Virginian Cedar

Virginian cedar (Juniperus virginiana), known as Eastern Red Cedar in its native eastern United States, yields one of the workhorse cedarwood essential oils of modern perfumery. The wood is high in cedrol, the molecule responsible for the dry, pencil-shaving woody character that defines commercial cedar. Where Atlas cedar (Cedrus atlantica) reads warmer and more resinous, Virginian cedar reads drier and more linear; formulators select it when a composition wants a clean, almost graphic woody spine. Matiere Premiere Parisian Musc uses Virginian cedar to anchor its musk-led composition.