There are at least four major patchouli producing areas in China, with the very best being grown in Hainan, the southern most island with the exact tropical climate, hot, humid, moist and so enriching that many herbs thrive here with so much vigour, highly concentrated in actives and fragrance. Each year, it is an open secret that the best patchouli is not consumed locally, but instead carefully washed, gently dried, de-stemmed & de-rooted, leaving only the finest leaves exported to Japan for use in Kampo or traditional chinese medicine. Patchouli plays a central and very integral role in Chinese medicine, its biological actives, is a critical ingredient in many stomach and digestive remedies; its scent, essential component of many japanese and chinese styled incenses, giving them the very soul of existence. So as usual what we did here was…. Intercept, intercept and intercept.. since I had some decent chinese business relations. So here is a batch that was ordered by the land of the rising sun, distilled by one of my very good friends, a fine nose with a master degree in botanical extractions, and an obsessive compulsive disorder when it comes to distillations. Whilst the previous Aged Guangzhou patchouli we carried was wizened, deep, dark, thick and wise, this ultra fresh hainanese patchouli leaf is super energetic, its loud, brash, penetrating, full of rigour and headspace, and an essential addition to your formulations to breathe in more lifeforce.
