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New Caledonia: at the heart of sandalwood production
Sandalwood oil, used in particular in perfumery, is a rare and expensive essence. It is produced in New Caledonia, where sandalwood is monitored. – (France 2)
Sandalwood oil, used in particular in perfumery, is a rare and expensive essence. It is produced in New Caledonia, where sandalwood is monitored.
In New Caledonia, the Isle of Pines is home to a treasure: sandalwood, wood whose essence sells at a high price. The heart of sandalwood contains all the odorous molecules, prized by perfumers. To recover them, the wood is cut by hand by the owners’ sons. This work pays 10 to 15 times more than agriculture or fishing. They are careful not to exhaust the resource, because, in the 1980s, overexploited, the sandalwood trees almost disappeared.
A distillation that lasts two days
The wood collected is taken to a distillery in which the sandalwood hearts are cut and then finely ground to extract the precious elixir. The distillation lasts two days, producing a rare and expensive oil. “It can be worth up to 2500, even 3000 euros, it depends on the quality of the oil“, indicates Nicolas Madaleno, manager at VMag. The company targets creators of high-end perfumery.