Musk Gulab

If there’s one aromatic that was meant to tango with rose – other than oud! – it’s musk…

There’s a beautiful tradition in India where every now and then they co-distill rose petals in sandalwood to create a stunning attar.

But there’s a missing part to the puzzle which nobody in India has access to, and which none of the distillers there have had access to in decades: Tibetan musk.

Capturing the ruh (the essence) of rose is such a massive undertaking exactly because you’re distilling, not extracting (through solvents or otherwise) the rose petals. This takes longer, gives less yield, takes tons of petals, and there’s a much greater chance of scorching those delicate petals – i.e. killing the fragrance.

That’s why I spent about seven months steeping this wonderful ruh gulab + sandalwood attar in vintage Tibetan musk grains. The process is tedious and requires constant supervision because of how delicate an aromatic ruh gulab is. But not just that…

For the ruh gulab and sandalwood to be transformed by the musk grains takes time. After the months-long active steeping, Musk Gulab has since continued to marinate for what is almost two years now. 

Fine ruh gulab + quality sandalwood + vintage musk. Sounds simple, until you take a whiff and it’s like you’re pushed into a maze of olfactory wonder. The musk hints at you through an earthy glaze that accessorizes the pristine bright rose petals floating thrown onto a bed of buttery santalum heartwood. It’s a calming, creamy soothing fragrance beautiful as rose always is.