Katsura Wood
Note Profile
About
Burnt-sugar sweetness over a faint pale wood.
Scent Profile
Sweet_vanillic leads and it is the whole identity. Every source names the same thing and the same cause: burnt sugar, caramel, toffee, candyfloss, baking cake, all of it maltol. Published Maltol sits at sweet_vanillic and this note is a wood carrying that molecule, so it lands just under. Dry_woody, and it is the number this vector is least sure of. The referent is timber, so a wood facet has to be there, but the only source that describes the wood calls the odour light and pleasant, which is generic timber-database language. Below the naming line: nutty and creamy_woody are the toffee direction, smoky is the word burnt in burnt sugar and nothing more, and green and tobacco_hay are the dry fallen leaf that the strongest sources are actually describing, kept small on purpose because the note is the wood.
ScentWheel
Read off the wheel, not a label applied to the note.
Origin
Katsura is Cercidiphyllum japonicum, a Japanese tree whose German and French common names, Kuchenbaum and arbre a caramel, both name the smell. The cause is agreed: maltol, released as the complex sugars in the tissue break down. The strong sources describe the leaves in autumn decay. One timber reference describes the wood itself as smelling of burnt sugar or caramel.
Usage in Perfumery
A base wood in niche and indie work. Parfumo attests the term on 5 fragrances across 5 brands and Fragrantica on none, which is the signature of a term coming from independent perfumer copy rather than mainstream releases. Whether what is sold as katsura wood is timber-derived or a compounded caramel-woody accord named after the tree is not established.
Similar Notes
Perfumes featuring Katsura Wood
A selection of reviewed perfumes where Katsura Wood appears prominently.
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