Blackwood
Note Profile
About
Blackwood is a dark, dense woody base with an amber-resinous floor and a small rose-floral edge. The name covers three different things - Dalbergia melanoxylon (mpingo), Dalbergia latifolia (Indian rosewood) and Firmenich's Blackwood Base 504855 - and in a modern pyramid it almost always means the last. All Dalbergia went onto CITES Appendix II in 2017 and genuine extract is barely traded.
Scent Profile
Dry woody first and by a distance - dense, tight-grained, polished, the smell of worked timber rather than forest. An amber-resinous floor sits under it, which is what the trade sales copy reduces to 'Wood, Amber'. Above both, a faint rose-floral warmth: dalbergione in the timber, citronellol and a lily-of-the-valley material in the base. A light sweetness, a small clean musk and a touch of creamy wood finish it.
ScentWheel
Read off the wheel, not a label applied to the note.
Origin
Two Dalbergia timbers and one synthetic base. The timbers are dense dark hardwoods whose rose-like warmth comes from dalbergione; sawdust and chips can be steam distilled or solvent extracted, but this is uncommon commercially. The Firmenich base is a formulation, and its published SDS is led by Iso E Super at 15 to 20 per cent, then Firwood at 12.5, Hercolyn D, Dimyrcetol, Coranol and citronellol at 7.5 to 10 each, and Norlimbanol Dextro at 5 to 7.5.
Usage in Perfumery
A base note and a foundation. It underwrites woody, sweet, amber and citrus accords and gives a composition a solemn dark floor. In the commercial base, perfumers report using it at 3 to 10 per cent in masculine work, where it reads modern and slightly brash alone and elegant in a blend, and above 10 per cent in a feminine formula the top notes become a problem.
Similar Notes
Perfumes featuring Blackwood
A selection of reviewed perfumes where Blackwood appears prominently.
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