Cistus Absolute

For over 3,000 yrs. Labdanum or Cistus has been sought over and traded to make heavenly smelly things and medicinals with. From the false beards of the ancient Pharaohs and Old Testament Holy Incense to virtually almost every amber-like accord in the perfumers palette, Labdanum has played a major role. Goats grazing on Cistus shrubs getting the sticky gum resin stuck on their beards and thighs I believe is where it all may have started.

Cistus, Labdanum, Rockrose, Ladan and other names it is known as, has been procured for trade since antiquity as a simple resin, concrete, absolute, as an enfleurage and more recently as a steam distilled essential oil that all share the same Latin name (Cistus ladaniferus). They all typically share a kind of ambery-dry-sweet-fruity-musky-leathery-animalistic-woody like aroma that’s tenacious. Fantastic smelly stuff with a very interesting chemical profile that lends itself both as an invaluable medicine and irreplaceable aromatic depending upon it’s source and extraction method.

This particular Cistus ladaniferus absolute from Spain is primarily used for making natural perfume and in cosmetics. It is considerably easier and lighter to use than typical Labdanum absolute which is usually impossible to pour and difficult to work with. This one is thick but pourable and fairly easy to blend. The scent is much softer and not as complex or tenaciously bold as our amazing Rockrose essential oil to which I cannot compare, but it is has its own unique flavour. It displays rich honey-hay with ripened fruity wine and musky-amber wood notes. A good choice as a fixative to many perfume blend creations without being over-powering.