Allspice - warm and spicy perfume note



 

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Sweet, warm, balsamic, spicy, the scent of allspice – from the highly aromatic berries of the tropical evergreen tree pimenta dioica – is said to resemble a mixture of cloves, cinnamon, nutmeg and peppers. The main chemical constituents of allspice are eugenol and cinnamaldehye (which are also found to varying degrees in clove, cinnamon and other spices. Allspice also goes by the names clove pepper, Jamaican pepper, myrtle pepper, wholespice and newspice.

Allspice berries

Allspice has also been described as having a “fresh, clean, top note”, and it finds a perfect home as much as in masculine fragrances and sweet and spicy aftershaves (allspice essential oil is used as a heart note in perfumery) as it does in savoury dishes (it’s a key ingredient in the Ethiopian spice blend Berbere).
It is indigenous to Jamaica and has long been part of that island’s unique culinary heritage. Allspice is integral in Jamaican jerk seasoning and the ripe berries are also used to make the local alcoholic cordial Pimento Dram.

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Another key chemical component to be found in allspice is caryophyllene alcohol – a woody, green, clove-like aroma-chemical with a slightly green and floral edge. As such, allspice can also be used to delicately spice up elegant colognes and floral perfumes.
Allspice berries are harvested when green, and then dried in the sun until they turn their familiar dark reddish brown colour. The shiny dark green leaves of the tree contain the same spicy aromas the berries.

Some other interesting facts about allspice:

- Allspice is a close relative to the Bay Rum Tree (pimenta racemosa)
- The Mayans used it to embalm the dead
- Tomato ketchup and Xmas pudding also contain all-spice
- Early Spanish explorers first mistook allspice for pepper and named it ‘pimiento’ which was later anglicized to ‘pimento’.
- Besides vanilla and chilli pepper, allspice is the only other known spice not of Asian origin.

Bibliography: The Encyclopedia of Essential Oilsby Julia Lawless, Fruit Trees of the Caribbean by Sandra Hewitt, Herbal Plants of Jamaicaby Monica Warner, The East India Book of Spices by Antony Wild, Jamaicantravelandculture.com, Perfumer & Flavorist Volume 35 #4.

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