Vintage 1999 Artisanal Tongan Sandalwood Oil

$9.00
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In stock

In stock

In stock

In stock

Vintage Tongan Sandalwood Oil

Kingdom of Tonga,1999

Aroma: Light dusty, woody and butter like scent

Widely used in perfumery and cosmetics, sandalwood goes a long way back in history. Predominantly cherished for its oil and incense qualities, it gives off a fine creamy, buttery and woody aroma that varies from one sandalwood to another.

It has had a second to none role in both western and eastern perfumery, a simply irreplaceable natural essential oil that is paramount to both traditions. The most famous sandalwood is without doubt Indian sandalwood, used and exported for centuries, with others taking their places thereafter.

Tongan sandalwood doesn't receive much mention, nor does much of the Pacific islands' sandalwood. Its been grown there for centuries, and used by the locals in their ceremonies and other aspects of their lives.

Sandalwood has a prominent role in our eastern and arabian perfumery traditions as well as incense traditions of the east. Now we are delighted to bring you our first vintage sandalwood oil with over 20 years of aging - we.simply cannot wait to begin blending with it!

 

FAQ

Product categories

What is oud oil?

Oudh is the resinous material from the agarwood tree, produced after it has been infected for several years or even decades. It is the rarest perfume oil on the planet, having been treasured for millennia as a prized and precious scent. 

Oudh oils are extremely complex and expensive essential oils. Fetching thousands of dollars by the kilogram. It is rare for oil yields to be beyond 1.5%. It takes several kilograms of wood to yield only millilitres  of oil. The yield and quality of the oil depends upon the quality of the wood used and the skill of the distiller crafting the oil by hydro distillation.

Oudh oil is swiped onto ones skin from the applicator stick inside a bottle, and applied to the pulse points and clothing. This is to allow for projection and for the scent to develop and release its scent profile throughout the day.

Oudh oil can also be blended with other essential oils creating an attar or mukhallat, offering its strengths and creating a unique fragrance when mixed in tandem by an experienced perfumer. Perfumes and blends crafted from Oudh can be very expensive and have become increasingly common in the western market over the last few years since being introduced.

What is oud wood?

Oudh is the resinous material from the agarwood tree, produced after it has been infected for several years or even decades. It is the rarest perfume oil on the planet, having been treasured for millennia as a prized and precious scent. 

Oudh is one of the most expensive substances known to man and has been revered for thousands of years in various cultures and different religions.

The most expensive wood is found in wild trees untouched for decades or even centuries in rare cases, followed by organic trees grown by man but not interfered with, and lastly by cultivated trees grown on large plantations and injected with chemicals in order to produce the resinous oudh faster.

Oudh Wood is the true original form of Oudh long before oils & perfumes, it is traditionally burned on a coal or electric heater in order to release its precious and luxurious aroma that has been treasured for millennia. Each culture has its own way of using Oudh, whether it be burning chunks of raw wood, incense sticks or chips through the kodo style.

What is ambergris?

Ambergris is an especially rare and unique rock-like perfumery ingredient. 

Composed of squid beaks and other matter, it is thought to take years to form before being expelled and slowly ageing as it spends decades, even centuries in the vast openness of the earth's oceans.

The best ambergris is usually white, at least in terms of rarity, demand and price.

Thereafter follows brown (a lesser aged version) and finally black (the rawest and freshest version).

The best is very subjective and dependent upon the needs and vision of the perfumer. For a more animalic and funky scent, the perfumer may opt for brown or black ambergris, so as to bring the scent through in the final perfume.

White is often used both for its unique scent as well as its fixative properties - that is making a scent last longer on the skin.

The scent of white can be described as oceanic, sweet and slightly animal, of course varying batch to batch.

What is sandalwood?

Sandalwood grows throughout the world and is derived from trees from the Santalum genus.

Sandalwood oil has traditionally been sourced from India for millennia from the Santalum Album species. Today sandalwood is sourced from all throughout the world, from Hawaii to Tonga to India and Sri Lanka and even Indonesia. 

Sandalwood in the raw timber form, is used for the manufacture of incense sticks, carvings and even furniture. While the highest quality batches are used for fumigation like oud wood on a coal burner.

Sandalwood oil is unparalleled throughout the Eastern perfumery tradition. It has been used for numerous different purposes such as a carrier oil for other ingredients and even in the traditional Indian Attar industry. 

It has also been used to macerate ambergris and other rare ingredients, as well as in candles & your favourite Western designer and niche spray perfumes!

Payment & Shipping

What shipping options do you offer?

All our orders are sent with tracked delivery with either FedEx express courier or standard tracked delivery via Royal Mail.

Standard delivery rates

Royal Mail Shipping is $15 for international tracked shipping worldwide

Royal Mail Shipping is $10 for domestic special delivery service in the UK only

Express Courier Rates

We use FedEx for international orders by default

FedEx international is $35 and is free on orders over $400

DHL Express is $75 for international shipping and $35 on orders over $400.

What payment methods can I use?

We accept multiple different payment methods.

Through Shopify payments we accept various types of credit and debit cards, and in addition to this we accept shopPay, PayPal & Klarna.

For customised orders we offer invoices the traditional way, and invoices via PayPal and Shopify payments.

We offer financing through our partner provider Klarna, offering you an affordable way to break up your purchase.

About us

Just what is artisanal oud?

So you've seen the word "artisan" in abundance and now you might be wondering what do we mean by artisanal oud? 

Artisanal oud refers to a new generation in oud production and evolution in the way we think about, procure and enjoy oud. 

Artisans spend years mastering their craft, focusing on the art and their passion for their respective disciplines. Money is not the priority, that would be the antithesis of the artisanal approach to oud. 

Artisanal oud, represents a shift from mass produced, diluted and dishonest oud offerings throughout the world. To us it means going back to basics, at ground level, and working with the folk on the ground to recapture the essence of oud tradition.

An artisan needs to have control of every parameter, knowledge of every part of the puzzle and above all, a vision that brings all the moving parts together.

At The Attar Store, we have deep relations with the finest and most legendary of distillers of essential oils, the best perfumers & the veterans and legends of the Eastern oud tradition. 

This gives us an unparalleled understanding and insight into each of our products, from origin to conception.