Tobacco is the cured leaf of an American plant, Nicotiana tabacum, from the same family as the tomato and the potato. In perfumery it arrives as an absolute, obtained by extracting leaves that have already been dried, or as reconstructed accords. It smells of hay, honey, dried fruit and leather, sometimes with a smoky edge. It appears in ambers, woods and gourmands, where it holds the top note as readily as the base.
An American plant, from the tomato family
Tobacco belongs to the Solanaceae, like the tomato, the potato, the aubergine, the chilli and deadly nightshade. Nicotiana tabacum is a tall plant, sometimes two metres, with very large oval leaves and pink trumpet flowers.
The flowers play no part in perfumery. Everything comes from the leaves, and only once they are dry. A fresh leaf smells green and vegetal, with almost nothing of the expected scent.
The plant was grown in the Americas long before the Europeans arrived. It reached Europe in the sixteenth century. Jean Nicot, French ambassador in Lisbon, sent it to the court of Catherine de' Medici. His name gave us nicotine and the botanical name of the genus. Tobacco is now grown on every continent, but the quantities that go into perfumery remain tiny next to those of the tobacco industry.
Curing and ageing make the smell
After harvest, the leaves go through a curing phase that lasts from a few days to several weeks. The chlorophyll disappears, the leaf turns brown, sugars and amino acids react with one another. This is where the odorous compounds form, the ones that recall hay, honey, dried fruit and prune.
Several methods exist, and each gives a different smell. Air curing, in ventilated barns, gives rather dry and earthy tobaccos. Flue curing, with hot air circulating through pipes and used for Virginia tobaccos, retains more sugar and gives a softer, more honeyed leaf. Fire curing over wood, practised in Kentucky, leaves pronounced smoky notes. Sun curing is reserved for Oriental tobaccos, small leafed, grown around the Mediterranean.
The cured leaves then age in bales for months. The smell rounds out, the green notes recede, the dried fruit and leather notes rise.
Latakia, cavendish and the names that recur in perfumes
Certain tobacco names appear in pyramids and in the texts written by the houses. They refer to treatments more than to varieties.
Latakia is an Oriental tobacco, sun cured, then hung for weeks above smouldering wood fires. It takes on a smell of smoke, resin and leather. Its name comes from the Syrian port of Latakia, through which it was shipped. Production later moved to Cyprus.
Cavendish is not a variety. It is a process in which the leaves are heated and pressed, often with added sugar. The result is a dark tobacco, softer, with notes of caramel and candied fruit.
Virginia tobaccos are rather light and honeyed, burley drier and plainer. In perfumery these words mainly signal a mood. They do not correspond to distinct raw materials at the suppliers.
Tobacco absolute and reconstructed accords
Tobacco absolute is obtained by solvent extraction of the cured leaves, followed by an alcohol wash. The result is a very dark, thick liquid with a dense smell of dry leaf, hay, prune and honey. Like every absolute, its smell varies with origin and batch. Our article on extracting perfume materials covers the process.
One family of molecules, the megastigmatrienones, carries much of the smell of the cured leaf. They occur in the plant and are also made in the laboratory. Perfumers use them to reinforce an absolute or to build a tobacco note without one.
Many tobacco accords are in fact reconstructed. For a light tobacco, perfumers assemble hay, coumarin, immortelle, honey and labdanum. For a dark tobacco, they add birch tar, leathery notes, incense and sometimes cocoa. Tonka bean often links the two, through its coumarin.
What tobacco smells like in perfumery
A tobacco perfume does not smell of cigarettes. The smell of cold ash comes from combustion, which produces tars and phenols that are absent from the unburnt leaf. What you smell in a perfume is the cured leaf.
Two directions emerge. Light tobacco goes towards honey, hay, vanilla and dried fruit. Dark tobacco goes towards smoke, leather, resin and earth. The two often cross within a single composition.
It is a tenacious note. It holds the base or the heart, and some houses place it on top to set the scene from the first minutes. Tobacco works with vanilla, tonka bean, rum, honey, cocoa, prune, leather, oud, patchouli and labdanum.
Tobacco perfumes from our catalog
We have chosen perfumes where tobacco is easy to read, on top, in the heart or in the base, from honeyed tobacco to smoked tobacco. All of them list tobacco in the pyramid published on their product page.
Tobacco as a top note
Tabac, by Aaron Terence Hughes, opens straight onto tobacco leaf. The heart pairs Madagascar vanilla absolute, tobacco and Turkish rose. The base brings together Burmese oud, cedarwood and ambergris. The house presents it as a woody oriental tobacco, and describes it through the image of old drawing rooms and libraries. Our profile of Aaron Terence Hughes looks back at the house.
Tabac Extreme takes the same opening, with cherry and plum beside the leaf. The heart adds noble tobacco, vanilla absolute and tonka bean absolute. The base moves to Thai oud, patchouli, cedarwood and ginger. The dark fruit extends the prune side of the cured leaf.
Leaves in the wind, by Adi ale Van, places tobacco on top, with black pepper, cinnamon, magnolia, lavender and fennel seed. The heart gathers birch, smoky notes, frankincense and a leather accord, then the base lines up oud, amber, civet, castoreum, vetiver, patchouli, musk, labdanum and dust. Our profile of Adi ale Van covers the Romanian house.
Noble tobacco in the heart
Noir, by Aaron Terence Hughes, rests its heart on noble tobacco alone. The top brings together black pepper, neroli, saffron, nutmeg and cardamom. The base pairs vanilla, tonka bean, oud, sandalwood, incense and civet. The construction shows how a single note can act as a pivot between a spicy opening and a resinous base.
