Benzoin

Benzoin is the resin that smells of vanilla before vanilla was known. It weeps from the bark of a styrax tree in the forests of Southeast Asia and hardens into tears that smell sweet, warm and balsamic. I use two benzoins from two forests, and each gives a different warmth.

What benzoin is

Benzoin is the resin of trees of the genus Styrax, harvested by cutting the bark and collecting the hardened tears. There are two great types. Siam benzoin, from Styrax tonkinensis, is the finer, richer in vanillin and benzoic esters, with a clean, sweet, almost vanilla ice cream warmth. Sumatra benzoin, from Styrax benzoin, is coarser, richer in cinnamic esters, spicier and more balsamic with a faint smoke. Both are used as resinoids, the resin dissolved and purified rather than distilled, which keeps their full sweetness.

Where our benzoin comes from

The benzoin in Néroli de Nuit and Chérie Oud is Siam benzoin, whose tree grows in the mountain forests of Laos, the source of most of the world's supply, where villagers tend the trees and harvest the resin by hand over a season that begins with cutting the bark and ends months later with collecting the tears. The benzoin in Royale Oud is Sumatra benzoin from Indonesia, gathered from the styrax forests of the island for which it is named. The Laotian resin is soft, clean and vanillic; the Sumatran resin is darker, spicier and more resinous. One is a warmth of milk and the other a warmth of smoke.

How benzoin smells

Sweet, vanilla, balsam, woody and powdery. Siam benzoin is smooth and creamy, like warm vanilla with a hint of almond. Sumatra benzoin is spicier, with cinnamon and a faint smoky bitterness under the sweetness.

Benzoin in our chapters

• IIINéroli de NuitThe Blossom · in the base

  In Néroli de Nuit the Siam benzoin lies beneath the blossoms with myrrh and cedar, the soft sweetness that makes the night feel warm.

• VChérie OudThe Trunk · in the base

  In Chérie Oud the Siam benzoin extends the vanilla into the base, the resin that gives the trunk its sweet, powdery bark.

• VIIIRoyale OudThe Taproot · in the base

  In Royale Oud the Sumatra benzoin sits among the resins of the taproot, the spicier, smokier warmth beside styrax and frankincense.

A note from the atelier

Choosing which benzoin is choosing which kind of warmth. For the blossoms and the vanilla I wanted milk; for the taproot I wanted smoke.

Questions about benzoin