the jump) cardamom from Guatemala (with perfumer Frank Voelkl).