- Latin name
- Prunus avium, Prunus cerasus
- Family
- Rose family (Rosaceae)
- Origin
- the scent is created in the laboratory
- Parts used
- no material is obtained from the fruit
- Raw materials
- fruity accords, benzaldehyde (a “stone-fruit” note)
- Extraction
- synthesis
- Olfactory group
- fruity, gourmand
- Position in the pyramid
- top note and heart
- Synthetic substitutes
- benzaldehyde, fruity esters, lactones
Cherry in perfumery means both the sour red cherry and the sweet dark cherry. No aromatic material is obtained from the berries, so their scent is recreated with a fruity accord — juicy and recognisable from the first second.
How it smells: juicy, sweet-sour and faintly almond-like: a ripe berry, cherry jam, a light “stone” shade of marzipan. Red cherry sounds brighter and tarter, dark cherry denser, sweeter and more liqueur-like.
The familiar cherry shade comes from benzaldehyde — a molecule that smells of bitter almond and cherry stone. That is why cherry in perfume so often plays alongside almond, vanilla and tonka.
What it pairs with: with almond and tonka — a “cherry dessert”, with rose — juicy florals, with vanilla and chocolate — gourmand compositions, with tobacco and leather — “cherry tobacco”, with liqueur and rum — heady evening fragrances.
Good to know: sweet cherry and sour cherry are different species: the sweet one is larger, the sour one tarter and more aromatic. In pyramids both often hide under one note, “cherry”.
