Almond

Almond is a sweet, nutty note with a marzipan-like, slightly bitter edge, recalling bitter almond oil and amaretto. Its key molecule is benzaldehyde, found in bitter almonds and in the kernels of apricots, peaches and cherries. In perfumery it belongs to the gourmand family and is often used in powdery, oriental and floral compositions.

What does Almond smell like?

Almond in perfume is usually the bitter almond note rather than sweet almond: marzipan, cherry stone and amaretto, with a slightly medicinal, cherry-like sharpness. It is more intense and less toasted than hazelnut, and fruitier than tonka. Sweet almond milk notes are different, softer and creamier, and usually built from lactones.

Where Almond comes from

Bitter almond oil is obtained by macerating crushed bitter almond or apricot kernels in water and then steam distilling them. During maceration an enzyme releases benzaldehyde, together with toxic hydrogen cyanide, from the compound amygdalin, so the oil must be purified to remove the cyanide. Today most almond notes use synthetic benzaldehyde, often supported by heliotropin (piperonal) and coumarin.

Also known as: Bitter almond, Prunus dulcis var. amara
Fragrance family: Gourmand
Type: Natural and synthetic
Main origins: Almond and apricot kernels from the Mediterranean, the Middle East and California
How it's obtained: Maceration and steam distillation of kernels, then removal of cyanide; synthetic benzaldehyde
Key aroma molecules: Benzaldehyde

Almond in perfume history

Bitter almond oil played an important role in the history of chemistry: Friedrich Wöhler and Justus von Liebig studied it in 1832, work that helped establish modern organic chemistry. Almond and heliotrope notes, both based on benzaldehyde and piperonal, were popular in late 19th- and early 20th-century perfumery and powdered cosmetics.

Almond in modern perfumery

Almond is widely used in gourmands and powdery orientals. Dior's Hypnotic Poison (1998) made an almond-vanilla accord its signature, and Guerlain's L'Homme Idéal (2014) built a masculine fragrance around almond. Perfumers use it to add a sweet, slightly bitter nuance and to link cherry, vanilla and floral notes.

How Almond wears and what it pairs with

Almond is a top-to-heart note when used as benzaldehyde, but it can linger with heliotropin and coumarin. It pairs with cherry and plum, vanilla and tonka, heliotrope and iris, orange blossom and jasmine, and cedar.