Haitian Vetiver
Dry earthy roots, freshly cut grass, wood smoke and a faint bitter citrus peel.
Where it comes from
Steam-distilled essential oil from the roots of vetiver grass grown in Haiti.
About haitian vetiver
The slow part of Haitian vetiver is the still. Sources disagree on how long a batch runs: Givaudan gives about 10 hours, while Le Sourceur puts it at 18 to 24 hours or more. Many Haitian producers work with wood-fired copper alembics, and one trade-press writer argues that the slow wood fire adds faint pyrolytic notes that industrial distillation lacks. Once the oil is skimmed, it is left to age for a few months so that unwanted notes formed during distillation fade. It takes about 150 kg of roots to make roughly 1 kg of oil.
Givaudan describes the result as dry and woody with earthy, smoky and nutty accents, and sets it apart from Indonesian vetiver by sparkling citrus and a fresh bitterness. Scentspiracy follows the oil through its stages: some smoke at the top, a heart of moist soil and wood with a floral-fruity brightness, then a rounder, softly balsamic floral-woody drydown. Against other origins, Haiti reads as more vegetal and warm, with nuances of iris, where Bourbon from Réunion is earthy and slightly rosy and Java is bitter and smoky.
Haiti is one of the largest suppliers in the world, and the quoted share runs from almost half to about 90 percent of the global oil. Frager, founded in 1958 by Franck Léger, calls itself the largest vetiver oil maker and says it supports about 30,000 cultivators and their families.
One trade source holds that natural Haitian vetiver remains difficult to replace with synthetics for deep base character. Franck Léger II of Frager says that 75 percent of men's colognes use vetiver, a figure that comes from the company itself.
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