Perfumed Alphabet: G is for Gamma Undecalactone

Fuzz standing on end

Static electricity

Peaches in a can

Does any perfume featuring peach as a note not contain gamma undecalatone? This 11-carbon molecule, formerly known as “aldehyde C14,” usually betrays itself by its prominence. It’s warm, it’s creamy, even a little woody at the back end of a sniff. It also smells a bit plasticky to me and shares the cardboardy aspect of many lactones.

The dose makes the magic, doesn’t it? The maximum recommended concentration in a perfume is 2%.

Leave a comment