Hyraceum Tincture Dark

While the Blonde Hyraceum tincture has more sweet and floral notes (especially during dry-down), and a lovely dryness that compliments floral and Fougere perfume compositions, the dark Hyraceum delivers more of the darker animalic notes that Hyraceum is known for.

I prepare the Blonde Hyraceum tincture from the light-coloured stone I collected from the higher outcroppings, while the Hyraceum Dark tincture is prepared from the dark "Droppings" of mineralized material that collect lower on the stone walls. You can see the difference between the two materials and their tinctures in the photos above.

Explaining precisely what Hyraceum tincture is is always fun.
To be succinct, Hyraceum is the mineralized urine and feces of the Rock Hyrax, the only other animal related to the elephant. (Even though it looks more like a Groundhog and doesn't have a long nose.)

Rock Hyrax communities deposit their excrement in the same place for thousands of years. These smelly aggregates are called middens and serve as social and territorial markers. These middens can be as old as 50.000 years.
Rock Hyrax are most often found basking on warm rocks in sunshiny places from South Africa to Israel and Lebanon.

Hyraceum is best known for its use in perfumery, where it can deliver notes of leather, Deer Musk, Civet, Castoreum and Cade.

The light-coloured stone is found on the rock walls above the black Hyraceum. As the centuries go by and this liquid makes its way to the ground, it builds up layers of mineralized material, often forming stalactites that have developed their own scent profile distinct from the black deposits that form on the ground. (See a sample of light-coloured Hyraceum stone in the comparative photo above).

Hyraceum tincture smells like something that has taken hundreds, if not thousands, years to develop, refine, and mature.
The Blonde material was collected in Kenya, and the dark stone in South Africa.

Dan

Materials: perfume alcohol, Mineralized poop, Hyraceum Stone.