Comoros, Indonesia, Madagascar, Sri Lanka, Tanzania
Pyramid
Heart
Harsh, eugenol-heavy, less clean than clove bud. The leaves of Syzygium aromaticum — cheaper, rougher, and more phenolic than the bud oil used in fine perfumery.
Raw, phenolic, eugenol-dominated. Harsher and less complex than clove bud oil. The eugenol character is hot, medicinal, and dental-office-like at full strength. Lacks the sweet eugenyl acetate note that gives bud oil its warmth and sweetness. At dilution, a recognizable clove warmth emerges, but without the finesse of bud oil.
Evolution over time
Immediately
Immediately
Harsh eugenol blast, phenolic and raw
After a few hours
After a few hours
Warm clove character, still rough
After a few days
After a few days
Persistent eugenol-phenolic residue
Terroir & Chemotypes
Indicative 2025 wholesale prices.
The Full Story
Clove leaf oil (Syzygium aromaticum) is steam-distilled from the leaves of the clove tree, as distinct from clove bud oil (from the flower buds) and clove stem oil (from the twigs). Leaf oil has the highest eugenol content of the three — typically 82-88% — but is considered the least clean olfactorily.
Where clove bud oil has a warm, sweet, spicy complexity (from eugenol plus eugenyl acetate, beta-caryophyllene, and other minor components), clove leaf oil is more one-dimensional: a raw, aggressive eugenol blast with a harsh phenolic edge. It is significantly cheaper than bud oil and is the primary industrial source of eugenol.
In perfumery, clove leaf oil is used as a cost-effective eugenol source rather than for its own character. It appears in functional perfumery and as a starting material for vanillin synthesis (eugenol can be chemically converted to vanillin).
Eugenol from clove leaf oil was once the starting material for most of the world's synthetic vanillin. The process, developed in the late 19th century, involves converting eugenol to isoeugenol and then oxidizing it to vanillin. Today, most synthetic vanillin comes from guaiacol or lignin instead, but the clove-to-vanilla pathway remains chemically restrained.
Extraction & Chemistry
Extraction method: Steam distillation of Syzygium aromaticum leaves. The oil is a dark brown liquid with 82-88% eugenol. Yields are approximately 2-3% from dried leaves. Major production in Indonesia, Madagascar, and Tanzania. Significantly cheaper than clove bud oil, which yields only 15-20% from dried buds.
Restricted (IFRA — high eugenol content, sensitization potential)
Synonyms
CLOVE OIL · CLOVE BUD OIL · CLOVE LEAF OIL
Physical Properties
Odor Strength
Medium
Appearance
Pale yellow to dark brown liquid
Flash Point
225.00 °F. TCC ( 107.22 °C. )
Specific Gravity
1.03800 to 1.06000 @ 25.00 °C.
Refractive Index
1.52800 to 1.53800 @ 20.00 °C.
In Perfumery
Clove leaf oil is primarily an industrial eugenol source rather than a fine-fragrance ingredient. It provides raw clove-phenolic character at lower cost than bud oil. Used in functional perfumery, dental products, and as a feedstock for vanillin production. In fine fragrance, clove bud oil or synthetic eugenol are preferred for their greater refinement. Compatible with other phenolic spices and warm bases.
