Cloves Perfumes & Fragrances

Cloves smell hot, sweet and intensely spicy, with a medicinal edge and a carnation-like floral heart. They are among the strongest spices used in perfumery and a historical cornerstone of the oriental family.

The raw material is the dried unopened flower bud of Syzygium aromaticum, native to the Maluku Islands of Indonesia (the original Spice Islands) and now cultivated mainly in Madagascar, Tanzania and Sri Lanka. Steam distillation of the buds, leaves or stems yields three distinct oils, all dominated by eugenol, which delivers the signature hot-medicinal character. Clove has been traded globally since Roman times and sparked colonial wars in the sixteenth century between the Portuguese, Dutch and English.

Cloves are a heart note with good persistence. Perfumers use them as the defining spice of carnation accords, to warm classical orientals (Opium, Cinnabar, Egoiste), and to give oriental and amber bases a medicinal bite. They pair brilliantly with vanilla, rose, sandalwood, carnation and leather.

Clove-led fragrances perform best in autumn, winter and evening wear.