An intoxicatingly sweet scent of many facets: velvety, smoky, balsamic and whisperingly reminiscent of tobacco. Tonka bean is an excellent fixative, extending its milky-smooth facets to mix and meld notes in complex accords. A powerful, sensual scent that is often likened to vanilla.
In the lush rainforests of Venezuela, Guyana and Brazil, tonka beans can be found within the fruit of the Brazilian tea tree (Dipteryx odorata). The seeds are harvested, dried and soaked in rum for twelve to twenty-four hours and then dried again—resulting in the formation of coumarin crystals. The tonka beans are then ground into a powder and—finally—the concrete and absolute are extracted using solvents.
Tonka beans were added to snuff tobacco for their characteristically strong scent. However, the use of coumarin in tobacco is nowadays prohibited in both France and the United States. Discovered in 1868, coumarin was one of the first aromatic synthetic products developed by English chemist William H. Perkin. A few years later, in 1882, Paul Parquet used this synthetic molecule to create “Fougère Royale,” a perfume by Houbigant, and then, in 1889, Aimé Guerlain used the same molecule to create “Jicky de Guerlain.” These fragrances marked a turning point in the history of perfumes and synthetic materials.
Brazil, Guyana, Venezuela
“The unrefined, rough, earthy scent of vetiver appealed to me. I felt a need to appropriate and reinvent it. I wanted a tender, enveloping, warm vetiver. What it needed was tonka bean! With its caramel, praline and blonde tobacco notes, tonka bean draped vetiver in softness and gave its woody notes a mellow roundness." Jean-Claude Ellena for Hermès, perfumer.
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