Whore Blue follows the same principle, with a heart of noble tobacco on its own, after a top of bergamot, elemi resin and nutmeg. The base gathers patchouli, benzoin, vetiver, vanilla, tonka bean and white musk. Here the tobacco is surrounded by soft materials, which makes it rounder.
Tobacco and honey
Latakia, by Tada Parfumeur, pays tribute to tobacco cured over wood fires. Honey and dried fruit on top, lavender, black tea and resins in the heart, then a base of tobacco, amber, tonka bean and labdanum. It is the perfume in our catalog that comes closest to the smell of wood smoked tobacco. Our profile of Tada Parfumeur tells the Thai perfumer's story.
Masar, by Pernoire, puts tobacco in the heart, with amber, honey and vanilla. Yuzu, cinnamon, labdanum and clove open the composition. The base gathers rosewood, tonka bean, sandalwood, leather and animalic notes. The house calls those animalic notes frank, and presents them as what sets Masar apart from smoother amber tobaccos. Our profile of Pernoire covers the Swiss house.
Cavendish tobacco and rum
Black Cavendish, by Tada Parfumeur, starts from black Cavendish tobacco matured in rum casks. Rum, incense, nutmeg and caramel on top, jasmine, patchouli and vanilla in the heart, then a base of tobacco, sandalwood, cinnamon, amber and CO2 oak wood. The caramel in the opening echoes the sugar used in the Cavendish process.
Tobacco and leather
Aswan, by Widian, settles into a base of patchouli, vanilla, tobacco, musk and leather. The top pairs bergamot, CO2 pink pepper and raspberry, the heart violet leaves, Virginia cedar and ambergris. The house describes it as a leathery amber woody. Our profile of Widian looks back at the house.
Adiere, by Adi ale Van, lists a tobacco absolute in the heart, with whisky, leather, an ink accord and pine wood. A Cuba Libre accord, cola, lime, bitter orange, black pepper and thyme on top. The base brings together smoke, patchouli, vanilla absolute, tonka bean, amber, cocoa and oud.
Tobacco in a floral gourmand
Hili, by Widian, draws on a royal garden in Abu Dhabi. Bergamot, pink pepper, coriander and cinnamon on top, then a heart of jasmine, tuberose, ylang-ylang and tiare. Tobacco arrives in the base, with amber, vanilla, coconut milk, sandalwood, patchouli and cedarwood. Here it acts as a dry counterpoint to a very sweet bouquet.
Tobacco and praline
Otimo, by Pernoire, pairs tobacco in the heart with praline, patchouli and tonka bean. Quince, cardamom and rum open the composition, and the base gathers cedarwood, vanilla and osmanthus. Tobacco plays the part patchouli often takes in gourmands, that of drying out the sugar.
Tobacco and tea
Phoenix Meets Mountain N°P27, by ChuJian, draws on the tea bushes of the Phoenix mountains in Guangdong. Citrus, bergamot, myrrh and rum on top, oolong tea, jasmine, orange blossom, orris root and rose in the heart, then a base of sandalwood, vetiver, rosewood, musk, cedarwood, tobacco and amber wood. The smoked tea and the tobacco answer each other. Our article on ChuJian presents the house.
LYNCH, by Spiritica, is the only perfume in our catalog to list latakia tobacco. It sits in the heart, with xanthorrhoea, oud, myrrh and styrax, after a top of saffron, clove, night jasmine and cherry cake. Dark woods, benzoin, patchouli and vanilla close the composition. Our profile of Spiritica looks back at the Italian house.
Tobacco and animalic notes
MANGOMACUMBA, by Spiritica, places a tobacco absolute in the base, with red earth, white musk, ebony and milk. Mango, papaya, mint, lime and pineapple open the perfume, then come blood, a ferrous accord, guava and tiare flower. Tobacco serves as the passage between the fruit on top and the earthy base.
You will find other tobacco compositions in our selections of oriental perfumes and woody perfumes.
Frequently asked questions
Does a tobacco perfume smell of cigarettes?
No. The smell of cold cigarettes comes from combustion and the tars it produces. Perfumes use the cured leaf, which smells of hay, honey and dried fruit.
What is the difference between a light tobacco and a dark tobacco?
Light tobacco leans towards honey, hay and vanilla, as in Latakia or Masar. Dark tobacco leans towards smoke, leather and resin, as in Leaves in the wind. The difference comes from the curing of the leaf and from the materials around it in the composition.
What is the noble tobacco listed in some pyramids?
It is a wording used by the houses to describe a cured leaf accord. It indicates neither variety nor origin, and does not correspond to an identified raw material at the suppliers.
What is the difference between tobacco and tonka bean?
Tonka bean is the seed of a South American tree, rich in coumarin, which smells of almond, hay and vanilla. Tobacco is a cured leaf, drier and more leathery. Both share the hay facet, which is why they are so often paired, as in Tabac Extreme or Otimo.
Is tobacco only for masculine perfumes?
No. It appears in compositions for every gender, from the floral gourmand of Hili to the earthy fruit of MANGOMACUMBA. The result depends on the materials around it more than on the note itself.
Further reading
Tobacco is one of the materials covered in our Perfume materials guide, along with tonka bean, leather and vanilla, which recur in most of the perfumes mentioned here. To compare a honeyed tobacco, a smoked tobacco and a gourmand tobacco on your own skin, the perfumes mentioned are available as 2 ml samples, depending on the house, on our samples page.