Quenepa
Note Profile
About
Quenepa is the fruit of Melicoccus bijugatus, a Caribbean tree. It is a small green-skinned fruit with a single large stone and a thin layer of salmon-coloured pulp. It is not a citrus and not a lime, despite the common name Spanish lime.
Scent Profile
Fruity leads and it is the only facet with a direct smell claim behind it. Gardeners' Magazine says a ripe fruit 'should have a strong, sweet, fragrant scent'. Tropical comes from the flavour comparison in the same source, 'hints of apple, mango, pineapple, and even lychee', which places the fruit in a tropical fruit-salad space. Lychee is the useful one: quenepa is in the same family. Citrus is the 'citrus notes' the same sentence opens with, plus Fragrantica filing it under citrus smells. It is held well under half because the lime in the common name is a shape, not a smell. Sour is 'sweet and tart at the same time', stated by both sources. That is a taste, and it is scored down for it. Floral and amber_resinous rest on one Fragrantica line, 'a subtly floral and resinous touch', which no other source repeats.
ScentWheel
Read off the wheel, not a label applied to the note.
Origin
Melicoccus bijugatus (Sapindaceae, the soapberry family, so a relative of lychee and rambutan rather than of citrus). Grown across the Caribbean, Central America and northern South America. Also called mamoncillo, ginep, guinep and limoncillo. No extract, absolute or aroma-compound study of it was found.
Usage in Perfumery
Almost absent. One perfume on Fragrantica names it and a scented candle exists commercially. It reads as a Caribbean tropical fruit with a citrus lift, so it sits with guava and hog plum rather than with lime.
Similar Notes
Perfumes featuring Quenepa
A selection of reviewed perfumes where Quenepa appears prominently.
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