Durian

Durian is one of the most divisive notes in modern perfumery. The spiky Southeast Asian fruit, often called the king of fruits, has custard-like flesh with a scent that mixes ripe tropical sweetness with sulphurous, onion-like and almost cheesy facets. Those qualities make the real fruit famously polarising, and they are also why perfumers find it so interesting.

No usable essential oil is extracted from durian, so a durian note in a fragrance is an accord. Perfumers build it from fruity esters, creamy lactonic materials and a small amount of sulphur-type molecules to suggest the fruit's ripeness without its full force. In practice a durian accord reads as dense, custardy and slightly animalic tropical fruit.

Because it is so rich, durian is usually paired with materials strong enough to hold their own. Oud, leather, saffron and peppery spices are common partners, turning the fruit's ripeness into something dark and opulent rather than sweet. It appears most often in niche perfumery, where daring, conversation-starting notes are welcome.

If you enjoy fruity-leathery or fruity-oud fragrances and want something more unusual than plum or blackcurrant, durian is worth exploring. At Redolia Perfumery this page gathers every fragrance in our catalogue that features a durian note.