Mitti attar

Dry earth after the first rain, freshly fired pottery, wet stone, cool mineral. The sandalwood base adds cream and wood; a faint kiln smoke at the top.

Mitti attar has no dedicated standard in the IFRA 51 index.

When the base is S. album sandalwood oil the product contains santalols; in the EU Santalum album oil and santalol are allergens that must be labelled under Regulation 2023/1545 above 0.001 percent (leave-on) or 0.01 percent (rinse-off). Some makers use other base oils, so the composition should be confirmed.

Published analytical data on the earthy fraction are very limited. Store dark, sealed and cool.

Kannauj in Uttar Pradesh, India, is the centre of attar making. Attars are made by the deg-bhapka method: material and water are heated in a large copper pot (deg); vapour passes through a bamboo pipe into a long-necked copper receiver (bhapka) holding a base oil, usually sandalwood. The receiver sits in cool water so the vapour condenses, and the base oil absorbs the aromatics.

For mitti attar the raw material is earth. Clay from around Kannauj is shaped into discs, or old pottery shards are used, then dried and fired. The baked clay goes into the deg with water and is distilled like other attars. Several charges can be run into the same base oil to deepen the odour.

Travel press and attar makers describe production as concentrated in the hot season before the monsoon, when the earth is driest.

The smell of earth after rain is called petrichor in the scientific literature. Geosmin, produced by soil bacteria, is an important part of it. Many sources say mitti attar captures some geosmin, but published analytical data are lacking.

In perfumery mitti attar appears in Indian attars, natural perfumery and as an earthy, mineral note in woody and vetiver compositions. Quality depends on the clay, firing level, number of charges and base oil.