Innumerable plants used in perfumery are edible. Several common groups are citrus (including lemon, lime, mandarin, sweet orange, tangerine), herbs (sweet basil, spearmint, rosemary, Dalmatian sage, tarragon) and spices (cardamom, cinnamon, clove, pepper, vanilla). The term ‘gourmand’ in perfumery refers to fragrances of gastronomic inspiration, such as Paul Poiret’s Le Fruit Défendu (1918), an accord of peach, vanilla, and tonka bean, Escada’s Chiffon Sorbet (1993), a tutti-frutti, and Guerlain’s L’Instant de Guerlain pour Homme (2004), based on star anise, cocoa, and vanilla. The perfumer does not acquire these materials at the local market. Instead, he selects them according to specific olfactory criteria, following a rigorous process of cultivation and transformation.
For example, let us consider lemon. The finest quality grows in Sicily, in the regions of Syracuse, Acireale (near Etna), Capo d’Orlando and Palermo, where the main cultivar is the femminello. Lemon may be harvested every month of the year except August. As such, the oil’s odor varies greatly according to the time of harvest. The oil is normally extracted via cold pressing of the ripe peel after removal of the fruit’s juice and pulp, thereby obtaining the essential oil exactly as it exists in nature. Fine lemon oil should be light and sweet, reminiscent of the fresh zest. Some smell cool and delicate, resembling lemon sorbet, and others, candied and floral, like fresh lemon liqueur, limoncello. Lemon oil is key to the eau de cologne accord and may be used in almost any other fragrance type. I spent a great deal of time evaluating Sicilian lemon oils for my perfume Acide (2018) by Éditions M.R, before settling on a quality that had been rejected by my colleagues in the industry: the fruits are processed in an unusual fashion, resulting in an oil that is astringent, rich and powerful.
Carrots may appear unassuming, yet the oil of their seeds is delightful. The best quality comes from France, namely the Maine-et-Loire. Wild carrots harvested in Corsica are also esteemed. The seeds are dried and crushed before being steam distilled. The resulting oil is fruity, like apricot, powdery and woody, resembling orris butter, with additional green, spicy and earthy facets. I use the material in trace amounts in leather fragrances, especially those of the tobacco type.
A fine black pepper oil has nothing to do with the stale, ground corns found in shakers worldwide. Its odor is fresh, spicy and woody, recalling freshly ground pepper, as well as cubeb and elemi. The Indian quality is rather earthy, while the Malagasy quality is more resinous. The peppercorns are harvested when not yet ripe, then dried, crushed, steam distilled and rectified via fractional distillation (to avoid solubility problems). Pepper marries especially well with other spicy notes such as carnation, clove, and pimento, as in Caron’s masterful Poivre (1954).
When most people think of the odour of vanilla, they are in fact thinking of vanillin, first synthesized in 1874 and used to flavour ice cream and baked goods ever since. Cured vanilla pods contain about 2% vanillin, responsible for a mere fraction of their exquisite fragrance. The best pods, known as ‘Bourbon’, come from Madagascar. The vanilla flowers are pollinated by hand, and the fruit is harvested just before maturity. The pods are cured over three months, during which time they turn brown and develop their characteristic odour: sweet, rich, woody, spicy, balsamic and animal (castoreum*), with a tobacco facet. The ground pods may be macerated in alcohol for two weeks to produce a tincture, the traditional vanilla material. After filtration, the odour of the tincture continues to improve over time, developing accents of caramel, dried fruits, and cognac. Alternatively, the cured pods may be treated with volatile solvents to produce vanilla resinoid, a product that is typically vanillic but lacks, in my opinion, depth and leathery quality. This resinoid may be further purified via ethanol extraction to obtain vanilla absolute, a rich, intense product faithful to the odoor of the cured pods.
Definition of castoreum from Perfume and Flavor Materials of Natural Origin (Arctander):
Castoreum is a secretion from the male or the female beaver. . . . Castoreum (the tincture in particular) is used extensively in perfumery. Its warm, animal, leather-like sweet odor makes it an interesting item in “men’s perfumes,” fougères, chypres, Oriental bases, leather notes, tabacco bases, etc.
Most materials begin as foods before entering perfumery, yet occasionally, the opposite occurs. Castoreum is one such substance: a secretion from the castor sacs (located near the anus) of the beaver, its sweet, warm, leathery odour lends lift, diffusion, depth and naturalness to perfumery compositions, especially leathers. Today, due to ecological concerns, most perfumers have ceased using castoreum, though it remains offered by numerous firms supplying perfumers and flavourists. Upon inquiry, I discovered who now buys castoreum: chocolate makers.
Which gives me an idea for a perfume…
Perfume Maker, Will, on The Quest for Your Signature Scent Tour, will guide you to charming perfume boutiques in the Marais neighborhood of Paris after getting to know a little more about you and your personality to find your perfect scent.