Note Profile
Coriander seed is a spice oil that reads as a flower. Steam distilled from the dried ripe fruits of Coriandrum sativum, it is 65 to 78 per cent (+)-linalool, so its core is sweet, soft and floral rather than hot. Around that core sit a cool peppery spice, a light woodiness and a balsamic sweetness. It is not coriander leaf and shares almost nothing with it.
Sweet and floral first, from the linalool, with a cool peppery fresh spice beside it rather than under it. A bright herbaceous freshness runs through the top, and a dry woodiness sits below - four suppliers in this repository's own data say woody. A candy-like sweetness rounds it, with light citrus, a faint camphoraceous coolness, a spiced-fruity edge and a thin balsamic warmth at the end.
CAS 8008-52-4
Coriandrum sativum seed oil (IFRA NCS H2.12, seed). The note says 'steam distilled from the dried ripe seed' and is explicit that it is the seed, not the leaf - the source's leaf rows are a different smell entirely.
The dried, fully ripe fruits of Coriandrum sativum, harvested when they turn from green to yellow, dried in shade, crushed and steam distilled at a yield of 0.1 to 0.8 per cent. Grown in India, Eastern Europe, Russia, Morocco and Spain. The main components after linalool are geranyl acetate, gamma-terpinene, camphor, beta-pinene, limonene and citronellal.
A blender and modifier, not a character material. It bridges fresh top notes to deeper accords in colognes, fougeres, chypres and oriental bases, and it lifts floral hearts - jasmine, lily, honeysuckle and rose - without taking them over. It is a classic partner for bergamot, clary sage, cardamom, neroli and petitgrain, and it carries into tobacco accords.
A selection of reviewed perfumes where Coriander Seed appears prominently.
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