Galbanum
Crushed green stems, snapped leaves, piney resin and a bitter earthy tang.
You may know it from The sharp smell of breaking a fresh green stem.
Where it comes from
Steam-distilled gum resin from Ferula plants, mainly grown in Iran.
Worth knowing
It is a plant resin, not a flower or a leafy herb.
About galbanum
Galbanum smells very green, and the chemistry does not explain why. Galbanum oil is mostly monoterpenes, with beta-pinene at 40 to 70% and alpha-pinene at 5 to 21%, plus benzyl laurate. According to ScenTree, the very green smell of galbanum does not come from any of these main constituents.
The raw material is a gum resin from a small herbaceous plant of the Apiaceae family. It exudes from the base of the wild plant, where root meets stem. The plants grow plentifully on the slopes of the mountain ranges of northern Iran, and Iran and Turkey are named as the primary sources today. One Turkish producer in Sivas province sells a resinoid from organically cultivated plants, and describes its supply as seasonal and limited, with the price confirmed lot by lot.
Two products reach perfumers. The essential oil is steam-distilled, and a resinoid is made by extraction with a volatile solvent. The resinoid is a thick, sticky, dark brown to greenish-brown liquid. The Good Scents Company lists its odour as green, woody, balsamic and dry, with green-pepper and foliage nuances, and says it is used for its fixative value and longevity.
Exodus 30:34 names it among the ingredients of the sacred incense, and Rashi read its bitterness as symbolic. Historically it was exported from Mesopotamia to India, China, Israel and Egypt.
In perfume, the usual landmark is Vent Vert, which Germaine Cellier created for Balmain and which is called the first green perfume. Its formula is reported to hold 8% galbanum, called an overdose. Calice Becker reformulated it around 1990 to 1991. One perfume review calls the original more uncompromisingly green and bitter than the later version.
Accords it shows up in
How many of the fragrances listing Galbanum in our catalogue also carry each accord. We counted this ourselves.
Often paired with
The notes that appear next to Galbanum most often in our catalogue.
Well-known fragrances with Galbanum
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 Galbanum.