Smoked Cedar
Note Profile
About
Smoked cedar is cedarwood with the smoke left in. It names the smoky pole of the cedar family rather than a new wood. Plain cedar is described as dry and pencil-sharp. Texas, Chinese and Alaskan cedarwood oils all carry smoke.
Scent Profile
Smoked Cedar stays a cedarwood first, dry and pencil-sharp, with the smoke running alongside the wood rather than in front of it. A leathery note sets this cedar apart from the others in its family. It stays a wood with smoke in it, not a bonfire with wood in it.
ScentWheel
Read off the wheel, not a label applied to the note.
ScentArt
Origin
Two routes lead to the same note, and nothing found tells them apart. The first is natural. ScenTree says Texas cedarwood 'brings a natural cedarwood note with an important smoky character', files Alaska cedarwood under 'Woody > Cedar > Smoky Woods', and reports that Chinese cedarwood is used 'to give a dry and smoky effect' while being 'considered a poor quality cedar because of its smoky note' and cheap because it holds very little cedrol. The second is compounding. Commercial 'smoked cedar' accords put a separate smoke note next to cedarwood, as in Midwest Fragrance Company's listing, which builds a cedarwood middle with oud and smoke over patchouli and amber. No manufacturer olfactive sheet for a material sold as 'smoked cedar' was found.
Usage in Perfumery
Use it where plain cedar reads too clean. It gives a woody spine that already carries char, so a composition does not need a separate smoke material fighting the wood for the same space. Chinese cedarwood is dosed as a trace for exactly this. It sits in the base with oud, patchouli, amber and vetiver, and takes clove and pepper well on top.
Similar Notes
Perfumes featuring Smoked Cedar
A selection of reviewed perfumes where Smoked Cedar appears prominently.
No perfumes featuring this note have been reviewed yet. Check back soon.