Amburana Wood
Note Profile
About
Amburana wood is the timber of Amburana cearensis, the Brazilian tree whose bark carries the same coumarin. The one trade source found describes it as tonka bean and warm wood fused together: a vanilla-almond sweetness sitting on a real timber backbone. It is sweeter than most woods and more structurally wooden than tonka.
Scent Profile
Amburana wood smells of tonka bean and warm wood fused into one note. A dry, woody timber backbone holds it up, more structurally wood than tonka bean itself. Over that sits a vanilla-almond sweetness, sweeter and more nutty than most timber notes, with a faint cinnamon warmth in the background. The drydown stays dry and woody rather than creamy, with only a light powdery trace.
ScentWheel
Read off the wheel, not a label applied to the note.
ScentArt
Origin
Timber of Amburana cearensis, native to northern, eastern and west-central Brazil, north-western Argentina, Bolivia and Paraguay. The wood is best known outside perfumery for ageing cachaca, which is where most people meet the smell. Several of the tree's Portuguese names, cumaru and cumare among them, are also names for Dipteryx odorata, the tonka-bean tree. They are different species.
Usage in Perfumery
A base note. It gives a coumarin sweetness that keeps a wood structure, so it can sit where tonka would flatten a composition. It is attested in 3 Fragrantica listings and none on Parfumo, so use is thin.
Similar Notes
Perfumes featuring Amburana Wood
A selection of reviewed perfumes where Amburana Wood appears prominently.
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