World Tour of Raw Materials – Egyptian Grandiflorum Jasmine

Olfactory notes:

Jasmine, rare and surprising, is the source of one of the greatest contrasts in perfumery.

Indeed, this delicate little white flower has sensual, bewitching floral notes which are hardly detectable if you just look at it without smelling it.

Full of subtlety, its palette offers fresh, green, and more musky notes.

Icon of femininity and pleasure, it offers alluring, intoxicating and generous inflexions that make every fragrance unforgettable.

Origin:

This small white flower with delicate petals comes from Egypt. Grandiflorum Jasmine has been grown in the heart of the Nile Delta for centuries. Taking advantage of this exceptional backdrop, a real link between Africa and the Mediterranean, jasmine flourishes in exceptionally fertile, silty land in an arid region.

Some archaeologists have found jasmine flowers in the tombs of the pharaohs, a symbol paying tribute to the rulers during embalming ceremonies and proving the fondness for this flower in the Fertile Crescent.

Harvest:

Picking is done at the height of summer in the middle of the night. Moonlight accompanies nimble, skilful hands; the harvest has to be finished before sunrise and its stifling heat.

An experienced picker can harvest 1 kilogram of flowers in two hours, the equivalent of about 8000 flowers.

Post-harvest, the flowers must be processed quickly so as to not harm their valuable scent properties.

Extraction:

It is through the jasmine absolute that the flower is used in perfumery.

In order to do this, two stages are required:

Firstly, obtaining the concrete through an extraction of volatile solvents whose product looks like wax.

Then comes the treatment of this concrete with alcohol that eliminates the non-miscible waxy materials and gives the precious absolute.

Perfumes containing Egyptian Grandiflorum Jasmine: