Heavy, honeyed, sweet-medicinal floral. The methyl salicylate gives it a faintly wintergreen edge underneath the sweetness. Denser than jasmine, less indolic, more resinous. Like standing under a bakul tree at dusk — thick sweetness rolling in waves, warm, narcotic, temple-scented.
Evolution over time
Immediately
Immediately
Heavy honeyed sweetness, faintly wintergreen, warm
After a few hours
After a few hours
Deeper, more resinous, less medicinal, narcotic warmth
After a few days
After a few days
Persistent sweet-resinous residue, warm temple-flower base
Terroir & Origins
Indicative 2025 wholesale prices.
The Full Story
Mimusops elengi (bakul, Spanish cherry, or bullet wood) is a tropical tree native to South and Southeast Asia whose small, star-shaped flowers produce an intensely sweet, heavy fragrance. The scent is strongest at night — the flowers open in the evening and release volatiles to attract nocturnal pollinators.
The volatile profile includes methyl salicylate (wintergreen-sweet), benzyl acetate (jasmine-like), linalool (floral-citrus), and various sesquiterpenes. The combination produces a heavy, honeyed, slightly medicinal florality that is unmistakable in South Asian temple precincts, where the flowers are used as offerings.
Mimusops elengi is cultivated throughout India, Sri Lanka, Thailand, and Indonesia. The flowers retain their fragrance even when dried — a property exploited in traditional garland-making and in the preparation of attar (traditional Indian perfume oils).
In perfumery, bakul provides a heavy, honeyed floral note with a particular South Asian character. It is available as an attar or CO2 extract from Indian suppliers.
This note in Première Peau. Nuit Elastique · Rose Monotone. Sample all seven extraits in the Discovery Set.
Dried Mimusops elengi flowers retain their fragrance for months or even years — they are strung into garlands in South Indian temples, and some devotional traditions keep dried bakul flowers in prayer books, where they continue to scent the pages.
Extraction & Chemistry
Extraction method: Traditional attar distillation: fresh flowers are hydro-distilled with the vapor condensed into sandalwood oil (deg-bhapka method). CO2 supercritical extraction produces a more aromatic, true-to-flower extract. Solvent extraction for absolute is also practiced. Steam distillation alone yields a lighter product. Primary production in India (Tamil Nadu, Karnataka).
Mimusops elengi (bakul) provides a heavy, honeyed heart-to-base floral note with South Asian character. Key volatiles: methyl salicylate (wintergreen sweetness), benzyl acetate (jasmine-like), linalool. Functions in amber, temple-flower, and exotic floral compositions. Available as bakul attar (traditional Indian distillation into sandalwood oil) or CO2 extract.
