If there is an oil that defines the term jungle spice, Andaman would be it. People are often surprised to learn just how wide the range of Thai oils actually is — the Trat profile and the Pailin profile and the Chanthaburi profile have largely defined the regional reputation, but the south of Thailand, near the Malaysian peninsula, produces something altogether different. The scent is almost pure green tea. Imagine a dark green tea with extra leaves steeped into it — deep, herbal, with a touch of sweetness and perhaps the faintest hint of onion underneath. Even that description barely approximates the actual complexity, as oud so often refuses to be summarised in a list of accords. As the dry down progresses, the sweetness begins to overtake the green tea. Spoonful after spoonful of Manuka honey, stirred into the composition slowly, until the herbal and the floral and the honeyed are all part of the same chord. The shift is gradual, deliberate, and absolutely beautiful — one of those olfactory journeys where you find yourself raising your wrist every fifteen minutes simply to confirm what stage you are at. Andaman is a wild Crassna of provenance that is now next to impossible to find. We have priced it as fairly as we can. For wearers who already know the Trat profile and want to understand what southern Thailand has been quietly capable of all along, this is the oil we would put forward first. South Thailand, 2015 Available in a 2.5g bottle
