- Origin
- an accord composed by the perfumer
- Raw materials
- nutty and caramel molecules, vanilla, ethyl maltol
- Extraction
- synthesis
- Olfactory group
- gourmand
- Position in the pyramid
- heart and base
- Synthetic substitutes
- filbertone (hazelnut), ethyl maltol, vanillin
Praline is a confection of nuts (almonds or hazelnuts) roasted in caramelised sugar. In perfume it is a gourmand accord combining the smell of roasted nuts with golden caramel.
How it smells: warm, sweet and toasty: nut paste, caramel, vanilla and a faintly buttery pastry shade. Praline sounds cosy and delicious, like a patisserie in winter.
To keep praline from feeling cloying, perfumers pair it with woods, patchouli or iris — then the sweetness becomes more grown-up and elegant and the fragrance more wearable.
What it pairs with: with vanilla and tonka — classic gourmand compositions, with iris — a powdery, expensive sweetness, with patchouli — a deep chocolate-nut base, with coffee — “dessert with coffee”, with orange blossom — sunny sweet fragrances.
Good to know: the name praline is linked to the seventeenth-century French marshal du Plessis-Praslin, whose cook supposedly invented these sugared nuts.
