Orange Blossom

Floral, honey-sweet and radiant, with a fresh, slightly bitter citrus note.

Perfumery orange blossom usually comes from the bitter orange tree. The main growing regions today are in Tunisia around Nabeul on the Cap Bon peninsula, in Morocco and in Egypt.

The blossoms are picked by hand in spring while freshly opened. Distilled, they give the bright, green-fresh neroli oil – and orange flower water as a by-product. Extracted with solvents, they become the absolute: warmer, more honeyed, more sensual.

Orange blossom is radiant cleanliness with a hint of seduction: floral, honey-sweet, slightly bitter. In our range it sits at the heart of 98 out of 123 fragrances. The methyl anthranilate in the absolute gives it a soft, almost grape-like undertone.

White floral, with a fresh citrus side.

The bitter orange flowers in spring, in Tunisia mainly in March and April. The blossoms are picked by hand, usually in the morning.

In our fragrances, it often appears alongside Vanilla, bergamot, jasmine, mandarin, neroli, pear, cashmeran.

Orange blossoms have long been a symbol of weddings: when Queen Victoria married in 1840, she wore a wreath of orange blossoms – and made it a popular bridal adornment.

• The oil of the bitter orange blossom is called neroli – since the 17th century the name has been linked to a “Princess of Nerola”, though this derivation is not certain.
• One single tree, three perfume materials: neroli from the blossom, petitgrain from the leaves and twigs, bitter orange oil from the peel.
• Distillation also produces orange flower water – a classic in the pastries of the Orient.

Typical building blocks are linalool, limonene, geraniol and farnesol.