20 Osmanthus Perfumes You Must Smell
20 Must Try Osmanthus Perfumes (Ukranian)
I love osmanthus so much that I planted two shrubs in pots and placed them in front of my apartment building, hoping their honeyed scent might brighten the autumn days for anyone passing by. Someone else must have loved them too, because one morning I discovered that one of the plants had been stolen. I carried the remaining shrub up to my balcony, where it now perfumes only my private space. The pleasure is no less intense—each evening when I step outside, the air is saturated with the fragrance of apricot, honey, and soft leather.
Known in Chinese as 桂花 (guìhuā) and in Japanese as 金木犀 (kinmokusei), osmanthus is native to China and has long been cherished for its intoxicating aroma. Its scent is a paradox: honeyed and luminous, yet with a leathery undertone that lends it mystery and depth. In perfumery, osmanthus is one of the most captivating raw materials, versatile enough to form the backbone of a composition or to lend a delicate accent of fruit and warmth.
“Twenty perfumes you must smell” is, of course, a debatable list. I’m sure others would select different favorites. What follows is simply my own choice: fragrances that, in my view, reveal osmanthus in all of its guises, from floral to fruity, radiant to shadowed. Not all of these perfumes use natural osmanthus absolute—an extraordinarily costly material—but the best blends capture its character through accords of ionones, damascones, theaspirane, and lactones, recreating the apricot-violet-leather bouquet of this prized blossom.
To smell osmanthus is to experience both nostalgia and novelty. For some, it is the scent of a courtyard tree in a Chinese city or of kinmokusei lining a Japanese street. For others, it is a luxurious note in a fine fragrance. Always, it is autumn in a bottle, an essence that bridges memory, culture, and the artistry of perfumery. And here is my list of 20 osmanthus fragrance I urge you to try.
Classical examples:
1. Guerlain Chant d’Arômes (1962, Paul Guerlain)
Chant d’Arômes is among Guerlain’s most delicate floral chypres, yet beneath its lace veil there is unexpected warmth. I admit that Chant d’Arômes contains no osmanthus absolute, because as a perfumery material, its history is fairly modern. The reason I include this Guerlain on my list is because its combination of peach skin, tea-like notes and florals evokes an osmanthus impression. This peachy tone softens the sharpness of moss and citrus. The effect is like a sunlit orchard glimpsed through sheer curtains. It’s a fresh, airy perfume, but its fruity-floral glow lingers tenderly on skin.
2. Jean Patou 1000 (1972, Jean Kerléo)
One of the first perfumes to use osmanthus and it still remains a benchmark. Few compositions display osmanthus with such majesty as Patou’s 1000. Jean Kerléo’s creation is a jewel-box of florals—rose de mai, jasmine, iris—yet the note that gives it its distinctive identity is osmanthus. Its apricot-leather duality threads through the bouquet, bridging fruit and shadow, sensuality and elegance. The sandalwood base gives it gravity, while the osmanthus keeps it alive, like sunlight flickering across silk. Wearing 1000 is an experience of balance: richness without heaviness, beauty sharpened by intrigue.
Modern niche creations:
3. Galop d’Hermes by Hermès (2016, Christine Nagel)
In Galop, osmanthus rises through leather like a flash of apricot sunlight across polished tack. It tempers the austerity of the suede with fruity brightness, giving the composition both warmth and lift. A modern Hermès paradox: soft and luminous, yet resolutely structured.
4. Olfactive Studio Smoky Soul (2023, Marc-Antoine Corticchiato)
Here osmanthus is not tender but smoldering, set against tea, rose, and the saline shadow of seaweed. Its apricot sweetness smokes at the edges, becoming leather, incense, almost ash. Smoky Soul shows osmanthus as an alchemist’s note, always shifting, never tame.
5. Narciso Rodriguez Musc for Her (2007, Christine Nagel & Francis Kurkdjian)
The musky cocoon of Musc for Her is pricked with a small but telling accent: osmanthus. Its fruity-leather tone threads through the musks, giving depth and a faint shadow of intrigue. The result is both sensual and intimate, like skin after a long embrace.
6. Hermès Osmanthe Yunnan (2005, Jean-Claude Ellena)
Ellena’s Osmanthe Yunnan is tea turned into perfume—translucent, shimmering, with osmanthus petals steeped into green-gold liquor. It captures the sensation of porcelain cups warming in the hand, fruit and flower floating in steam. A fragrance of restraint that nonetheless lingers in memory.
