Mysore Sandalwood is the historic grade of East Indian sandalwood (Santalum album) from the region around Mysore in Karnataka, southern India, long regarded as the finest sandalwood oil in the world. It is a woody note with an exceptionally creamy, rich and smooth smell, and today it is rare, tightly controlled and expensive.

What does Mysore Sandalwood smell like?

Mysore oil is the reference point against which other sandalwoods are judged: dense, soft and milky, with a buttery sweetness, a faint rosy nuance and a warm, almost animalic skin quality in the drydown. It is noticeably rounder and less resinous than Australian sandalwood and has a depth that plantation oil from young trees struggles to match. Its high santalol content is one reason for its tenacity; an old bottle can still smell on a blotter weeks later.

Where Mysore Sandalwood comes from

The name refers to trees from Karnataka and neighbouring parts of southern India, where S. album has grown for thousands of years after its introduction from South-East Asia. Distillation became an organised state industry in the early twentieth century.

• Also known as: East Indian sandalwood, Indian sandalwood, chandan
• Fragrance family: Woody
• Type: Natural
• Main origins: Karnataka and Tamil Nadu, India
• How it's obtained: Steam distillation of heartwood and roots of mature trees
• Key aroma molecules: α-santalol, β-santalol (together typically well over half the oil)

Mysore Sandalwood in perfume history

Sandalwood oil was first distilled on an industrial scale in Mysore in 1917, when the Mysore state set up a government distillery, a move usually linked to the First World War cutting off timber exports to Europe. Mysore oil then became the gold standard for Western perfumers and featured prominently in classics such as Chanel Bois des Îles (1926) and Guerlain Samsara (1989). Wild stocks were depleted through over-harvesting and smuggling, and India banned export of sandalwood timber.

Mysore Sandalwood in modern perfumery

Genuine Mysore oil is scarce and available mainly through Indian state channels or small legal auctions, so most perfumes that mention it use Indian-type sandalwood grown elsewhere, especially in Australia, or synthetic reconstructions. Karnataka now allows private cultivation, which may gradually rebuild supply.

How Mysore Sandalwood wears and what it pairs with

It acts as a luxurious base and fixative that makes florals and spices feel smoother. Classic partners are rose, jasmine sambac, tuberose, orris, saffron, cardamom, vanilla and amber.

Fragrances featuring Mysore Sandalwood

• Chanel Bois des Îles (1926)
• Guerlain Samsara (1989)