Thyme absolute

Dry herb, warm phenol, honey, light leather, hay. Rounder and sweeter than the oil; the antiseptic note is softer.

Thyme absolute has no dedicated standard in the IFRA 51 index. Thymol and carvacrol are phenols that can irritate skin and mucous membranes at high concentration.

Linalool, if present, is an EU-labelled allergen above threshold. Store dark, sealed and cool.

Thymus vulgaris is a small Mediterranean shrub of dry, rocky ground. It has several chemotypes by main constituent: thymol, carvacrol, linalool, geraniol, thujanol. The library has separate oil pages for each chemotype.

Flowering tops are cut in late spring and early summer, when oil content is high. Spain, France and Morocco are important sources.

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.

The absolute keeps phenols along with heavier compounds, giving honey and leather notes the oil rarely has. It is less harsh and less antiseptic than thymol-type oil.

In perfumery thyme absolute serves fougère, chypre, herbal and leather bases. It pairs with lavender, rosemary, clary sage and woods. Dosage is low because the phenols are strong.

The chemotype of the source plant shapes the absolute's odour and safety profile. The supplier's certificate should state species and chemotype.

Thyme absolute is usually a greenish-brown paste. Compared with the oil it is less harsh at the top and longer-lasting at the base. In soap, phenols can irritate at high levels, so dosage is low. It is also used in herbal food and beverage flavours.