Woody

What it is

Not one material but a family. Perfumers build it from cedar, sandalwood, vetiver and synthetics such as Iso E Super and cashmeran, which stretch a wood note further than the raw material manages alone.

What it smells like

Dry rather than sweet, closer to a pencil sharpener or a cedar drawer than to a living tree. Sandalwood pulls it creamy, vetiver pulls it smoky and rooty. Worth knowing: a blend leaning hard on Iso E Super smells loud to most people and close to nothing to a minority who cannot pick it up at all.

How strongly it is worn

The average strength this accord is listed at, where 100 means it dominates the fragrance.

74 / 100

What builds it

How much more often than the catalogue average. 1.0x would be chance, so these are the things that genuinely travel with it rather than the things that are simply common.

Accords it sits beside

Same measure, with its own family filtered out. Saying woody turns up with oud is a restatement, not a finding.

When it is worn

Against the average fragrance here. The line marks that average, so a bar past it means this is worn in that season or setting more than most.

Houses that use it most

Counted across the fragrances here, which reflects what we cover as much as what a house makes.

Armaf (45), Calvin Klein (43), Azzaro (41), Hugo Boss (40), Ajmal (38), Givenchy (38).