CEDARWOOD (CHINA)

Chinese cedarwood brings a smoky side to the cedarwood family. Its recognisably woody smell can also carry a spicy accent, giving the note a more particular character than a general image of warm forest wood. Smoke here describes an odour facet; it does not mean that the material is obtained by burning wood or that every perfume using the note will smell strongly smoky.

Robertet identifies its Chinese cedarwood oil as steam-distilled wood of Cupressus funebris, the Chinese weeping cypress. Berjé documents the same traditional botanical source. The familiar cedarwood trade name therefore covers a cypress rather than a true cedar in this case. For fragrance discovery, consider whether you enjoy a smoky contour around wood. Its intensity and place within a perfume depend on the composition, and the note alone does not establish the oil used.