What Is Attar? | Scent Panel Ep. 4 with Ane Walsh
What exactly is an attar? Is it rose oil, an alcohol-free perfume oil, a blend, or something slowly distilled into sandalwood?
In this episode of the Natural Perfume Academy Scent Panel, I’m talking with natural perfumer, author and NPA Head Tutor Ane Walsh.
The conversation begins with the tiny vial of mitti attar I found at the bottom of a box after about fifteen years. It was exactly where I thought it would be, it hadn’t deteriorated, and it was absolutely beautiful: sandalwood, baked earth, powder, sweetness, warmth and that extraordinary smell of rain arriving on dry ground.
From there, Ane and I follow the scent all the way to Kannauj, India’s historic centre of attar production. We talk about the traditional deg-bhapka method, in which flowers, roots, spices, woods, or even baked clay, are distilled and their fragrant vapours received directly into sandalwood oil.
We also explore:
• What distinguishes a traditional attar from the many modern perfume oils sold under the same name
• The difference between an attar and a mukhallat
• Why sandalwood changes, fixes and softens the material distilled into it
• Mitti attar and the scent of the first monsoon rain
• Rose, tuberose, kewra, vetiver, henna, kadamb, jasmine and saffron attars
• Shamama, majmua and traditional perfume compositions
• Ruh khus, oud, fossil amber and destructive distillation
• Choya loban and the transformation of materials through heat
• Whether copaiba could offer an alternative receiving base for experimental natural perfumery
This one has the feeling of a phone conversation between two people following the scent wherever it leads, and that is exactly what makes it work.
LINKS AND EXTRAS
Traditional attars and natural aromatic materials from Ali Brothers Perfumers in Kannauj:
https://alibrothersperfumers.com/
Ane Walsh’s book, Notas da Perfumista:
https://www.laszlo.com.br/livro-notas-da-perfumista.html
Learn more about Ane Walsh:
https://npacertification.com/about-ane-walsh/
Join the Natural Botanical Perfumery Club for free to access the three recipes Ane discusses in this episode:
https://npacertification.com/product/npc/
Download Ane Walsh’s Attar Formulary
Ane generously shared three formulas during our conversation: Shamama Base, Majmua Base and Ajmer Attar—the Oil of Tranquillity. We have gathered all three into a beautifully presented downloadable booklet, including quantities, percentages and maturation notes. Join the free Natural Botanical Perfumers Club and download your copy NBPC CLUB
Have you ever smelled a traditional attar? Perhaps mitti, gulab, kewra, khus, shamama or something completely different? Leave a comment and tell us what you experienced.
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