Incense

NaturalRESINS & BALSAMSresinous · smoky · sacred

BasePyramid

4/5Strength

188hTenacity

·Origins

Specimen

Various (Boswellia, Commiphora, Styrax)

Definition

Terpenic, bright, unexpectedly citrus for a resin. Olibanum smells like the inside of a stone church at dawn — cold mineral air crossed with lemon peel and warm dust from the censer.

WOODY FLORAL CITRUS SMOKY SWEET AMBER WARM DRY

ENCENS OLIBANUM CHURCH INCENSE KO BAKHOOR

Instruments

Pyramid

TTop

HHeart

BBase

4/5Strength

High

odour strength

Tenacity on blotter

188hours · 8 days

1 h6 h24 h3 d7 d400 h

at 100 % (TGSC data

Producing countries

Somalia, Ethiopia (B. carterii, B. papyrifera), Oman, Yemen (B. sacra), India (B. serrata)

Scent

Opens with a citrus-peppery flash — alpha-pinene creating a piney transparency that is startlingly fresh for a resin. Brighter and more terpenic than myrrh, drier and less sweet than benzoin, more mineral than labdanum. Within an hour the monoterpenes lift off and the balsamic-resinous heart emerges: warm, faintly smoky, with a papery dryness. On skin it reads clean rather than cloying. The late dry-down carries a particular waxy, churchlike quality attributed to 2-octylcyclopropyl-1-carboxylic acids — a cold-stone persistence that no synthetic has fully replicated.

In PREMIEREPEAU

DISCOVERY SET7 × 2 ml →ALBÂTRE SÉPIAExtrait →

The Full Story

Incense in perfumery means olibanum: the oleo-gum-resin tapped from Boswellia trees (family Burseraceae). Harvesters score the bark with a mingaf — a broad-bladed scraping tool — and return weeks later to collect the hardened tears. The principal commercial species are B. carterii (Somalia, Ethiopia), B. sacra (Oman, Yemen), B. serrata (India), and B. papyrifera (Sudan, Ethiopia). Despite periodic attempts to synonymise B. carterii and B. sacra, chiral GC-MS analysis shows distinct enantiomeric ratios of alpha-pinene between the two, supporting their separation as individual species.

Steam distillation of the dried tears yields an essential oil (5–10% depending on species) dominated by monoterpenes: alpha-pinene ranges from 2% to 65% across commercial samples; alpha-thujene from 0.3% to 52%. These light terpenes account for the oil's surprising top-note freshness — lemony, peppery, piney — that contradicts the popular image of incense as a heavy, smoky material. The heavier fractions include the cembranoid diterpenes incensole (CAS 22419-74-5) and incensole acetate (CAS 34701-53-6), which contribute the warm, balsamic body. A critical factual point: boswellic acids — the triterpenoids associated with Boswellia's medicinal reputation — are non-volatile (molecular weight ~470) and cannot survive steam distillation. They are absent from the essential oil. Only CO2 supercritical extraction or solvent extraction captures these heavier compounds.

Two highly potent odorants identified via GC-olfactometry, the 2-octylcyclopropyl-1-carboxylic acids, are responsible for the characteristic 'old church' endnote of frankincense — that dry, papery, slightly waxy persistence. CO2 extraction produces a rounder, more complete profile than steam distillation, capturing both the terpenic head and the resinoid tail. Solvent extraction yields an absolute. The resinoid, obtained by hydrocarbon solvent extraction of the crude gum, is darker and more tenacious.

The incense accord runs through Albâtre Sépia, built on olibanum resin and fossil amber, and surfaces again in Gravitas Capitale as a smoky counterpoint to citron and wet asphalt.

This note in PREMIEREPEAU. Albâtre Sépia · Gravitas Capitale · Simili Mirage. Sample all seven extraits in the Discovery Set.

