Batch 002 is more complex with enhanced sticky-floral fruit leather aspects due to osmanthus absolute (versus the osmanthus enfleurage I used in batch 001). It is still bright and green thanks to the original sparkling citruses (yuzu, grapefruit) and tomato notes as well as the addition in batch 002 of sharp, herbal juniper berry and luxurious orange leaf absolute from France. A new top note of precious Yakusugi wood essential oil from Mandy Aftel’s collection of perfumer’s botanicals pairs beautifully with the mysteriously velveteen earthy base of mitti attar - a unique distillate of baked clay from India.

From Aftelier.com - (Cryptomeria Japonica from Japan) Yakusugi wood oil is distilled from the buried remains of Yakusugi trees that are native to the pristine forests of Yakushima Island. Only trees more than one-thousand years old are called Yakusugi. The oil is distilled from Yakusugi stumps and root stocks, which remain free of decay even after 200-300 years. This rare top note smells of old-world wilderness and precious cedar, with a sweet resiny woodiness.

I created Sun Gold from a few different sources of inspiration. The first being a deceptively simple gin cocktail (aren’t all the best ones this way?) called the Sun Gold Zinger, crafted by a bartender friend in San Francisco in the early 2000’s. The combination of herbal gin, earthy/savory tomatoes and salt, with bright lemon was a revelation.

The second inspiration was the scent of grassy/citrusy gooseberry-like Sauvignon Blanc - my favorite wine aromatic. And the third was an atmospheric phenomenon that always fills my spirit with awe. Do you know the moment during a storm when the sky is still dark and forbidding but somehow the sun has broken through and illuminated everything in its golden glow except for that charcoal grey sky? That moment is Sun Gold.