Osmanthus is truely divine when in blossom. These tiny flowers give off a heady sweet aroma while never being overwhelming. There is a certain soft almost wood-like bitterness that modifies the sweet scent and keeps the scent fresh w/out being green or sharp. If there is such category I’d want to put it in a seperate category of its own, maybe along with plumeria, as “yellow florals” if that makes any sense.

It lacks headiness or sharp edges and I can certainly see how it’s difficult to work with in perfumes. Perhaps the reason why nothing that boasts an osmanthus note never remotely captures the essence of this flower. For those who’s never experienced living osmanthus, dried osmanthus can be found easily on the net sold as a tea at reasonable prices. Check for twigs and bits of leaves, high quality osmanthus tea shouldn’t have much in them as these lend towards a more bitter taste. Consume it in an infusion, tie a mesh bag-ful of this and throw it in a jar of icing sugar to make osmanthus sugar, tie a little bag and try it in your tub, or burn it like incense. This is truely an intoxicating flower I can’t be without, and the dried stuff is the best I can find.(Now you’d wish orange blossom is sold the same way)

Hugs!