The following is from my research on the risk of Australian Sandalwood being a competitor to Indian Sandalwood. (Australian sandalwood trades at about one tenth the price of Indian sandalwood).
In summary, I am not overly concerned because Indian Sandalwood has more valuable aromatic properties and takes longer to grow. https://www.auracacia.com/auracacia/aclearn/features/sandalwood2.html The steam-distilled Australian sandalwood essential oil has chemical components similar to Indian sandalwood, but there are differences in levels of those constituents and in their respective aroma profiles. The most significant difference in make-up is that Indian sandalwood has much higher levels of santalol (25 to 30% versus 60 to 70%). The difference in the aroma of the two oils is most pronounced in the top note. Australian sandalwood has a more resinous, drier and less sweet top note than Indian sandalwood. The aroma of the two oils becomes more alike in the middle notes--and the all-important base notes are almost identical. In aromatherapy, Australian steam distilled sandalwood essential oil can be used the same as Indian sandalwood. http://www.oshadhi.co.uk/blog/sandalwood-essential-oils-how-to-choose-between-the-different-types/ In terms of scent, Pacific Sandalwood is the most similar to Indian Sandalwood, demonstrating the same warm, buttery scent. The aroma is slightly less immediate than that of the Indian Sandalwood (it doesn't jump out of the bottle in the same way) but after a few minutes the scent of both oils ends up in roughly the same place. The chemical profile of these oils bears this out; both have a high content of alpha and beta santalol. The biggest difference is the price, with the Pacific Sandalwood just over half the price of the Indian Sandalwood.
In contrast the Australian Sandalwood has a lower santalol content which has implications for the therapeutic value of the oil. The differing chemical profile means that this oil has a much more 'woody scent' than the Pacific and Indian variants. Less is known about the therapeutic use of this type of Sandalwood.
http://www.wescorp.com.au/index.htm Wescorp recommend that Sandalwood trees stay in the ground for at least 30 years to produce high quality fragrant wood.
https://essentiallyaustralia.com.au/sandalwood-oil/ It is anticipated these trees in the Western Australia wheat belt will be ready for harvest to produce Australian Sandalwood oil in 20 years. however more arid areas require a longer time frame.
The timber is then wood chipped into pieces the size of less than half a finger nail, the chipped timber is then sent to a specialised steam distillation plant. The steam distillation process can take up to a week! as the Australian Sandalwood oil is held very tightly within the grain of the wood. (I don’t know whether Indian Sandalwood has the same issue.) http://sandalwood.org.au/
TFC Price at posting:
$1.50 Sentiment: Buy Disclosure: Held
