New Delhi, July 20 -- If you have ever used a desert air cooler padded with fragrant vetiver or sat on a balcony shaded by a vetiver screen sprinkled with water, you will recognise its unmistakable earthy scent. Perfumers noticed it decades ago and transformed the essential oil derived from the roots of this humble grass into one of perfumery's most prized base notes, featuring in an estimated 90% of luxury men's perfumes.

Although vetiver is native to India and derives its name from the Tamil word vettiveru, meaning "cut root", it is the Haitian variety that has long dominated the global perfume industry. About half the world's vetiver oil originates in the Caribbean nation, where the grass was introduced by the French only in the 18th ...