Oakwood Absolute Italian

Adam Michael has this to say “What we have here is oakwood absolute produced here in Italy. Now at the time of typing (19.04.24), the oakwood aromatics offered are nearly all CO2 orientated, dominated via corporates, and all heavily diluted in varying diluents. Simply the percentage of oakwood in the material you buy is as minimal as it gets – a few percent at best. And fair enough because oakwood is such a powerhouse even in minute percentages.

But what if an independent got on board and tried his hand at oakwood ABSOLUTE. Well one chap did just that for us, a genius who resides here in Italy, of whom we have a very special close working relationship with, and the result is outstanding. Once more, for me at least, confirming the independents can really do everything so much better than the corporates.

This producer obtained the oak barrels from here in Italy, chopped them into chips, then roasted the chips over the course of many hours. After this the roasted wood was subject to solvent extraction – yield super-super-super poor – and the outcome was glorious oakwood absolute to be incredibly proud of.

In pure form, of which is a wonderful experience to behold albeit whilst being arguably too concentrated to fully appreciate, showcases a smooth white woody body, leather, dried fruit tonalities, gourmand qualities – especially honey and chocolate, liquorice and smooth boozy traces, hay and flouve nuances, Jack Daniel Tennessee Bourbon Whisky vibes, and even super clean wild oud themes. I am certain this aromatic makes my top 3 aromatics of all time – this is again aromatic art, it touches my soul, for me I find my peace in aromatics like this, the noise in my mind diminishes and I am lovingly reminded of how lucky I am to trade naturals for a living. Appearance – brown-red in colour and of a pourable but slightly thick viscosity.

At 10% dilution in alcohol, this is still a very saturating scent upon the senses, super yummy gourmand, woody, boozy, chocolate mousse, candied raspberry fruit traces, pecan honey glazed nut traces, again the Jack Daniels Honey Tennessee aroma profile comes to mind, liquorice sweets, raisins, vanilla bourbon, Play-Doh effects, trace cinnamon toast vibes, this is just so insanely wow, wow,wow, a combo of scents I truly adore and everything about this entire kaleidoscope of scent is utter perfection of the highest order. Appearance – brown-red in colour and of a pourable viscosity.

At 1% dilution in alcohol, the alcohol is of course now dominant, the aroma profile has been stripped to bare bones – possibly too diluted down for perfumers to work with (Eleonora strongly disagrees with me) – but I write my findings as it may be useful to someone. At 1% absolute to 99% alcohol, yes its hard to escape the alcohol fumes, and the aroma profile is vastly different and less enjoyable to that of the 10% dilution. And yet the beautiful DNA of this oakwood absolute remains if you really study this closely. That boozy woody gourmand structure still manages to shine through, vanillic qualities are still present and I even find both cherry drop candy and cherry liquor tonalities in FLEETING fashion. Appearance – Terracotta orange brown in colour and of a pourable viscosity.

I think the sweet spot for those focused on low cost to performance ratio is a 3% to 5% dilution, the aroma profile being comparable to CO2 offerings. 

To sum up, a handful sell oakwood absolute, all corporate produced, and a handful more sell CO2 extracts of Oakwood. I have sampled them all myself, I stock a few, and yet I do not think any other oakwood aromatic in the marketplace right now compares to how magnificent this Italian absolute is across the board. 10/10 and my compliments to the genius producer for yet another masterpiece aromatic.”

Botanical Name: Quercus robur L

Origin: Italy

Alcohol Soluble: Yes

Oil Soluble: Dilutions No. Pure material Yes