Archive Clove
Base note · Spicy
Clove.
Sharp, medicinal spice with a numbing warmth.
Our read on the material, not a measurement.
What it smells like.
Clove is spice at its sharpest: hot, dry and faintly medicinal, with a numbing quality that is distinctive and easy to overdo. Where cinnamon is warm, clove is pointed, and it has a carnation-like floral edge that is easy to miss.
In small proportion it makes a blend memorable and gives florals a spicy backbone, which is why it works so well under rose. It is the least forgiving material on the bench, though. Too much clove and the blend stops smelling like perfume and starts smelling like a dentist's surgery. Choose it if you want character, and pair it with something soft.
Clove oil is distilled from the dried flower buds of a tropical evergreen, historically traded through Zanzibar and the Spice Islands at prices that started wars. Its warmth comes from eugenol, the same molecule that gives carnation its spice, which is why the two notes so often keep company.
In a blend.
The most intense spice here. A little clove gives a blend real character; slightly too much and it reads as dental.
Spicy. Warm spices that add character and intrigue. Shop the spicy scents.
Pairs beautifully with.
Questions about clove.
What does clove smell like?
Sharp, medicinal spice with a numbing warmth. Clove is spice at its sharpest: hot, dry and faintly medicinal, with a numbing quality that is distinctive and easy to overdo. Where cinnamon is warm, clove is pointed, and it has a carnation-like floral edge that is easy to miss.
Is clove a top, heart or base note?
It is a base note, so it appears last and stays longest. The most intense spice here. A little clove gives a blend real character; slightly too much and it reads as dental.
What does clove pair well with?
The studio would start with bulgarian rose, vanilla, tonka bean and sandlewood. In small proportion it makes a blend memorable and gives florals a spicy backbone, which is why it works so well under rose. It is the least forgiving material on the bench, though. Too much clove and the blend stops smelling like perfume and starts smelling like a dentist's surgery. Choose it if you want character, and pair it with something soft.
What fragrance family is clove in?
Spicy. Warm spices that add character and intrigue.
Can I use clove in a custom blend?
Yes. It is one of the 42 notes you can choose at the Bench, where you build across the three tiers and we blend it by hand in Adelaide.
Blend with clove.
Pick it at the bench, choose up to four notes per tier, and we blend it by hand in Adelaide.
Open the bench
