The frankincense tree, Boswellia sacra, grows almost nowhere outside the Dhofar mountains of southern Oman. For three thousand years its resin has travelled the spice routes; today, ours travels in 25-kg sacks from a co-operative we visit every other January.
Oud — agarwood — is more complicated. We source from one farm in Assam and one wild-harvest project in Cambodia, both certified to the CITES standard. We refuse anything that cannot show paperwork.
William spends six weeks across Oman and the UAE for a logistics project. Comes home with three brass burners and no idea what to do with them.
After three years of importing for himself, William begins blending small batches of bakhoor in the family garage on Wohlford Drive.
The brand launches with three SKUs and a hand-built Shopify storefront. 312 units sold in year one, mostly through a single Instagram post.
The garage becomes too small. We rent a 600 sq ft studio half a mile down Wohlford. Mariam joins as buyer.
Three boutique hotels in Sedona, Ojai and Palm Springs commission custom bakhoor for their lobbies. Wholesale program quietly begins.
Our most-loved gift set ships across all 50 states. We hand-write the thank-you cards. Still do.
Three people. Twenty-six SKUs. One studio on Wohlford Drive. Same number of suppliers we started with — eight.
Two co-operatives in Salalah, one rose distillery near Taif, one oud farm in Assam, one wild-harvest project in Cambodia, one sandalwood mill in Mysore, one beeswax apiary in Mendocino County, and one glass house in Pennsylvania.
That is the entire list. We have refused to add suppliers we have not personally met, even when it has cost us launches. Read more in the Journal →
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