Resin

Birch Tar

Note Profile

Prepared 55 perfumes

Also Known As

Tar

About

Smoky, leather-like tar

Scent Profile

Birch tar has a powerful phenolic, smoky, leathery aroma with nuances of burnt wood, tar and creosote. The phenol leads and is the whole point of the material: the bark is destroyed rather than distilled, and guaiacol, cresols and catechol are what survive - coal-tar soap, a faint medicinal iodine undertone that outlasts everything else. Its smoke is intense and persistent but industrial rather than gentle, creosote-soaked sleepers more than a campfire. The leather it gives is raw and animalic, tanning vats and smoked hides rather than suede. As it evolves, a burnt-sugar sweetness from pyrolysis softens it into an ashen-sweet residue.

ScentWheel

Breadthfocused

EnvelopeBase · ~16h lasting

Family Woody & Earthy, Amber · Musk · Leather

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

What this is made of

Birch tar oil, rectified

A natural extract

CAS 8001-88-5

The note names the material. Note this is distinct from the `birch` note, which is fresh green sap - the two are near-identical in our vectors today (cosine 0.9984) and that is a SCORING defect, not a reason to share an edge.

Restricted: An IFRA Standard limits how much of this a perfumer can use the limit applies to the perfumer, not the wearer

These are facts about the substance, not about any perfume with this note.

Why that matters

A perfume that names Birch Tar can use a different extract, a reformulated version, or a synthetic reconstruction. It can also hold less than the amount that requires a declaration. We cannot tell which applies. These rows cover only the substances we hold a link for.

How the layers join

Origin

Birch tar is obtained by dry distillation of the bark of Betula species, primarily Betula pendula and Betula pubescens, native to northern Europe and Russia. The process involves heating the bark in the absence of air to extract the dark, viscous tar. This traditional method has been used for centuries in both perfumery and leather production.

Usage in Perfumery

Perfumers use birch tar predominantly as a base note to impart smoky, leathery, and animalic facets, especially in leather accords and chypre compositions. It blends well with ingredients like labdanum, patchouli, and castoreum to create depth and complexity. Due to its potency, it is used sparingly to avoid overpowering a fragrance.