Related notes: Benzoin · Frankincense · Myrrh · Styrax

History

Frankincense was among the most traded commodities of the ancient world. By the 1st century BCE, an estimated 3,000 tonnes per year moved from southern Arabia to Greece and Rome along the Incense Route — a network of caravan trails stretching from Dhofar (present-day Oman) through Yemen and the Nabataean kingdom to Mediterranean ports. Egyptian records from the 3rd millennium BCE reference imports from the Land of Punt. King Darius I of Persia extracted an annual tribute of over 2.7 tonnes from Arabian sources. The trade peaked under the Roman Empire (1st century BCE to 2nd century CE), declined with the rise of Christianity's reduced reliance on burnt offerings, and survived in ecclesiastical use. UNESCO designated the Land of Frankincense in Oman — including the ancient port of Sumhuram — as a World Heritage Site in 2000.

Did You Know?

Incensole acetate, a cembranoid diterpene specific to Boswellia resin, was demonstrated in a 2008 study by Moussaieff et al. (The FASEB Journal, 22(8):3024-34) to activate TRPV3 ion channels in mouse brains, producing anxiolytic and antidepressant-like effects. The same effect was absent in TRPV3-knockout mice, confirming the mechanism. TRPV3 channels are normally involved in warm-temperature sensing — a possible neurochemical basis for the calming effect historically attributed to burning frankincense in religious settings.

Extraction & Chemistry

Extraction method

Steam distillation of dried Boswellia resin tears yields the essential oil: 5–6% from B. carterii, up to 9–10% from B. sacra, approximately 2% from B. frereana. The oil is approximately 75% monoterpenes, with alpha-pinene and alpha-thujene dominant but in highly variable ratios depending on species, chemotype, and terroir. CO2 supercritical extraction captures a broader molecular range including the heavier diterpenes (incensole, incensole acetate) and — unlike steam distillation — the non-volatile boswellic acids (MW ~470), producing a rounder, more complete olfactory profile. Solvent extraction yields an absolute. Hydrocarbon solvent extraction of the crude oleo-gum-resin produces a darker, more tenacious resinoid. Principal commercial species: B. carterii (Somalia, Ethiopia), B. sacra (Oman, Yemen), B. serrata (India, CAS 97952-72-2), B. papyrifera (Sudan, Ethiopia).

Formula: C10H16 (alpha-Pinene, ~60%)
CAS: 8016-36-2 (essential oil, B. carterii) · 97952-72-2 (essential oil, B. serrata) · 8050-07-5 (resinoid/gum)
Botanical: Various (Boswellia, Commiphora, Styrax)
Appearance: Colorless to pale yellow clear liquid (essential oil)
Odour strength: High
Lasting power: 188 hours @ 100% (TGSC data)
Synonyms: ENCENS OLIBANUM CHURCH INCENSE KO BAKHOOR

IFRA status

Restricted

Restricted: up to 8% in fragrance concentrate (TGSC data for CAS 8016-36-2). Restricted components include carvone (0.3%), alpha-thujone (0.1%), (+)-isothujone (0.4%).

Physical properties

Boiling point: 137–141 °C @ 760 mm Hg
Flash point: 96 °F / 35.56 °C (TCC)
Specific gravity: 0.855 to 0.880 @ 25.00 °C (essential oil, B. carterii)
Refractive index: 1.466 to 1.477 @ 20.00 °C

In Perfumery

Olibanum is one of few natural materials that spans from top to base in a single composition. The monoterpene-rich head (alpha-pinene, alpha-thujene) provides a citrusy, peppery lift; the diterpene body (incensole, incensole acetate) anchors the dry-down with balsamic warmth. This dual character makes it structurally adaptable across fragrance families. In ambers and ambers, it supplies the sacral, smoky-resinous quality. In chypre constructions, it can extend or partially substitute oakmoss. In fresh-incense compositions — a category that has expanded significantly since the early 2000s — the essential oil's terpenic top is foregrounded against clean woods and citrus. CO2 extract is preferred when the full resinous arc is needed; steam-distilled oil when the bright, citrusy opening matters more. The resinoid is a fixative, adding tenacity without the volatility of the essential oil. No single synthetic molecule replicates olibanum's full profile, though various incense accords are built using combinations of Iso E Super, Cashmeran, and terpenic isolates.

Role in the formula

01modifier

02signature note

03lifting agent

04blender

05volume builder

Available as

essential oil CO2 extract absolute resinoid

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