So Much Ado About Frankincense

Here’s a short explanation about our frankincense distillation. As many people know, we were operating Enfleurage Middle East, our frankincense distillary, in Muscat Oman, from 2017-2023. Before that, we were in Salalah, from 2011-2016. This has been our distillery, not someone else’s. Both times, I decamped suddenly due to ill health. In 2016 it was breast cancer, and in 2023, it was heart failure and endometrial cancer. (I am braca positive.)

When I was a teenager, I had melanoma, which metastasized to my lymph. It was in the 1980s, and no one knew what braca was. I had chest radiation with lumps of lead lined up so protect my heart and lungs. It was partly successful I guess. Meaning, I did live, but my heart and lungs received injuries. These injuries became apparent after 20 years, and this is year 30, from the original radiation.

The heart calcified over time and the mitral valve failed, putting me in heart failure. I had open heart surgery and mitral valve replacement in Abu Dhabi. While still in the hospital, I was diagnosed with endometrial cancer, which had to wait for some recovery from the heart surgery to be treated.

In the meantime, we tried to open the distillery in the UAE, since I had to stay there for treatments, chemo, radiation and immunotherapy. We were not successful opening there—the set up I visualized was beyond me financially or energetically.

In 2024 my heart recalcified, and I had to have another open heart surgery, so I had it in New York, from a well known mitral valve specialist, Dr David Adams. This was more successful, with another new mitral valve, a repair of the tricuspid, and more.

We made an attempt to move the distillery to Cyprus, and this was also not successful.

As we were due to run out of frankincense oil this spring, I ordered a couple of stills sent down to Salalah and we drove down for some emergency alchemy.  

As things progressed, it became apparent that the place for us to distill is Salalah. It’s a long journey back. We are currently getting this together.

For now, we are working on a small scale and soon we hope to have our equipment back and set up, and working functionally.

We have frankincense oil, fresh from 2026 gum, in the store now. And we are expecting hydrosol in the next few days.

It’s been a long and complicated journey, but we will be back up to our previous production levels soon.