Encian

Note Profile

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About

Encian is gentian - the German and Slavic name for the root of Gentiana lutea, the great yellow gentian of the Alps. It smells of damp earth and bitter roots, green and almost medicinal, with a quiet honeyed warmth and a dry woody floor underneath. It shares orris's powdery rooty quality with the temperature turned down.

Scent Profile

Encian, gentian root, smells of damp earth and bitter roots, cool like a cellar. Over that sits a green, vegetal bitterness that reads almost medicinal. A powdery, rooty quality runs through the middle, the same register as iris root but colder. Underneath is a dry, woody floor, with a quiet honeyed warmth and a hint of dark dried fruit.

ScentWheel

Breadthmedium

EnvelopeBase · ~12h lasting

Family Woody & Earthy, Green & Aromatic

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

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ScentArt

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Materials That Can Make This Note

Perfumers can make Encian from this natural extract.

Natural extract Gentian absolute

Smell words come from published sources.

A given perfume with this note may use this material, or something else.

Origin

The rhizome and deep tap root of Gentiana lutea, harvested in autumn from Alpine, Pyrenean, Apennine and Carpathian meadows between about 1,000 and 2,400 metres. The plant takes about a decade to reach maturity and wild collection is regulated across much of its range. The root is dried and solvent-extracted rather than steam-distilled, which is why the material is sold as an absolute, resinoid or tincture. The same root gives Suze, Salers, Aveze and Angostura their bitterness.

Usage in Perfumery

Used sparingly to put a bitter-earthy oddity into green compositions, chypres and iris accords. It pairs with vetiver, oakmoss, angelica root and bergamot. Jean-Claude Ellena built Hermes Eau de Gentiane Blanche around it, which is the proof that an obscure root can anchor a mainstream fragrance. It announces itself quietly and then lasts far longer than its opening suggests.