Ylang-Ylang

The whole, unfractionated oil of the ylang ylang flower, distilled in a single long run on Nosy Be. Rich, sweet, and creamy-floral, with banana-like and spicy facets.

Essential oil steam-distilled from the flowers of Cananga odorata (Annonaceae), a tropical tree native to Southeast Asia and grown for perfumery chiefly in the Comoros, Mayotte, and Madagascar; this oil comes from the Madagascan island of Nosy Be, through Robertet. Ylang ylang is unusual in being distilled in fractions: the run is interrupted to collect the Extra, then grades I, II, and III, each heavier and less floral than the one before. The Complete is the whole oil, taken in one long, uninterrupted distillation, so it holds the full spectrum from the light, sweet esters of the first fraction to the sesquiterpenes of the last. More than 160 compounds have been identified in ylang ylang oil, the most prominent including linalool, germacrene D, β-caryophyllene, benzyl acetate, benzyl benzoate, and p-cresyl methyl ether. Rich, sweet, and creamy-floral, with banana-like, spicy, and slightly medicinal facets; a classic heart material in floral and oriental compositions.