Port Blakely New Zealand Essential Oils: From Forest to Bottle - and Beyond!
Why provenance and sustainability matter
As a subsidiary of a 160 year old family-owned forestry company, Port Blakely New Zealand Essential Oils understands just how much provenance and sustainability matter for the long-term. Our parent company (which has only had four CEOs since 1905!) is used to taking its time to make sure we get things right: Right by the land we have stewardship over, right by our people, and right by the wider community we serve.
So when we made the decision to create essential oils, we took the time and effort to build our own distillery in the heart of one of our forests, containing 4000 hectares of Douglas-fir in North Otago. Now in our fifth year of operation, we are proud to be partnering with PureNature to empower people to use the highest quality, New Zealand produced ingredients in their creations.
Our Sourcing Story
Unlike many forest-derived oils which rely on destruction of the source trees, or waste streams from felled forests, our trees have been specifically set aside for the production of Douglas-fir oil. Importantly, the trees we have chosen for permanent oil production are not felled as part of the process. We trim the needles and twigs from the outside of the trees, leaving the main trunk intact and continuing to act as a carbon sink for generations to come. And I do mean generations – Douglas-fir can grow for 800 years and reach over 100m in height.
The needles are trimmed from these living trees on a rotational basis, and before they set their cones. This plays an important role in limiting the spread of unwanted seeds to neighboring properties, and ensures that the biomass used in production all has a consistent age, type, and genetic composition due to planting of selected seed lines. For practitioners working in fine fragrance, the consistency of the finished oil is rare for a fully natural oil, and vital for the perfumes and other high-end products that Port Blakely’s Douglas-fir oil goes into.
Port Blakely is also one of less than 15 essential oil producers globally to have been audited and accredited by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), the global standard for sustainable forestry management certifications. You may know their logo from the back of books, underneath coffee cups etc. A part of this accreditation requires at least 10% of our forest lands to be managed for native ecosystem restoration – something a forestry company is very good at!
From Tree to Bottle in Four Hours
Unlike many forest-derived oils which rely on destruction of the source trees, or waste streams from felled forests, our trees have been specifically set aside for the production of Douglas-fir oil. Importantly, the trees we have chosen for permanent oil production are not felled as part of the process. We trim the needles and twigs from the outside of the trees, leaving the main trunk intact and continuing to act as a carbon sink for generations to come. And I do mean generations – Douglas-fir can grow for 800 years and reach over 100m in height.
The needles are trimmed from these living trees on a rotational basis, and before they set their cones. This plays an important role in limiting the spread of unwanted seeds to neighboring properties, and ensures that the biomass used in production all has a consistent age, type, and genetic composition due to planting of selected seed lines. For practitioners working in fine fragrance, the consistency of the finished oil is rare for a fully natural oil, and vital for the perfumes and other high-end products that Port Blakely’s Douglas-fir oil goes into.
Port Blakely is also one of less than 15 essential oil producers globally to have been audited and accredited by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), the global standard for sustainable forestry management certifications. You may know their logo from the back of books, underneath coffee cups etc. A part of this accreditation requires at least 10% of our forest lands to be managed for native ecosystem restoration – something a forestry company is very good at!
Using Douglas-fir oil: Beyond the Bottle
One reason Douglas-fir oil stands out for fragrance formulators is its distinctive chemistry. Gas Chromatography–Mass Spectrometry (GC/MS) lets us identify the precise molecules and the proportions of these compounds that give Douglas-fir its character. Incidentally, this is the same method used by astrophysicists to analyse the makeup of distant stars.
Alongside the usual terpenes expected in conifer oils, Douglas-fir also contains a large number of esters, molecules which lean toward the floral sections of the Fragrance Wheel and help Douglas-fir to blend well with oils such as rose, lavender, and (one of my favourites) jasmine.
It also contains para-cymene, a molecule in the aromatic hydrocarbon family most commonly found in spicy and resinous oils such as cumin, thyme, and nutmeg. Acting as a bridge for otherwise incompatible oils means Douglas-fir can allow unique and interesting blends which would otherwise clash.
For most who experience Douglas-fir for the first time, it is the glistening citrus top notes provided by terpinolene, limonene, and other monoterpene hydrocarbons which is the star of the show. Many cold-pressed citrus oils contain furanocoumarins which make them phototoxic, meaning they can only be used in small amounts in skin products. Douglas-fir can provide formulations such as soaps and moisturisers with that same citrus brightness, but with far less risk of reactions in sunlight.
Douglas-fir is known for its respiratory qualities, and blended with lavender can create a soothing balm for those who are sensitive to or simply dislike the aroma of eucalyptus and other strong oils usually used in these applications.
Of course, an oil with this kind of complexity, having top, heart, and base notes all in one single product, is brilliant on its own in a diffuser or with a few drops in the shower each morning. And with Christmas coming up, it is the perfect way to breathe life into artificial Christmas trees, especially with the excellent blends such as Christmas Spirit and Christmas Tree, available through PureNature.
Written by Anthony Gardiner
Port Blakey NZ Essential Oils
