Ferula sumbul, or the musk root, belongs to the same family as carrots, parsley, and galbanum (Ferula gummosa). This aromatic plant grows from Central to Western Asia, and has long been used as a substitute for musk. Like its cousin galbanum, extracts of musk root are used in perfumes and soaps to this day. The resin of Ferula sumbul is manufactured in the same way as galbanum: by boiling the plant matter and collecting its oily resin from the surface of the water. Burned on its own, musk root serves as an incense by its own right, delivering woody base notes of leather and musk beneath green top notes, producing, sweet, bitter, and earthy fragrance. Up close, you can see pearls of resin throughout the whole root, which is perfectly dried, light, and easy to break or cut into manageable pieces.
