Black Currant

What it is

Usually the bud rather than the fruit, which is where the sulphur compounds sit. Often listed by its French name, cassis.

What it smells like

Tart and purple with a green, faintly sulphurous bite that some people read as catty. That edge is the point: it gives a sweet fragrance something to push against, and in quantity it is one of the more divisive notes in use.

Where it sits

Which layer of the pyramid it is listed in, across every fragrance here that carries it. A base note is one you smell for hours; a top note is usually gone within the first.

What it turns up with

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.

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.

Mancera (9), Givenchy (6), Amouage (5), Calvin Klein (5), Creed (5), Yves Saint Laurent (5).