- Latin name
- Citrus × clementina
- Family
- Rue family (Rutaceae)
- Origin
- Spain, Morocco, Corsica
- Parts used
- fruit peel
- Raw materials
- essential oil, citrus accords
- Extraction
- cold pressing of the peel
- Olfactory group
- citrus
- Position in the pyramid
- top note
- Synthetic substitutes
- limonene, aldehydes, orange and mandarin bases
The clementine is a hybrid of mandarin and orange: a small, sweet, almost seedless fruit with thin glossy skin. It is grown in the Mediterranean — in Spain, Morocco and Corsica.
How it smells: sweet, juicy and joyful: freshly squeezed juice, soft zest, a light floral shade. Clementine sounds sweeter than tangerine and rounder than orange, like a citrus-flavoured sweet.
The clementine combines traits of both parents: from the orange its juicy brightness, from the mandarin its soft sweetness and tenderness. So in the opening of a fragrance it sounds friendly, warm and not at all sharp.
What it pairs with: with orange blossom and neroli — sunny florals, with vanilla and caramel — gourmand fragrances, with grapefruit — lively freshness, with musk — clean skin scents, with tea — cosy daytime compositions.
Good to know: the clementine is named after Brother Clément, a monk who bred the variety in the late nineteenth century in the garden of an orphanage in Algeria.
