Teak Wood is a warm, smooth woody note inspired by teak, Tectona grandis, the dense hardwood from South and South-East Asia. Teak is not distilled for perfumery, so the note is an accord created by the perfumer, typically smelling dry, softly smoky and slightly leathery, with a polished, comfortable warmth.

What does Teak Wood smell like?

Real teak has an oily, faintly leathery scent from the natural resins in the wood, which help make it so resistant to water and insects. Perfume versions translate that into a mellow, dry wood with a touch of smoke, a hint of spice and sometimes a soft sweetness. Compared with cedar it is warmer and less sharp; compared with sandalwood it is drier and less creamy. In mass-market candles and body products, teakwood is often presented as a cosy, masculine wood with a light ambery sweetness.

How perfumers create Teak Wood

The accord is usually built from cedarwood oils and cedar derivatives for the dry frame, vetiver or cypriol for earthy depth, guaiac wood or a smoky material for the resinous smoke, and ambery woods such as Iso E Super or Ambroxan for smoothness and diffusion. Leather and spice notes can add the oiled-furniture feel.

• Also known as: Teakwood
• Fragrance family: Woody
• Type: Accord (created by the perfumer)

Teak Wood in perfume history

Teak has little specific perfumery history. It is prized in furniture, boats and decking, and its name began appearing in fragrance note lists as woody themes broadened in the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries, especially in home fragrance and body care.

Teak Wood in modern perfumery

The note is common in candles, reed diffusers, men's body products and affordable woody fragrances, and it also appears in some niche releases. Because the accord is synthetic-led it is stable and inexpensive, and it involves no harvesting of the tree.

How Teak Wood wears and what it pairs with

Teak wood acts as a heart-to-base note that lasts well. It pairs naturally with mahogany, tobacco, leather, lavender, bergamot, black pepper, coffee and amber.