Samandari

Earlier this year I completed a distillation project I had been working on for a number of years…This was no ordinary distillation. It was distilling a genre of wood that to the best of my knowledge has not been distilled for a good century.

In classical texts such as Al Kindi’s work on perfumery and Al Sahrawi’s works on fragrant ingredients there is mention of a special type of wood famous in Hind. Hind is the Arabic term for the subcontinent. From the characteristics that define this wood is that it is found near water bodies, named in the local dialects as Samandari, meaning by the sea.

I have named the oil Samandari retaining the original name of the wood as the name explains much about the location and type of wood. Samandari wood is no ordinary wood, like the Mandalee it can arguably surpass any Kyara. The challenge is they are nowhere to be found, and unknown by many except those who have inherited an Oudh tradition or collection. Unfortunately, Samandari Oudh ran out from the jungles a good century ago and it didn’t receive the hype that Kyara received or this Oudh would have been a wonderland for Oudh lovers. Therein began one of the challenges of our difficult task…where else to find this wood? I had a small amount in my collection, but not enough for a distillation.

I spent over 5 years collecting small amounts mainly from old collections, meagre quantities that had been stored away by collectors, distillers and natural medicine men. The next challenge was getting these to Australia… I wanted to distill Samandari knowing if I needed any hardware modifications all our resources were accessible. After many DHL deliveries we got the wood in Australia ready to distill.

Utilising one of the most authentic distillation methodologies from the classical middle eastern philosophy of perfumery, we spilt the batch in half. Half the batch was soaked in clean bottled spring water, and the other half was not soaked. Then they were distilled in a stainless steel alembic distillation pot with a stainless steel cooler and glass collector.

Hold on to your nose and mind…because Samandari is bliss, it is tranquility and contemplation, deep thought and revival. You are greeted with a deep ambergris Oceanic note, followed by menthol that makes the ambergris feel cool, the ambergris and menthol flamenco a little before the arrival of a  piercing blueberry note without the fruitiness, fresh green cinnamon from another world, ripe mangoes, rice hay with a hint of corn leaf a hint of earth, like the khapra used in mitti attars, but a pleasant version oscillates between sweet and bitter…this tango continues on repeat with waves of acute kyara and Nha trang Oudh. As you get comfortable with the Kyara notes you are tantalised by a pineapple note without the sickly sweetness of itbut a greenness with hues of red and purple. Every time you take a whiff you are accosted with layers with different dimensions and notes, as though it is a completely different oil, but then suddenly moments later the previous notes appear. The longevity and projection is amazing. It is no wonder kings like the Emperor Jahangir would revert to Samandari as their preferred Oudh indulgence.

We have all heard about Kyara…and some of us have experienced it, but not many are lucky enough to know about and sample Samandari….here is your chance to experience olfactory history.