Haslinger Sandalwood is outstanding as well.. Both in performance and scent.
Indian sandalwood is Santalum alba, now endangered in India, Nepal and Pakistan due to over-forestation and poaching. There are now plantations of Indian sandalwood in Australia, and that may bring the price down somewhat...eventually. There are two native Australian species of sandalwood, but they have less of the important chemical constituent. Santalum paniculatum is a kind of native Hawaiian sandalwood, and there's a relatvely inexpensive oil called "West Indian Sandalwood" that is not sandalwood at all: it's another plant entirely (Amyris balsamifera).
Because of the expense of real sandalwood essential oil, it's unlikely that most soapmakers are using it in soap because you'd need so much of it: I priced it once for that purpose and it would have pushed the price of a single puck up to $50 or $60 or so...and that was several years ago. Fragrance oil interpretations of sandalwood are wildly variable, both in strength and scent. Some of them don't smell like real sandalwood at all, to my nose. So, YMMV, big-time.
I'm looking for some stout
I am also very interested about what really smells like sandalwood. I did not have the chance to try a lot of stuff but these are my experiences.
The first sandalwood product I came in contact with was Farfalla Sandalwood ASB. I really didn't know at first what sandalwood should smell like but immediately thought "This must be it!". I had the chance to grab rests of TOBS Sandalwood Shaving Cream but it was quite old and a little bit dried out. I don't know if it affected the original scent but it still smells quite strong and definitely different than the Farfalla ASB. There is a hint of the what the Farfalla smelled like but also a lot of "powdery" scents. It did not smell as natural as Farfalla. I also picked up a bar of Savon du Midi Sandalwood and this smelled pretty similar to TOBS so I guess TOBS does something right. I also have a puck of Haslinger Sandalwood and this smells pretty light but similar to the Savon du Midi. Anyway the Farfalla smells the most natural and best for me.
As far as current products out there that emulate very close to genuine Sandalwood scents - Proraso Red sandalwood shave cream and AoS Sandalwood shave cream. Those two are as close and pretty spot on to the genuine essential oils scent I recall experiencing as a kid. At one time you could buy the genuine Indian imported oil pretty easy and it was not too expensive from a local heath food store or natural perfumer shop, but that was prior to the mid 1990's, more like in the late 1970's through the 80's. Many other Sandalwood products out there are blends with other fragrant notes blended in, not a pure "one note" scent like the real stuff.
Not only did I cave and get CRSW Sandalwood (awesome!!), but also bought some of the old stock/tallow AOS Sandalwood off of Ebay.
The first shave was so amazing...actually the best shave and post shave experience I've had in 10 years of wet shaving, I bought another backup puck....it's THAT good.
It's there a reason the same guy has the same soap listed for a different price?
http://straightrazorplace.com/auction-talk-ebay-etc/104623-japonnippon-2.html