Vetiver E.O (SOUTH INDIA)

Adam Michael has this to say “The top notes of this vetiver essential oil are sun-baked, dry-earthy and pond-wet-grassy. The heart and base notes are rich-vegetative, rich-woody and sweet-rooty throughout. Amber red brown in colour, of a pourable, fine treacle consistency and produced by steam distilling the cleaned and dried South Indian rootlets. Vetiver essential oil is phenomenally tenacious, exuding such a beautiful aroma and is an absolute essential purchase for all vetiver connoisseurs.”

Mark Evans has this to say “This excellent quality vetiver oil from Southern India is robust, tenacious and comparable to the very best Indonesian oils. The fragrance has all the rich and complex, dry baked earthiness, sweet, woody, cumin seed rootiness and smoky depth that vetivers are prized for.  After a long time on the blotter the earthiness dissipates to be replaced with delightfully swampy, green and grassy, exotic aromatics which remain present for days.

The incredible complexity of vetiver oil is due to the fact that the long roots that are steam distilled not only have many hundreds of fine rootlets that are in direct contact with the soil in which it grows, but also delve deep into the earth, up to 2m down.  All of the earth’s subtle and rare molecules are absorbed into its vascular system which in turn transforms them into a galaxy of molecules within the plant. This also explains why vetiver oil can differ so greatly between growing regions. Differences in soil and climate are reflected in the composition of this robust plant which seems able to grow successfully anywhere, regardless of the terroir.

Did you know that vetiver is also used as a refrigerant throughout Southern Asia? Its dried roots are woven into mats and linen to provide a cooling effect. Vetiver reeds are also woven into screens which are hung over windows to cool the air during the hot summer months. The roots are even used in cooling tisanes and candy!

In perfumery, vetiver oil’s complexity and heavy notes make it a fixative and blender par excellence. When used with a light hand, it unites every part of a composition from the top notes to the base. When used at higher levels, it can also provide unique, strong effects in fougere, chypre and oriental type compositions.”

We have now created our own vetiver collection page. 

Botanical Name: Vetiveria zizanioides

Origin: South India

Wholesale weights (all prices excluding vat): 50G = 120 Euros.