Linden blossom absolute

Honeyed flower, green, light hay, a trace of lemon. Herbal tea and pollen facets. Soft, warm, never sharp.

Linden blossom absolute has no dedicated standard in the IFRA 51 index.

Where farnesol or linalool are present, they are EU-labelled allergens above threshold; farnesol is under an IFRA restriction and specification. Store dark, sealed and cool.

The linden or lime tree is a large tree common across Europe, lining streets and squares. Small pale yellow flowers hang in clusters beneath a long bract. They open in early summer and attract many bees; linden honey is a familiar single-flower honey in Europe.

In British English the name lime tree has nothing to do with the citrus fruit. The French name tilleul also refers to the herbal tea made from dried flowers and bracts.

An absolute is made in two steps. The raw material is extracted with a non-polar solvent such as hexane to give a waxy concrete. The concrete is then washed with ethanol, chilled to precipitate waxes, filtered and freed of alcohol. What remains is the absolute.

Linden blossom absolute is made in small volumes. The fresh flower scent is hard to capture; the absolute is usually warmer and more honeyed than the living flower. Many products named linden are synthetic accords.

In perfumery linden blossom absolute serves honeyed florals, soft colognes and summery structures. It pairs with orange flower, mimosa, hay and musks.

Picking time matters: flowers should be gathered just fully open, before they fade. Late-picked flowers give more hay than flower.

Linden blossom absolute is usually a greenish-brown paste. It is used at moderate levels because its soft odour does not overpower other materials. In blends it softens citrus and rounds white florals.