Bhutan Blue 2023

Bhutanese Spikenard Oil - Nardostachys jatamansi - Muskroot

Jungle : Himalayas, Bhutan
Class : Wild
Distillation : Copper, March 2023


I’ve long been trying to make a batch of an increasingly hard to source Jatamansi. On the market, we can still find some from Nepal, but even that is harder and harder to find.

The best material is usually considered to be from Bhutan, so that’s what I had set my sights on. It’s something I’ve been trying for 3 years to undertake, and early in 2023 I finally started getting some traction on it.

Of course, most folks don’t see the often arduous journey it takes to get something to market. Suffice it to say - this one was a doozy !!


ABOUT


Nardostachys jatamansi is a flowering plant of the valerian family that grows in the Himalayas, and grows primarily in a belt through Kumaon, Nepal, Sikkim and Bhutan.

It is normally a source of a type of intensely aromatic amber-colored essential oil, known more commonly as Spikenard. This rare type and artisan-distilled batch is high in naturally occurring Azulene, which gives it its very distinctive BLUE color.

The oil has, since ancient times, been used as a perfume, as a traditional medicine, and in religious ceremonies. It is also called spikenard, nard, nardin, or muskroot.

Although it has millennia of use in Ayurveda and Chinese Medicine and incense in the East - “Nard” has been famous in the West as the perfume that was rubbed on Jesus' feet by Mary Magdalene (John 12) - which was most likely the Roman Era fragrance, Nardinum, one of the most famous and expensive perfumes of its time. I had developed a Nardinum oil back when I first started … maybe that will pop up sometimes soon? 🥸


SCENT


Spikenard is known for being intensely aromatic, and this Bhutan Blue is no exception!

To be honest, I have a little trouble describing its scent. It’s almost Minty and Patchouli / Vetiver-like. It’s rooty and woody, herbal yet sensual. It’s high mountain air - and almost effervescent … like popping bubbles - and it sticks in your nose, that’s for damn sure!

I don’t know if I’d go so far to say it’s “peace inducing” - but it does seem to slow my breathing and calm my mind. It’s quite a relaxing scent, despite being such a judo chop to the nose.

This project was a very long undertaking - I hope you enjoy the fragrant sweat of this labor!