This oil gives a bright and effervescent spicy top and heart note, with a warm and bracing texture. While sharing a similarity to other spice oils such as cinnamon nutmeg and anise, it distinguishes itself with delicate eucalyptus-like touches. These properties give it the rare characteristic of containing warming and cooling sensations within the same note. Able to impart character in very small amounts, it’s power is often underestimated. It gives a special diffusivity and personality to a blend, being especially able to impart a unique signature to chypre and oriental compositions. Blends well with a plethora of other spice oils, cedar and geranium type notes.
While used in perfumery, it is used as a very exclusive woody and spicy heart note in composition; cascarilla also has a place in flavoring, aromatherapy and cosmetics.
It is considered an expectorant and is recognized for its aid in digestive problems as well.
In the aroma flavor sector, it is particularly recognized for its role as a natural flavoring agent in the tobacco industry.
Extraction process
The cascarilla essential oil is obtained from the bark of the Croton trees, locally known as copalchÃ. These are grown all over the country as windbreakers for the coffee plantations on the mountains in order to give the smaller coffee trees some shadow and protect them from harsh weather conditions.
Our Cascarilla essential oil is distilled using a hydrodifussion still.
The hydrodifusion still injects vapor at the top of the machine and condenses the vapor in the bottom. The vapor has pulled with it the essential oils contained within the Cascarilla bark. This is later separated from the water using a Florentine flask, a traditional decanter used in perfumery to separate oil from water.