I just write down what I felt and imagined after smelling labdanum as well as what I learnt from many sources I had.

How I memorize labdanum?

Firstly, it makes me think about dark brown like the signature colors of a wet wooden wine jar.

Labdanum’s smell by my own experience: a little spicy associated with cinnamon, warm, earthy and woody.

Closing my eyes, this magical scent makes me think wildly and brings me to a view that I’ve never seen before. During a heavy rain at midnight, in the middle of the underground wine cellar, some firewood was burnt which makes some “lach tach” noises as if it wanted to harmonize with the outside rainy orchestra. Someone seemed to throw a piece of cinnamon sticks into the fire which makes the smell of woodiness and spiciness more intense.

Some freshly opened wine bottles spread the smell of plum juice out of this space. This scent mixed with the damp smell of the soil, of the moldy oak, wafted the scent of white smoke (like birch tar). The all of mixture dominated this moist space.

What labdanum is?

Labdanum is known as the resin of the Cistus plant which is better known to some garderners as Rock Rose.

It was used for making traditional drugs from ancient times and now being used for fragrance ingredients.

“One of the reasons it’s so widely used now is that it mimics the scent of ambergris – it’s also referred to as ‘amber’ – but it’s also a ‘fixative’, helping other ingredients to stay true, and to stay put. This warm and complex resin is sometimes perceived as leathery, sometimes honey-like, with hints of plum.“

From Fragrantica:

• Labdanum is belong to Group: RESINS AND BALSAMS
• Odor profile: A deep, powerful, leathery and ambery note.

Scentmefree.