Tamboti Wood in Perfumery | Première Peau

Sweet, spicy-resinous, and warmly woody. Like holding a carved tamboti bead necklace to your nose -- the wood releases a rich, almost heady fragrance reminiscent of sandalwood but spicier, with a resinous depth and a sweet, almost honeyed quality. The scent lingers on the fingers.

Tamboti (Spirostachys africana, Euphorbiaceae family) is a medium-sized tree native to southern and eastern Africa. The wood is dense, beautifully figured (reddish-brown with dark streaks), and intensely aromatic -- it produces a fragrant timbers in the African continent.

The scent of tamboti is sweet, spicy, and sandalwood-like, earning it the informal name "African sandalwood." When freshly cut or warmed, the wood releases a rich, resinous fragrance that can persist for years in finished objects. The heartwood is particularly aromatic.

However, tamboti is also toxic: the wood, bark, and especially the milky latex contain diterpene esters that cause severe skin irritation and can be fatal if ingested. Burning tamboti wood for cooking has caused poisoning. This toxicity limits its safe handling and extraction for perfumery.

In perfumery, tamboti is typically a fantasy accord, reconstructed using sandalwood-adjacent materials, spicy-resinous notes, and African-terroir elements.