Juniper berry absolute

Ripe juniper berry, balsamic resin, wood. Softly sweet like dried jam. Less of the sharp terpenic edge of the oil.

Juniper absolute has no dedicated standard in the 51st Amendment of the IFRA Standards. Juniperus communis is not named in the EU fragrance allergen list; the species that is named is Juniperus virginiana (Virginian cedarwood).

α-Pinene and limonene are on the EU fragrance allergen list under Regulation 2023/1545. They must be labelled above 0.001 percent in leave-on or 0.01 percent in rinse-off products.

Not to be confused with Juniperus sabina (savin), a different species. Store dark, sealed and cool.

Juniperus communis is a coniferous shrub widespread across the northern hemisphere. The berry is really a female cone with fleshy scales and takes about two years to ripen from green to blue-black. Berries are usually gathered in autumn. The Balkans are a major source of commercial berries.

The berries flavour gin and are used in cooking. In aromatics they are steam-distilled for oil, CO2-extracted, or solvent-extracted for a concrete and an absolute.

The absolute is made by extracting crushed dried berries with a non-polar solvent, washing the concrete with ethanol, chilling, filtering and removing the alcohol. The absolute keeps more of the heavy, sweet part of the berry than the oil.

Juniper berry oil is mostly monoterpenes: α-pinene, β-myrcene, sabinene and limonene. Terpinen-4-ol and sesquiterpenes occur in smaller amounts. Data specific to the absolute are rarely published.

In perfumery, juniper absolute gives a balsamic berry note for fougères, chypres and gin-like accords. It links well with conifers, lavender and pepper.

The library already has pages for juniper berry oil and the CO2 extract. This page records the absolute.