A pioneer in his own right, D. Gary Young spent the last 34 years of his life researching the ancient ways and traditional methods of distilling from centuries past. He watched with sadness the true art of distillation slowly being lost to fast extraction methods with modern equipment and chemicals.

For example, botanical cultivation has become reliant on chemical fertilizers and pesticides that have weakened plant immunity and reduced the quality of their essential oils, causing lower levels of crucial constituents, even eliminating many valuable compounds entirely. Nutrient-depleted soil was unattended, resulting in weaker plants and reduced essential oil quality.

In the nursery we record plant and root growth with different soil conditions, adaptability, pest resistance, and weed control with oils. We also study new plants found in the jungle to determine their nutritional value and water needs. When ready, seedlings are transplanted into the fields and studied for their growth and potential oil production. Chris and Gary check to see if the plants are ready to be transplanted.
Only one drop of plant juice is needed to measure the Brix with the refractometer.
Gary is amazed at the growth of the 2-year-old balsam fir trees.

Rural facilities without financial means remain crude and inefficient, often producing a lower yield and lesser quality. Some older distilleries in more remote areas of the world fuel fireboxes with old tires, wood, and often garbage to heat cookers made of carbon steel, which are unsuitable for extraction of essential oils.

Inversely, high-tech laboratories both recreate chemical molecules to add to batches of essential oil for increased volume and/or they manipulate the chemical composition for a more “pleasant smell” for a greater marketing advantage.

A true, unadulterated, pure essential oil as God intended is difficult to obtain, as many growers and distillery operators are lured into the practice of adulteration to pursue profit.

From the time of his accident and his discovery of essential oils, D. Gary Young was committed to his research and the true art of distillation. Having used the oils to support his own personal journey and that of many others, he knew the difference between the pure and the adulterated, which made his path very precise. Purity and quality of the oils were most important to him, regardless of the time and money that it took to produce the desired results.

The early years and life experiences of D. Gary Young provided him the foundational experience and knowledge for the path that he took. These experiences also gave him the many skills that enabled him to accomplish so much in the development of his farms, distillation, and becoming the World Leader in Essential Oils.