Absinthe / Artemesia / Wormwood

[vortex]

Does fennel have a smell? Fennel is often used in Absinthes

[MonkeyBars]

Does fennel have a smell? Fennel is often used in Absinthes

Yes, fennel seed is very anisic.

[lanky]

most of what i got out of nasamotto's absinthe was a tonka bean type vibe, sweet but not too sweet

[haddock]

... and Memoir Amouage

[Nascent]

Artemisia herba-alba essential oil from Eden Botanicals: much lower in camphor than other armoise oils I’ve tried. It is crisp, green, fresh, and even a little sweet. Extremely pleasing to the nose. It has some similarities to sage (salvia officinalis) due to the alpha thujone content, but is much more subdued and leafy. Far smoother than expected...

Artemisia vulgaris essential oil from White Lotus: very camphorous, dry, and bitter. The smell is harsh and medicinal. It has a “mentholated” effect on the nose, which can be unpleasant. Definitely not an oil I would use in perfumery.

Artemisia annua “sweet annie” essential oil from White Lotus: camphorous yet sweet, spicy and a little anisic. This definitely reminds me of absinthe more than the other two oils. Sweet Annie is not as fresh or crisp as the Armoise from Eden, it almost smells “aged” as if it’s been sitting in the bottle forever. There is this syrupy depth in the drydown that is unlike anything I’ve ever smelled. Such a shame that it was discontinued.

Despite the sweetness of annua, and the smoothness of the alba, I haven’t found any of these oils very easy to blend with. They usually overwhelm a fragrance or become muddy with a few ingredients. The only formula I’ve successfully created with Armoise is a desert-themed fragrance with white sage, pine, citrus, and creosol. It smells nice enough, but a little uninspired and “safe” for my tastes.

Armoise could potentially add a really interesting brightness to scents - similar to how basil subdues florals, or angelica “lifts” resinous notes. I just haven’t cracked the puzzle yet. It’s been very difficult to get this oil to “play nice” with florals, gourmands, or resins. Sweet Annie, on the other hand, smells like it would do very well with other syrupy notes: perhaps benzoin, styrax, or tolu balsam?

I assume that a synthetic recreation of these natural oils would be easier to formulate with. Does anyone know which aroma chemicals smell most like artemisia alba or annua? Alpha thujone isn’t easy to buy in small quantities.

[Nascent]

Artemisia herba-alba essential oil from Eden Botanicals: much lower in camphor than other armoise oils I’ve tried. It is crisp, green, fresh, and even a little sweet. Extremely pleasing to the nose. It has some similarities to sage (salvia officinalis) due to the alpha thujone content, but is much more subdued and leafy. Far smoother than expected...

Artemisia vulgaris essential oil from White Lotus: very camphorous, dry, and bitter. The smell is harsh and medicinal. It has a “mentholated” effect on the nose, which can be unpleasant. Definitely not an oil I would use in perfumery.

Artemisia annua “sweet annie” essential oil from White Lotus: camphorous yet sweet, spicy and a little anisic. This definitely reminds me of absinthe more than the other two oils. Sweet Annie is not as fresh or crisp as the Armoise from Eden, it almost smells “aged” as if it’s been sitting in the bottle forever. There is this syrupy depth in the drydown that is unlike anything I’ve ever smelled. Such a shame that it was discontinued.

Despite the sweetness of annua, and the smoothness of the alba, I haven’t found any of these oils very easy to blend with. They usually overwhelm a fragrance or become muddy with a few ingredients. The only formula I’ve successfully created with Armoise is a desert-themed fragrance with white sage, pine, citrus, and creosol. It smells nice enough, but a little uninspired and “safe” for my tastes.

Armoise could potentially add a really interesting brightness to scents - similar to how basil subdues florals, or angelica “lifts” resinous notes. I just haven’t cracked the puzzle yet. It’s been very difficult to get this oil to “play nice” with florals, gourmands, or resins. Sweet Annie, on the other hand, smells like it would do very well with other syrupy notes: perhaps benzoin, styrax, or tolu balsam?

I assume that a synthetic recreation of these natural oils would be easier to formulate with. Does anyone know which aromachemicals smell most like artemisia alba or annua? Alpha thujone isn’t easy to buy in small quantities.

[Mrs.C]

It's one of my favourite notes. Heavy with childhood memmories, for me, as I grew up in an area filled with artemisia. It has a bitter herbal scent. People appreciated it's medicinal proprieties, in phytotherapy. Am familiar with the scent of the tea. And it was also used in soaps in the older days, like in my grandmother's youth or so. It smells... calming somehow. Bitter, herbal, very green and mossy somehow.

[drkne]

The only wormwood EO I have smelled so far is from CreatingPerfume.com and they list theirs as Artemisia Absinthium. When I smelled it, I immediately thought: "This smells exactly like spearmint snowball syrup!" Please forgive what may make it sound like a cheap fragrance, but I love it!
http://www.creatingperfume.com/WormwoodEO.aspx

I am waiting for some from another store as well, as I was curious if other versions smelled anything like that. What you all are describing sound quite different.

EDITED to add:
Yep! Received my order from Vetiver Aromatics today and one of the items I ordered was their Wormwood EO and smells similar to Creating Perfume's. I loooove this stuff. I'm so glad it isn't terribly expensive.

It's one of my favourite notes. Heavy with childhood memmories, for me, as I grew up in an area filled with artemisia. It has a bitter herbal scent. People appreciated it's medicinal proprieties, in phytotherapy. Am familiar with the scent of the tea. And it was also used in soaps in the older days, like in my grandmother's youth or so. It smells... calming somehow. Bitter, herbal, very green and mossy somehow.

I think the calming effect is one of the therapeutic benefits noted by some. Here's one quite from an aromatherapy site: "The narcotic effect of this oil can be used to pacify or calm down nervous afflictions, epileptic and hysteric attacks, convulsions, stress, tension, and insomnia."

Unfortunately, this also comes with the warning of: "Wormwood Essential Oil is poisonous and is basically a neurotoxin. Large doses can cause nervous afflictions, convulsions, restlessness, impulsive behavior, and even death. Prolonged use can result in permanent damage to the brain and the nervous system, even resulting in insanity. It does have narcotic effects and is highly addictive."

[parker25mv]

Does fennel have a smell?

Fennel grew in the wild where I lived. At one point my family even had a fennel plant. Kind of fun to chew.
The flavor of the foliage is very similar to licorice, but it's somewhat to slightly different overall. I would say that fennel is a little bit of an inferior aroma to licorice.
If you have ever smelled Myrrh, one of the aspects in there is closer to fennel than it is to licorice.
Star anise is another one whose aroma is almost identical to licorice.

I will say this, the primary component of the smell of licorice comes from a substance called anisole, which is structurally similar and in a related fragrance family to clove and vanilla.