Ingredient Guide
The nutmeg tree, known in Japanese as nikuzuku, bears yellow fruit resembling plums or apricots. Inside each fruit is a dark-brown seed wrapped in a red covering. This red covering is called the aril and is used as a spice under the name mace. The dark-brown seed is first dried and then cracked to obtain the kernel inside, rather like an almond. This kernel is called nutmeg.
Nutmeg essential oil is obtained by steam distillation and has a powerful, sharp, spicy scent with sweetness and warmth.
Coca-Cola, founded in 1886, used cocaine as an ingredient until 1903; it is said that when this was prohibited, the company began using nutmeg instead. In recent years, the largest customers for nutmeg oil are said to have been Coca-Cola and Pepsi-Cola, each purchasing at least 400,000 liters a year.
What Does It Smell Like in Perfume?
Nutmeg is available in several different forms: natural essential oil steam-distilled from the dried kernels; natural fraction oil, whose composition is adjusted by fractional distillation; and Nutmeg reco, which recreates the scent using components identical to those found in natural fragrance materials. The regular essential oil combines a warm, hot, pepper-like pungency with a woody character, moving from a citrus-like brightness toward a woody background. Fraction oil is fractionated natural essential oil, while reco is a reconstruction; they do not have the same opening or weight. It is important to distinguish them according to the intended use.
Choosing a fragrance with nutmeg
Nutmeg’s warm spice feels calmer alongside woods and more distinctive among other spices.
- Warm woods: Sandalwood or cedar suits an interest in nutmeg’s woody side.
- Lively spice: Ginger or citrus brings a brighter edge rather than heavy sweetness.
- More pronounced spices: Cumin and caraway can have an unusual character reminiscent of skin or food.
Two fragrances featuring nutmeg
Nutmeg & Ginger Cologne (Jo Malone London)
Nutmeg and ginger season sandalwood and cedar. Two lively spices brighten the warm woods.
L’Autre Eau de Toilette (Diptyque)
Nutmeg meets cumin, caraway and clary sage. Its rich, skin-like spiciness offers more eccentric character than the wood-led Nutmeg & Ginger.
Find your next fragrance
In Fragrance Finder, choose “Favorite fragrances & notes” on the home screen, then look for notes you enjoy under “Favorite notes”. Select from the available suggestions and press “Next”.
