Name        Lavender Essential Oil, French Fine High Altitude

Category  Essential Oils

Species    Lavandula angustifolia Mill. (L. officinalis Chaix)

                 (Compacta cultivar)

Part           Flowering Tops

Method     Steam Distilled

Class        Ester

Country     France

Code         LavAng2 

Lavender Essential Oil, French Fine High Altitude

Lavender Essential Oil, French Fine High Altitude, (Lavandula angustifolia), scent is fresh and sweet, floral, natural and winsome.  Unlike some floral extracts, French Lavender is not the least bit nauseating or overpowering, though decidely floral.  Chemically the European Lavenders are quite similar.  Linalool, linalyl acetate, furfural, valeric aldehyde, amyl alcohol, pinene, cineol, and various other components occur naturally in French Lavender.  English Lavender has higher linalool content.  However, French Lavender has a higher ester content than Lavenders cultivated at lower altitudes.  For Lavender high altitudes are preferable.  The distillations carried out at higher altitudes tend to produce improved oils, due to lower distillation temperatures.