Anise
Sweet, spicy and liquorice-like, with a cool herbal edge.
You may know it from Aniseed sweets or ouzo
Where it comes from
Steam-distilled from the seeds of the anise plant.
Botanical name: Pimpinella anisum
Worth knowing
It resembles liquorice, but comes from anise seeds.
About anise
What people call anise "seeds" are technically schizocarps, fruits that split when mature to release the seeds inside. They grow on Pimpinella anisum, a flowering plant of the carrot family native to the Eastern Mediterranean and Southwest Asia. According to one supplier, Turkey and Egypt remain significant producers, with Spain, India and parts of Central and South America also contributing. The essential oil is taken from the fruits by steam distillation or by supercritical CO2 extraction. One supplier says the best results come from freshly dried seeds distilled at moderate pressure and temperature.
Most of the oil is a single molecule, trans-anethole. Sources disagree on how much, with published figures running from 75% to 96%. Anethole measures 13 times sweeter than sugar, and the same molecule dominates the oils of star anise and fennel and turns up in liquorice and anise myrtle. It also explains why pastis goes cloudy when water is poured in, since the oil forms a dispersion of droplets in the drink.
Anise, star anise and liquorice smell related, yet they come from unrelated plants. Anise is a herb, star anise (Illicium verum) is an evergreen tree from the Schisandraceae family, and liquorice (Glycyrrhiza glabra) is a root.
Perfumery writers describe anise as sweet, soft and mild yet extremely powerful, and one calls it sweet yet spicy, clean yet rounded. A glossary on isolated anethole says it opens with a bright, slightly camphoraceous burst and settles to a warm, stable plateau within hours. Cafleurebon reports that Guerlain's Jicky is believed to be the first modern perfume to use anise in its formula.
Accords it shows up in
How many of the fragrances listing Anise in our catalogue also carry each accord. We counted this ourselves.
Often paired with
The notes that appear next to Anise most often in our catalogue.
Well-known fragrances with Anise
Fragrances that list it in their notes, most-rated first.
Houses that use it most
Ranked by how many of their well-known fragrances list Anise.