Sasora, like all other fragrances in the Di Ser range, is 100% all natural, and features the finest absolutes and essences available in the world. Sasora is named for one of the 6 fragrant types of aloeswood (agarwood) traditionally used in the Kodo ceremony, the art of “listening” to Japanese incense: sasora, kyara, manaban, rakoku, sumontara, and managa. Cool and sour, sasora is thought to be equivalent to the first and finest batches of wild Hindi oud brought out of the jungles of Assam, in Northern India, and distilled exclusively for the use by the royal families of the Arabian Peninsula. The sasora oud oil used in this fragrance is 100% pure and of the highest quality available. Its scent profile boasts a monastic purity that reminds some of kyara, especially in the first few moments when it is heated over ash and mica plates as incense. However, the main characteristic of sasora is a herbal sourness, and it is this quality that has been accentuated in Sasora, the perfume.
The citrusy brightness of yuzu is first to buzz the palate, cleansing the mind of all clutter and preparing the way for a Zen-like state of bliss. The citrus is followed by the biting greenness of camphor and the medicinal, lavender-like properties of spikenard, a herb grown high in the Himalayas. Both camphor and spikenard are beloved notes in Japanese culture, representing the herbaceous bitterness of snow-covered herbs and moss in a Japanese forest. Considered spiritually cleansing as well as elevating, these materials are typically used to flank aloeswood in traditional Japanese incense sticks. And indeed, Sasora does smell like the finest aloeswood incense from Shoyeido and Baieido – herbal, bittersweet, spicy, and medicinal at first, with a silky finish of sweet, powdered woods. The rosewood truly shines here, framing the precious oud oil and spikenard against a spicy, aromatic backdrop of rosin and the interior of a hand-carved musical instrument. Real oud oil from noble Assamese stock, stripped of its leathery animalism and polished to a high shine with herbs, aromatics, and yuzu – this might be the first oud fragrance we’re tempted to wear in hot weather or even to the office.
