Inkstick
Note Profile
About
Inkstick is the solid ink of East Asian calligraphy, sumi in Japanese and mo in Chinese. It is pine soot compressed with animal glue. As a perfume note it is a fantasy accord and it smells of soot first: dry, sooty smoke over a faint gamey warmth from the hide glue, with a cool camphor edge and a wet-stone quality that only appears once the stick is ground.
Scent Profile
Inkstick smells of soot first, dry and smoky, the compressed pine carbon of a calligraphy stick. A faint gamey warmth comes from the animal glue that binds it, close to hide rather than musk. A cool camphor edge cuts through the smoke, and a wet-stone mineral quality appears once the stick is ground. Underneath sit traces of dry wood and a soft, resinous sweetness.
ScentWheel
Read off the wheel, not a label applied to the note.
ScentArt
Materials That Can Make This Note
Perfumers can build Inkstick from materials such as:
-
Borneol camphoreous · pepper · camphoraceous
Smell words come from published sources.
Allergens perfumes with this note can list: Camphor
A given perfume with this note may use some of these, or something else, and may or may not contain the allergens above.
Origin
No one distils an inkstick. The accord is built in the lab from the reference object. A stick is made by compressing pine soot, or tung-oil soot, with animal glue rendered from deer or ox hides. Makers also add aromatics that double as preservatives: Wikipedia lists clove, comfrey, ash bark, sappanwood, white sandalwood, oriental sweetgum and deer musk. Premiere Peau's gloss separates it from Western iron gall ink, calling it less metallic and more organic and smoky, and ties the mineral-wet quality to the act of grinding the stick on a wet stone.
Usage in Perfumery
One Fragrantica attestation and no Parfumo placements. It is used where a composition wants East Asian cultural specificity rather than a generic ink accent, so it sits against paper, tea, sandalwood, cedar and incense. The published drawing-ink and ink notes cover the Western inkwell. This one covers the grinding stone.
Similar Notes
Perfumes featuring Inkstick
A selection of reviewed perfumes where Inkstick appears prominently.
No perfumes featuring this note have been reviewed yet. Check back soon.