Ensar, your figure is about $30 lower per gram, and I'm talking
cost price.
I just wrapped up a Gen4 vintage Mysore sandalwood distillation last month (brutal.. the yield was like conventional distillation, unlike Gen3), and I can corroborate what Ensar is saying about the dismal state of affairs.
There are many nice sandalwood oils, especially Assamese and Bengali (most notably Adam's recent amazing oils). Adam has a spine, so he didn't slap on the label 'Mysore' even though ironically his Bengali oil smells more Mysorean than alleged 'Mysore sandalwood' oils that I've smelled. Nice Indian/Bengali sandalwood can be pretty cheap. Nice TRUE Mysore sandalwood (be it vintage or recent, from high grade or even low grade wood) cannot be cheap. Its simple, the cost price of true Mysore wood just isn't what it used to be, and that of course affects the selling price.
My Byakudan oil was extracted from an old Yamada-Matsu sinking grade batch, and Tan Xiang 1 & 2 from a Chinese incense company's sinking grade batch. Okay, distilling sinking grade sandalwood ain't exactly typical. But hey, we
are talking about GOOD oils from the good ol' days. And so, these 3 brews are an excellent modern-day pulse reading of the state of affairs.
Actually, the first 2 oils were Gen3 so its not a fair assessment (the yield was triple to quadruple). The yield for the latest oil (which is what can be typically expected) is the most accurate reading.
The proof's in the pudding:
View attachment 458
... so you can rest assured I'm not spewing nonsense.
Sure, you'll find plenty of really cheap (and super nice smelling) "Mysore" oils.. except they're not Mysore. Take it from someone who's stocked up on a whole lotta grades and batches (yes, even non-sinking) (and yes, @wholesale prices) of Mysore wood, the
real stuff distilled within the past 4 years won't be cheap.
So if you're in the market for Mysore, you've got 5 options:
- buy dead, flat, monotone vintage Mysore oils (the majority of them). You can get a great deal sometimes, if you stumble across an old bottle at a hippie's garage sale. Even if they smell dull, hey, you can certainly Ooh-Aah at the age factor. It seems some like that.
- buy the needles in the haystack, the actually
good vintage Mysores. So far I've only found those to be Ensar's, and only 2 others.
- buy the present-day high grade distillations. Population: zero? I don't know of anyone who's doing it any more. I myself have thrown in the towel after the crippling loss from the recent distillation (a year's worth of minimum wage salary after taxes, in the state of Michigan... poof.. gone). Maybe Adam has something up his sleeve....?
- buy the alleged (but not true) Mysore oils. For some (most?), ignorance is bliss. If this applies to you, be sure to stock up on Assamese, Bengali, Mizoram, Tamil, and East Timor sandalwood oils now while you can. Yep, I'm referring to the excellent "Mysores" in the market.
- buy the genuine, but truly horrible Mysore oils being cooked in India these days. Sharp (and no, the existence of top notes does not equate to sharpness), sour, totally weird...... the only saving is the 'Mysore' label. Worst of all, the price for this garbage is higher than that of superior oils from elsewhere.
- learn to appreciate non-Mysore sandalwood. Like I would tell some of my wholesale clients who would insist on thick oud oils, "the oud is for your nose, not your eyes", then likewise I say "sandalwood is for the smell, not the name".