Cumin
Warm, dry, nutty spice with a sweaty, slightly animal-like edge.
You may know it from ground cumin in curry or chili
Where it comes from
Steam-distilled from the dried seeds of the cumin plant.
Botanical name: Cuminum cyminum
Worth knowing
Its sweaty facet can smell body-like rather than purely culinary.
IFRA rules
IFRA restricts Cumin oil to 0.4% in fine fragrance, citing phototoxicity.
From the IFRA Standards, 51st Amendment. A perfume that lists this note may use a synthetic version the Standard does not cover.
About cumin
Cumin is a small plant, 30 to 50 cm tall and harvested by hand, in the carrot and parsley family, Apiaceae. It is native to the Irano-Turanian region, and perfumery uses its seeds. People have worked with it for a long time. Cumin was used as a spice and as a preservative in mummification.
Most of the world's cumin seed, about 70%, is grown in India, where it is sown from October to the beginning of December and harvested from February. That figure belongs to the spice trade rather than to the oil. The oil comes from dried seed that is extracted by steaming, and the main aroma compound in it is cuminaldehyde. Olfastory names cuminic alcohol as the other main fragrance component.
Heat changes how it reads. Bois de Jasmin says raw cumin smells sweaty and musky, and describes toasted cumin in Hermessence Epice Marine as a savory twist that, with cedar and vetiver, smells of hazelnuts. Now Smell This writes about the carnal edge cumin adds to a fragrance, and its readers split on whether that is a pleasure or a reminder of sweat.
Perfumers use it sparingly. Olfastory calls it a material still little used in fine perfumery and lists Jean-Paul Gaultier Le Male, where it sits in the heart with cinnamon, and Serge Lutens Arabie. On the Now Smell This reader scale, Serge Lutens Chene carries a pinch and Rochas Femme a strong dose, while Alexander McQueen Kingdom is described as "cumin ahoy". ScenTree places it in woody, spicy, fougere and leather accords, and the IFRA rules above apply to it.
Accords it shows up in
How many of the fragrances listing Cumin in our catalogue also carry each accord. We counted this ourselves.
Often paired with
The notes that appear next to Cumin most often in our catalogue.
Well-known fragrances with Cumin
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 Cumin.