ash.and.emberin Woods, Mosses & Roots · Calgary ·
DiscoveryLabdanum, sticky like a glove by the stove
Smelled labdanum for the first time at a friend's place. Thick, dark, sweet, a bit like a leather glove left too close to the woodstove. Nothing like the smoke I know from calls.
4 comments
ambrose_leather
A good hide gone too warm by the stove. I would of known that smell anywhere.
theodora.fig
The labdanum page says it's a resin from rockrose shrubs, and that shepherds once combed it out of goats' beards after they'd grazed on them. I think of that every time now.
ash.and.ember
That explains the sweaty side.
frankie.incense
The Wikipedia article on ambergris says synthetic ambroxide now largely replaces ambergris as a fixative, and the labdanum page here says labdanum is prized for its resemblance to ambergris. [Two roads to the same smell, if I've followed it right.]