Cedar

What it is

Two unrelated trees share the name. Virginia cedar is a juniper, Atlas cedar is a true cedar, and they smell different enough that a formula specifies which. The synthetic versions are cheap and widely used.

What it smells like

Dry and clean, the smell of a sharpened pencil or a lined drawer. It gives a fragrance structure without adding weight, and it is the wood most likely to be mistaken for nothing in particular because it works underneath other things.

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.

Armaf (24), Creed (22), Xerjoff (20), Ajmal (19), Givenchy (18), Le Labo (18).