Opopanax Oil

#### Opopanax Oil. The essential oil of **Opopanax**** **(see previous monograph) is produced in Europe or the U.S.A. by steam distillation, occasionally by water distillation. Fine powder would form plastic lumps and hinder the free passage of the mixed vapors. The steam and hot water dissolves a certain amount of the "gum" in the opopanax, and the gum solution acts like a sticky, viscous "glue" on the resinous particles in the still. There are two major prerequisites for the production of a good opopanax oil (just as there are with many other resin oils or spice oils that are distilled from "stable" material): - A select raw material (requiring knowledge of the botanical with respect to perfumery quality); - A distillation technique which has been developed to perfection by long experience. A good grade of opopanax can be ruined when distilled by an inexperienced still operator, or by just one small mistake during distillation. A poor perfumery grade of opopanax can never turn out a high grade opopanax oil. This sounds very obvious, but the author has experienced—and so has hundreds of his collegues—that it is a general conception that poorer grade botanicals are particularly suited for distillation. Occasionally, the economy is used as an excuse, but even this viewpoint can not hold up against a thorough comparison, point for point. **Opopanax Oil **is an orange-colored, pale yellow or olive-yellowish to dark amber-greenish liquid, and it possesses an intensely sweet, balsamic, spicy, warm, yet fresh odor, somewhat reminiscent of wine residue ("emptied sherry-wine glass"). If there is but little difference in odor between **Myrrh**** **and **Opopanax**, the difference between the two oils is quite obvious: the vegetable-soup-like, slightly animal-sweet odor of opopanax oil is entirely different from the medicinal-sharp freshness of myrrh oil. **Opopanax**** ****Oil**** **blends well with sage clary, coriander, labdanum, with woody and heavy- floral perfume bases, chypre, fougère, leather bases (castoreum-labdanum-cananga complex). Oriental bases, bergamot oil, methylionones, nitromusks, patchouli oil, mimosa, phenylethyl phenylacetate, linalyl cinnamate, heliotropine, methyl naphthyl ketone, fir needle absolute, neroli oil, etc. The oil is occasionally used in liqueur flavors for its heavy-sweet body and wine-like notes, spiciness and naturalness. Its power and "growth" in a perfume is often underestimated; unless perfectly balanced with modifying and supporting materials, opopanax oil has a tendency of "showing up" in a rather unattractive manner after a short ageing period of the perfume. The odor of opopanax oil itself is not exactly attractive, and it is the perfumer's job to utilize the effect of the oil without permitting the opopanax notes to show up individually. **Opopanax Oil **is occasionally adulterated with myrrh oil, copaiba balsam, traces of lovage oil certain fractions of Siberian pine needle oil, etc. The annual production of opopanax oil is in—creasing steadily with the interest in the oil, and there is ample supply of raw material available.