Sandalwood ** Is This True?

[Guest guest]

Butch Owen <butchbsi

Sun, 08 Feb 2004 21:58:22 -0800

Sandalwood ** Is This True?

 

Hi Irena,

 

I could write a bit on Aussie Sandalwood .. but I won't. I will,

however comment on a couple of the below statements cause the subject

asks a question. ;-)

 

> I have a friend who makes this awesome sandalwood soap -- she uses

> 4 ounces to a batch! If any of you have researched purchasing

> sandalwood, you know that amount is extremely expensive --

> prohibitively so. But the scent of sandalwood is irresistible,

> especially for men.

 

Agree .. was trying to pull the reducer out of a 20 ml bottle of Mysore

yesterday. One of the first bottles we sold .. was a 1997 Sandalwood

bottled in 1999 and the reducer got clogged .. I tried to open it with a

toothpick but couldn't from the top .. so I pulled it out and 4-5 ml

spilled out in my lap. Around midnight last night, I went to an all

night restaurant with some friends .. and they thought it was finer'n

frog hair split three ways. Went home and hung those trousers on a

hanger from the ceiling lamp .. they are still hanging there now. :-P

 

> Mysore sandalwood has been harvested and/or poached to the point that

> the Indian government has put restrictions on its production and the

> only true Mysore escaping the country is 100% government controlled -

 

Not really the whole story .. the government merely wants to tax it ..

that's the whole issue.

 

> well, except for the bits here and there that the poachers swipe.

 

And .. the biggest crooks in India .. like in many other countries ..

are the government folks. They take bribes from these so-called

poachers. The poacher finds the bribe to be less than the tax. I'm

not sure what is being accomplished other than feathering the nest of

crooked public servants .. something I've lived with for years here.

 

> Anyway, Mysore sandalwood is considered the rarest and most costly

> of all sandalwood oils, couple that with over harvesting, and until

> recently, lack of controlled & sustainable growth,

 

Actually .. this is the line of the Greens and the Aussie government ..

both have vested interests in having folks believe this. Truth is, a

small portion of Sandalwood is devoted to oils.

 

> we will not see legally harvested Mysore again in our lifetimes --

 

Certainly not a fact .. we'll see it every day .. I talk on the phone to

my distiller at least once every couple of months. There is government

approved (tax stamped) and government approved (after the bribe) legally

harvested Sandalwood coming out of India on a routine basis.

 

The price, however, is fluctuating wildly .. not due so much to outside

demand as to demand inside. The latter part of 2003 I refused to buy

because of the number of religious ceremonies ongoing in India where the

people used Sandalwood and Sandalwood oil .. it caused the price to go

up almost 35% for a while.

 

> it will be in our grandchildren's lifetimes when these new trees are

> available to harvest.

 

I think they mean .. in our great grandchildren's times. Those trees

grow sorta slow.

 

> Some forward thinking folks saw this on the horizon some years ago

 

I personally think this should read .. some aggressive marketers saw

this some time ago. The Aussie gummit is doing all they can to increase

exports of ANY product that can be distilled.

 

> and decided to go into the sandalwood business using a species of

> sandalwood which is easier to renew-- the Australian variety,

 

I think even Dennis will agree that this is marketing .. once attention

is placed on Aussie Sandalwood then the Greens will sing the same story.

I have some data on this .. the Aussie Sandalwood .. but no time to dig

it out of the other PC now as I'm late to meet some folks at the pub.

 

> which to the untrained nose, could pass for Mysore in a heartbeat.

 

I won't disagree with that .. and I think its great for soap. But not

for Aromatherapy.

 

> The Australian variety is less than half the cost of the Indian

> varieties, tallying in at about $54 per 4 oz bottle.

 

Thereabouts .. maybe up to $60 or so .. less than 1/2 that of Mysore.

 

> passing almost completely for 'the real deal'

 

OK. ;-)

 

> with just a tiny hint of bitterness -- fortunately, the

> Australian variety warms down to the sweet, pungent, lovely,

> aphrodisiac sandalwood we're all used to when applied to the skin or

> blended with other oils. Directly from the bottle, the Australian

> sandalwood is nearly indetectible -- my husband, who is a huge

> sandalwood hoochie, couldn't smell anything as I passed the bottle

> under his nose, however, when I splashed a bit on his arm and made

> him take a whiff, he nearly melted in a puddle -- " Sandalwood! " he

> yelled. " Oh, you gotta make some soap with this stuff. "

>

> Irena

 

I'm sure it will make some great soap .. I love the odor for sure. :-P

 

Y'all keep smiling. :-) Butch http://www.AV-AT.com