Gvajakan

Guayacan (Guaiacum officinale, lignum vitae) is an extremely dense, resinous hardwood native to the Caribbean and northern South America. It is the densest commercially harvested wood, with a specific gravity above 1.0 -- meaning it sinks in water. The wood exudes a natural resin (guaiac resin) that gives it a particular smoky, sweet, and slightly vanilla-like scent.

Guaiac wood oil is typically distilled from the related Bulnesia sarmientoi rather than true Guaiacum, as the latter is critically endangered and CITES-listed. The oil contains high concentrations of guaiol and bulnesol, sesquiterpene alcohols that produce a smoky, tea-like, slightly floral character.

In perfumery, guaiac wood provides a smoky-woody base note that is drier and more transparent than patchouli, less creamy than sandalwood, and more particular than cedarwood. Its smoky character comes from natural phenolic compounds related to guaiacol, the same molecule responsible for the smell of smoked meats.

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Related: Alder · Alpha Humulene · Amaranth · Amberever · Amburana Bark · Antillone · Apple Tree