Gourmand · Accord · Top notes, Base notes
Chestnut
Chestnut is a gourmand accord that recreates the smell of roasted or candied chestnuts. It smells warm, sweet and slightly savoury, like toasted bread crust with a soft nutty side. In perfume, chestnut usually sits in the base and adds a dry warmth to sweet blends.
· Written by the FRAG team
What does chestnut smell like?
Chestnut smells like freshly roasted chestnuts: warm, a little smoky and starchy. It is closer to toasted bread crust or roasted sweet potato than to almond or hazelnut. When it leans toward candied chestnuts, the note becomes sweeter and more vanilla-like.
Over time on skin, chestnut turns softer and creamier, then slightly powdery like tonka bean. Its savoury side keeps a sweet perfume from smelling like candy.
How is a chestnut note made?
Chestnut is an accord, because chestnuts are not extracted for perfume. Perfumers build it from several groups of molecules: pyrazines for a roasted effect, lactones for creaminess and materials such as furfural for a bready note. Ethyl maltol is sometimes added for a caramel-like sweetness.
Chestnuts come from trees in the genus Castanea, which grow in temperate regions. In many countries, roasted chestnuts are a winter street snack, and the French candied version is called marron glacé, a name that sometimes shows up on note lists.
Chestnut in a perfume
Chestnut is usually placed in the base notes. There, chestnut gives a warm, dry effect that holds back the sweetness of vanilla and caramel, so the dry-down does not turn cloying.
In gourmand blends, chestnut usually sits alongside vanilla, caramel, praline and tonka bean, sometimes with hazelnut for a clearer nutty effect. In woody perfumes, chestnut is paired with sandalwood or other woods to suggest a warm fireside.
When to wear a chestnut perfume
Chestnut recalls a warm winter snack, so perfumes with this note feel most at home in the evening, during the rainy season or in air-conditioned rooms. On a blazing afternoon, a dense chestnut blend can easily feel heavy.
