Boswellia Frereana

Note Profile

Botanical

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About

Frankincense from Boswellia frereana, the Somali species sold as Maydi or Coptic frankincense. It smells fresh and pine-like over a deep woody resin, with a fruity sweetness underneath and a faint citrus lift on top.

Scent Profile

Boswellia frereana is a fresh, pine-like frankincense over a deep woody resin. A clear, aromatic herbal freshness leads, close to pine needles without any harsh edge. Underneath sits a resinous, incense-like depth with dry wood beneath it. A light citrus lift sits on top, and a soft fruity sweetness and a faint earthy note round out the base.

ScentWheel

Breadthmedium

EnvelopeBase · ~18h lasting

Family Amber · Musk · Leather, Woody & Earthy, Green & Aromatic

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

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Materials That Can Make This Note

Perfumers can make Boswellia Frereana from this natural extract.

Natural extract Boswellia frereana oil (Maydi, Coptic frankincense essential oil)

Smell words come from published sources.

Allergens perfumes with this note can list: Pinene

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

Origin

Resin of Boswellia frereana, tapped in northern Somalia and traded as Maydi. The tears are hydrodistilled to an essential oil. It is a different species from the Boswellia sacra of Oman and the Boswellia papyrifera of Ethiopia, both already held here. Living Libations gives the chemical separation: Boswellia carterii runs high in alpha-pinene with a little alpha-thujene, while Boswellia frereana inverts that and runs high in alpha-thujene with only a touch of alpha-pinene.

Usage in Perfumery

Used where a frankincense is wanted that reads clean and coniferous rather than sweet or churchy. It sits in incense accords, in resinous ambers, and as a lift under woods. The fresh top is diffusive, but the material as a whole is a base resin.