Also known in Japanese as kairikō, castoreum is obtained from the beaver’s castor sacs. Beavers have a pair of these sacs near the anus, containing a soft, creamy, yellowish-brown secretion with a powerful odor. They use it to mark their territory.
The scent is tarry and leathery, but varies with the beaver’s diet and therefore with its habitat. When the sacs are dried, ground to a powder, and extracted with alcohol, the scent becomes vanilla-like and fruity. For at least a century, it has therefore been used in fragrances and flavors to enhance tobacco- and honey-like notes, the aroma of vanilla ice cream, and raspberry or strawberry flavors.
Although it is an animal-derived fragrance material, the natural material is used because demand is low and there is no concern about supplies being exhausted. In perfumery, it is used particularly to create a leather effect.
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What Does It Smell Like in Perfume?
Castoreum is available both as a natural absolute obtained by solvent extraction and purification of beaver castor sacs, and as a reconstructed fragrance material made without animal-derived ingredients. Animalic warmth is layered with dark notes reminiscent of ink and leather, while natural castoreum can also have a phenolic pungency. In perfume, it gives leather and woods a wild quality and deep shading, adding a touch of roughness to an otherwise polished composition. Modern perfumes may also express a castoreum note through reconstructions made without animal-derived materials.
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