Walnut is a nutty, slightly bitter note with a woody, green and earthy character, less sweet than most gourmand nuts. It is usually an accord rather than a natural extract, drawing on the smell of both walnut kernels and the aromatic leaves and green husks of the walnut tree. In perfume it adds a dry, tannic depth to gourmand and woody compositions.

What does Walnut smell like?

Walnut kernels smell nutty, oily and faintly bitter, with a tannic, woody edge from the thin skin. Walnut leaves and green husks add a sharper, green, almost iodine-like aroma. In perfume the note is less sweet and roasted than hazelnut or praline, which makes it useful for adding a bitter, adult nuance.

How perfumers create Walnut

The walnut tree, Juglans regia, is not widely extracted for perfume. Perfumers combine nutty pyrazines and lactones with green, woody and leafy materials to evoke the kernels and the husk, and with coumarin or tonka to soften the bitterness.

• Also known as: English walnut, Persian walnut
• Fragrance family: Gourmand / Woody
• Type: Accord (created by the perfumer)
• Key aroma molecules: Pyrazines, lactones

Walnut in perfume history

Walnut has little perfume history. Its green husks are used to make nocino, a dark walnut liqueur from northern Italy, and the note appears in modern perfumery mainly as a creative flourish.

Walnut in modern perfumery

Walnut appears mostly in niche perfumes and in autumnal gourmands, where it adds dryness and bitterness to sweeter materials such as caramel, maple and vanilla.

How Walnut wears and what it pairs with

Walnut is a heart-to-base note. It pairs with maple, caramel, fig, coffee, cedar, vetiver and leather.