Material Review: In Search of Rocky Mountain Juniper

First impressions: My journey to visit the still room of Alfred Savinelli began years before we met, when my dear friend and mentor Krishna Madappa, a researcher and ethnobotanical educator, sent me my fi rst sample of Juniperus scopulorum essence. Upon inhalation, the oil both cleared my lungs and mind and went straight to my heart. Trained as a clinical aromatherapist with a passion for natural perfumery, it was the type of experience that alters one — enough so, to lead me to the hills of Taos where I visited the distiller and the lands of this most unique member of the cypress family. There I observed Alfred pour one of the most gracious juniper essential oils, in physical demeanor, I had ever seen — a pale blue liquid silk. The aromatic waters were so dense and complex, they were befi tting the holiest of sacred shrines, while the concrete could have rivaled a beautiful immortelle, with under-lacings of honey, hay, coffee, leather and a tad of fruitiness.