Today, we’re going to explore the spices that can be used to make scented candles.What is the top 5 Most Best Most Expensive Fragrance Ingredients in the Perfume World?
Why are some perfumes so expensive? Are they made of gold? Believe it or not, the prices of some fragrance ingredients can surpass even that of gold! Factors such as scarcity, difficulty in obtaining, and the inability to replicate contribute to the high prices of these ingredients. Today, we’ll get to know the aristocrats of fragrance found in these perfumes!
Ambergris
Ambergris is a substance formed from the indigestible beaks of the sperm whale, which are enveloped in intestinal secretions and then float on the sea’s surface. After years of oxidation and degradation, it eventually solidifies into a waxy substance.
The price of ambergris varies depending on its quality, with top-grade ambergris selling for as much as 3 million RMB (approximately 470,000 USD) per kilogram! The lighter the color of the ambergris, the higher the grade and the more expensive it becomes. It’s no exaggeration to say that finding a small piece could buy you a house!
Reasons for the high cost of ambergris:
- Scarcity: To protect whales, hunting them for ambergris is strictly prohibited, so ambergris can only be collected when found, and only about 1% of sperm whales may have ambergris.
- Uncertainty: The quality of harvested ambergris can vary significantly due to factors such as the whale’s diet and the degree of ambergris oxidation, resulting in different scents.
- Potent Fixative: Ambergris can act as a fixative in perfumes, offering a powerful and long-lasting fragrance, even more so than musk. Due to its natural scarcity and uncertainty, using it in mass-produced perfumes is nearly impossible. However, technology has provided alternatives like Ambroxan and Iso E Super, which, although synthetically produced, remain expensive due to their quality and fixative properties.
Agarwood
Agarwood, known as the “King of Fragrance,” is the top of the four famous ancient Chinese fragrances. In perfume translations, it is often referred to as “oud.”
Agarwood essential oil is also known as “liquid gold.” Its price can range from several hundred thousand RMB to over a million RMB per kilogram, depending on the grade. Kalakassi Aoud, aged for 150 years, once sold for an astonishing 10,000 RMB per 3 grams!
Reasons for the high cost of agarwood:
- Scarcity and Long Maturation: Agarwood comes from the Aquilaria tree, native to tropical and subtropical regions. It is produced as a result of fungal infection and requires decades to centuries to form, with a very low likelihood of success.
- Unique and Irreplaceable Scent: Natural agarwood offers a complex fragrance profile with sweet, spicy, cool, medicinal, floral, fruity, and milky notes. Despite advanced science, replicating natural agarwood remains impossible.
Orris Root
The fragrance of orris root comes from its rhizomes, resembling violet with a dusty and earthy quality. Only two varieties, French and German iris, yield orris root absolute.
Reasons for the high cost of orris root:
- Lengthy Growth Process: Irises are planted in the autumn and take three years of dormancy before they grow and flower.
- Extensive Labor Costs: Manual harvesting, peeling, slicing, drying, and processing of orris root are labor-intensive. It takes about three years for the primary fragrant component, iris ketone, to develop. The dried slices are ground into powder, and iris butter is obtained through distillation. Orris root absolute is then extracted through solvent extraction.
- Low Yield: It takes 500 kg of dried orris root to distill 1 kg of iris butter, and 4 kg of iris butter to extract 1 kg of orris root absolute, resulting in very low yields.
Rose
Rose essential oil, also known as the “Queen of Essential Oils,” is derived from two main types of roses: Damask rose and Centifolia rose. The price varies significantly based on the extraction method, rose variety, and oil purity, with top-quality rose essential oil fetching as much as 200,000 RMB (approximately 31,300 USD) per kilogram.
Reasons for the high cost of roses:
- Low Yield: Otto rose essential oil, extracted through steam distillation, has an extremely low yield. It takes 5,000 kg of fresh rose petals to produce just 1 kg of rose essential oil.
Saffron
Saffron, also known as Crocus sativus, is often referred to as “plant gold.” It has a unique aroma with spicy, sweet tobacco, smoky, and woody notes. Despite its name, it is classified as a spice rather than a floral scent.
Reasons for the high cost of saffron:
- Low Yield: Only the three deep red stigma tips from fresh saffron flowers are used to make the spice. It takes the picking of at least 150,000 saffron flowers to obtain 1 kg of saffron spice.
- High Labor and Cultivation Costs: The collection of saffron stigma tips requires meticulous manual labor, as no machine can perform this delicate task. Additionally, saffron cultivation demands specific temperature, humidity, and soil conditions.
Have these fragrance aristocrats from the world of perfumes left you amazed? Now, do you believe that gold pales in comparison to them? However, the sky-high prices are not without reason; they are genuinely justified.
