By the OZARIA atelier
Frankincense is the common name for a resin produced by several species of the Boswellia genus. Each species has its own character, and within each species there are grades. The grade we use in CALM — Royal Hojari — is the highest available grade of Boswellia sacra, the species native to the Dhofar region of southern Oman.
One region. One species. One grade.
Frankincense trees do not grow well anywhere else. The Dhofar mountains offer the specific combination of altitude, arid coastal climate, and limestone soil that Boswellia sacra has evolved for over millennia. Our cooperative partner harvests the resin by hand, tapping the trees in short seasons so they are never over-stressed, and grades it by color and translucency before distillation.
Royal Hojari is the green-amber grade — the most resinous, the most fragrant, and the rarest. An ounce of distilled oil takes several pounds of graded resin.
What it does to a room
Most frankincense oils on the market are Boswellia carterii or serrata — perfectly fine oils, but flatter, less complex. Royal Hojari has a lift. It opens with a bright, almost citric resinous note, settles into something deep and almost fruity, and finishes with the warmth that has made this resin sacred for three thousand years.
It is the kind of oil that, once you have diffused it, quietly becomes the only frankincense you want in the house.