7. By Kilian Good Girl Gone Bad (2012, Alberto Morillas)
This is osmanthus in full seduction mode: ripe peach, rose, tuberose, all smoldering together in opulent sweetness. The apricot tone of osmanthus keeps the lush bouquet from collapsing, adding brightness and a faint leather depth. A perfume that luxuriates in excess yet remains polished.
8. Parfums de Nicolai Fig Tea (2007, Patricia de Nicolaï)
A summer afternoon bottled—green fig leaves, osmanthus fruitiness, and a sheer wash of tea. Osmanthus here is playful, less leather than apricot jam, lending warmth to a cologne structure. A fragrance that feels both refreshing and nourishing, like fruit eaten under a fig tree.
9. Acqua di Parma Osmanthus (2019)
In Osmanthus, the fruit-leather flower is given an Italian gloss: bright citrus, clean woods, polished musks. The osmanthus lends juiciness, like a peach ripening in sunlight, before melting into cedar. It is Colonia refracted through an Asian blossom, radiant, urbane, effortless.
10. The Different Company Osmanthus (2000, Jean-Claude Ellena)
Few perfumes express osmanthus with such clarity. Ellena renders the flower as translucent petals floating over musks, delicate and luminous. It smells of fruit, of sunlit fabric, of bare skin after the bath, an essay in lightness and understatement.
11. Parfum d’Empire Osmanthus Interdite (2007, Marc-Antoine Corticchiato)
Richer than most osmanthus soliflores, Osmanthus Interdite wraps the blossom in jasmine and tea, giving it voluptuous density. Apricot and leather facets unfurl more slowly, deepened by a green bitterness. It is osmanthus not as transparency but as velvet.
12. Auphorie Miyako (2015, Eugene Au)
A cult favorite for good reason: Miyako magnifies osmanthus into intensity. Apricot sweetness, leather darkness, resins, and tea interweave, creating a perfume that feels both ancient and futuristic. It clings to the skin like silk dyed in amber and gold.
13. Atelier Cologne Love Osmanthus (2019)
A playful, lemon-bright cologne with a twist of osmanthus for warmth. The apricot note lends charm to the zesty top, while cedarwood steadies the base. Not profound, but smiling, like a glass of sparkling lemonade with a slice of peach.
14. Serge Lutens Nuit de Cellophane (2009, Christopher Sheldrake)
At once abstract and opulent, Nuit de Cellophane turns osmanthus into an apricot-peach shimmer within a bouquet of white florals. It feels lacquered, high-gloss, a floral still life behind glass. Osmanthus adds the flicker of fruitiness that prevents it from being cold.
15. Ormonde Jayne Osmanthus (2000, Geza Schoen)
An early house signature, this osmanthus sparkles with citrus and green accents. It is radiant, modern, and pared down, showing the flower’s freshness more than its leather. Twenty-five years on, it still smells like a perfume of the future.
16. Dior Jasmin des Anges (2018, François Demachy)
Juicy jasmine and peach dominate, but osmanthus adds dimension—both fruity and shadowed. The combination suggests nectar running over stone, floral sweetness deepened by musk and vanilla. A fragrance of twilight light, lush but not heavy.
17. Guerlain Pêche Mirage (2025, Delphine Jelk)
Guerlain’s newest creation entwines osmanthus with peach, leather, and amber. The effect is luscious, almost edible, yet with enough shadow to keep it mysterious. Osmanthus acts as the hinge—bridging fruit and hide, sweetness and dusk.
18. Cartier La Panthère Parfum (2020, Mathilde Laurent)
Here osmanthus is part of a rich accord with gardenia, patchouli, and a gourmand undertone of cream and chestnut. The apricot note lends sensuality, while the leathery accent sharpens the claws. It prowls between floral and chypre, soft and dangerous at once.
19. Sofiya Dolna Osmanthus (2024, Sofiya Dolna)
Ukrainian perfumer Sofiya Dolna gives osmanthus a juicy, almost sun-ripened glow. Creamy musks cradle its apricot tone, while faint green notes keep it fresh. The result is bright, optimistic, full of vitality—an osmanthus in full fruit.
20. Amouage Sunshine Woman (2014, Elise Benat)
Sunshine drenches osmanthus until it feels syrupy, almost liquorous, and layers it over warm woods and vanilla. Its sweetness is generous, radiant, impossible to ignore. A perfume that does exactly what its name promises: it blazes.
I would love to hear which osmanthus perfumes you like. Which fragrances would make your “must-try” list?
Photography by Bois de Jasmin