Green

Calamus

Note Profile

Botanical 26 perfumes

About

Calamus is the oil of the rhizomes of Acorus calamus, a wetland plant from Asia and Europe. The dried roots are steam distilled. It smells warm and spicy, closer to cinnamon bark, over a damp, earthy base like wet reed beds. It dries down to dried tobacco, leather and bitter wood. It is used in the heart and base.

Scent Profile

Calamus is warm and spicy, closer to cinnamon bark than to the leaf. It sits on a damp, earthy base like wet reed beds and river mud. The green here is marshy rather than leafy. A herbal, apothecary-drawer dryness runs through it, with a faint antiseptic whisper underneath. It dries down to dried tobacco, warm leather and a bitter wood that lasts for hours.

ScentWheel

Breadthmedium

EnvelopeBase · ~24h lasting

Family Woody & Earthy

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

What this is made of

Calamus oil

A natural extract

CAS 8015-79-0

Acorus calamus. IFRA-restricted for beta-asarone, which is why the material is held at all.

How the layers join

Origin

Calamus is derived from the rhizomes of Acorus calamus, a wetland plant native to Asia and Europe. The essential oil is typically obtained through steam distillation of the dried roots, which are harvested from marshy areas.

Usage in Perfumery

Perfumers use calamus primarily in the heart and base of fragrances to impart warmth and an aromatic, spicy-woody character. It is often blended with spices, woods, resins, and oriental notes, and is valued for its ability to add depth and complexity to both masculine and unisex compositions.