Anethole

Note Profile

Molecule

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About

Clean, sweet, cool anise

Scent Profile

Anethole smells of sweet, clean anise, like a freshly cracked star anise pod. The sweetness is dry and crystalline rather than syrupy. A cool, almost minty edge runs through it, a little camphor-sharp at first. It then settles into a steady, warm liquorice plateau and fades without off-notes.

ScentWheel

Breadthfocused

EnvelopeHeart · ~5h lasting

Family Sweet & Gourmand

Read off the wheel, not a label applied to the note.

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Materials That Can Make This Note

Perfumers can use this material directly to make Anethole.

Anethole anisic · medicinal · mimosa

Smell words come from published sources.

Allergens perfumes with this note can list: Anethole

A given perfume with this note may use this material, or something else, and may or may not contain the allergens above.

Origin

Anethole (trans-anethole) is the main aroma molecule of anise, star anise and fennel oils. It is a colourless, mildly volatile liquid. Perfumers use it isolated from those oils or made as a single molecule, so it carries the anise signal without the minor notes of the whole oil.

Usage in Perfumery

Perfumers use anethole as the plain anise reference: it gives a liquorice-like anise lift without the herbal side of tarragon or the spice of whole anise oil. It sits in the heart of a formula and fades cleanly. It is the yardstick against which other anisic molecules are compared.