Woody

Papyrus

Note Profile

Botanical 392 perfumes

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About

Papyrus is a dry, woody note with earthy, smoky and leathery tones and a spicy edge. Perfumers and glossaries compare it to aged paper or parchment. In most perfumes the material behind the name is cypriol (nagarmotha), the rhizome oil of a related sedge.

Scent Profile

Papyrus smells dry, woody and aromatic, like aged parchment crossed with dusty vetiver. It has earthy, smoky and leathery tones and a light peppery edge. It smells nothing like a wet marsh. The rare Egyptian absolute is stranger: salty, mushroom-like and bready, drying down to aged paper and dry wood.

ScentWheel

Breadthmedium

EnvelopeBase · ~48h lasting

Family Woody & Earthy

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

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Origin

Papyrus is Cyperus papyrus, a tall sedge of the Nile Delta and tropical Africa. The oil sold as papyrus oil is steam-distilled from the rhizome of Cyperus scariosus, the source of cypriol. A true Cyperus papyrus absolute is made in Egypt by solvent extraction. Its supplier says it comes from the flowering head. One glossary says the rhizome.

Usage in Perfumery

Perfumers use papyrus in the base of a composition for dry woody depth and a paper-like texture. It gives a spicy, earthy lift to vetiver and other woods. It blends with vetiver, cedar, incense, leather and dry musks. It is more common in Indian perfumery.