Hyraceum

Fermented, leather, tobacco, damp agarwood. Sits between castoreum and civet but drier and less faecal. Dilution shows a dried-flower and honey edge.

Hyraceum is not named in the index of the IFRA Standards, 51st Amendment and is not on the 21 CFR 182.50 GRAS list.

The rock hyrax (Procavia capensis) is listed as Least Concern by IUCN. Collection takes old midden material and does not require capture or killing of animals. In South Africa, collection falls under provincial conservation rules, which should be checked for each lot.

Store dark, sealed and cool.

The rock hyrax is a small colonial mammal living in rock outcrops of Africa and the Middle East. Colonies use the same latrine sites over many generations. Urine dries, accretes on rock and hardens into dark brown masses called hyraceum.

Some middens are thousands of years old; radiocarbon dates reach about 19,500 years. Researchers have used hyraceum layers to study past climates, since each layer traps pollen and isotopes from the time it formed.

The material is ground and macerated in ethanol for a tincture or solvent-extracted for an absolute. It entered natural perfumery in the early 21st century as an animalic option that needs no captivity or killing.

Published quantitative chemistry for perfumery-grade hyraceum is limited. Odour depends on midden age and site, so lots can differ.

In formulas hyraceum is usually used at trace level in leather, chypre and white floral bases. A diluted tincture gives a warm, slightly fermented note that links woods to florals. The material also appears in southern African folk medicine, which is outside the scope of this page.

When evaluating, hyraceum should be smelled on blotters at several dilutions. Concentrated, fermented and ammoniacal notes come forward; at trace level only warmth and leather remain.