Labdanum

What it is

A sticky resin from the rockrose, historically collected by combing the beards of goats that had grazed among the bushes. Now harvested by boiling the branches.

What it smells like

Sweet and leathery with a dried fruit depth, closer to a warm animal than to a plant. It is the main building block of amber, so it is in a great many fragrances that never name it, and on its own it is darker than most people expect.

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.

Amouage (14), Le Labo (12), Byredo (8), Tom Ford (8), Xerjoff (7), Dolce & Gabbana (6).