Our Story

Headline: The Legacy of Vapor & Soil
Perfuming the World from Kannauj Since 1818
The Soil of Kannauj In the narrow, winding lanes of Kannauj, time moves differently. Here, the day begins not with the sun, but with the fire. For centuries, this small town on the banks of the Ganges has held a secret that the rest of the world has forgotten: the art of capturing the soul of nature in a droplet of oil.

It is here, in 1818, that our story began.

The Heritage (Makkhulal Ayodhya Prasad) Two centuries ago, under the name Makkhulal Ayodhya Prasad, our forefathers lit the first furnace. They didn't have modern laboratories or synthetic molecules. They had copper Degs (pots), bamboo pipes, and the patience of saints. They understood that true luxury cannot be rushed.

For over 200 years, knowledge has been passed down not through textbooks, but through hands. From father to son, we learned exactly how much wood to feed the fire, how to seal the lids with river clay, and how to listen to the whisper of the steam. We have weathered empires rising and falling, but our fires have never gone out.

The Alchemy (The Process) At 1818 Essence, we practice what we call "Modern Alchemy."

While the world moved toward mass production, we stayed by the fire. We still use the traditional Deg-Bhapka method—hydro-distillation that is slow, labor-intensive, and incredibly inefficient by modern standards. But it is the only way to capture the full spectrum of a scent.

We seal our copper pots with mud and cotton. We rely on the cool water of the condensing tank. We wait. It is a process of transformation—turning rough wood, delicate petals, and baked earth into liquid gold. It is raw, elemental, and imperfectly perfect.

The Rebirth (1818 Essence) Today, 1818 Essence is the bridge between that ancient world and the modern nose.

We are not just selling perfume; we are curating history. We have taken the heavy, regal scents of the royal courts and refined them for the contemporary connoisseur. We blend the smokiness of the ancient Degs with the clarity of modern minimalism.

When you wear a scent from us—whether it is the petrichor of Mitti, the spiritual calm of Sandalwood, or the leather-bound warmth of Saddle—you are not just wearing a fragrance. You are wearing the labor of seven generations. You are wearing the dust of Kannauj, the smoke of the wood fire, and the spirit of 1818.

Welcome to the Essence of Time.