Maltol / Ethyl Maltol

In 1861, a substance extracted from the bark of larch was discovered. In 1894, it was named maltol. Maltol had a caramel-like scent with the fruity nuances of jam.
By the 1940s, it was being produced commercially and used in flavorings. In 1962, Pfizer also registered it under the trademark Veltol. In perfumery, maltol was used because a small amount combined with jasmine (in Japanese) was said to create an oriental (in Japanese) sweetness.

  In the late 1960s, Pfizer replaced maltol’s methyl group (−CH3) with an ethyl group (−CH2CH3), creating a material with approximately four to six times the flavor-enhancing power of maltol and more of the same cotton-candy and strawberry sweetness found in maltol: Veltol Plus (= ethyl maltol).

The first-ever gourmand fragrance (in Japanese), Thierry Mugler’s Angel (1992, Olivier Cresp), was created by combining an overdose (in Japanese) of ethyl maltol (at a concentration of 0.5%) with a large amount of natural patchouli to balance it. Vanilia (1978, L’Artisan Parfumeur, Jean Laporte) is also said to have been the first fragrance to put ethyl maltol in the spotlight.

What Does It Smell Like in Perfume?

Ethyl maltol is a synthetic molecule with an intensely sweet scent reminiscent of cotton candy, caramel, and burnt sugar. A fragrance material based on maltol’s structure, it has a more powerful sweet scent and clearly reinforces impressions of fruit and sugar confectionery even in small amounts. In gourmand compositions, it adds fullness and an appetizing warmth, spreading the sweet theme throughout the fragrance. It is not an extract obtained from natural sugar or cotton candy, but a single compound used to design sweet fruity and confectionery-like scents.