I contemplated building a Sandalwood blend for a long while, ever since my first attempt: Purple Sandalwood — a blend from my very early days in perfumery, not listed here as a product.

So what is different about this one? Two things: technique, and range.

I knew I loved Mysore sandalwood’s creamy profile, Australian sandalwood’s drier character, and Ceylon sandalwood’s greener, slightly oceanic quality. That last aspect was the key: oceanic. More particularly, the salty aspect of it.

I devised a technique to mesh Mysore and Australian sandalwood together while teasing out an oceanic, salty character — without resorting to the use of Ceylon sandalwood itself, and therefore avoiding profile elements that did not fit the vision I had for this particular project. The outcome is a sandalwood accord that is simultaneously creamy and slightly salty.

What makes this especially exciting to me is that I went as far as developing a dedicated distillation recipe for producing this material itself, so it may later serve other projects as well. This should not be mistaken for a perfume formula; it is a recipe for producing a material that can later plug into a formula.

Second, the range of directions this Oceanic Sandalwood profile makes possible.

It can move from floral, to indolic sweetness, to spicy, resinous, and woody territories — all while remaining tied together by the same creamy oceanic sandalwood backbone.