Labdanum

Origin

Mediterranean: Crete, Spain, Cyprus, Morocco

The smell

Dark, warm, ambery, slightly animalic. The closest natural approximation to ambergris. It smells of sun-warmed resin, old leather, and something almost skin-like. Deeply complex and impossible to fake with synthetics.

Key quality

The great base note of the chypre family and one of the oldest perfumery materials in the world. Cistus grows wild across the Mediterranean, in Provence, Sardinia, Morocco, the Greek islands. The resin was historically collected by combing it from the fleece and beards of goats who had browsed through the bushes, a method documented by Herodotus. It smells of sun-baked earth and ancient things.

Historical use

Labdanum, also called ladanum, ladan, or ladanon, is a sticky brown resin obtained from the shrubs Cistus ladanifer and Cistus creticus, species of rock rose. It was historically used in herbal medicine and is still used in the preparation of some perfumes and vermouths.