Odour
Fresh-spicy, somewhat medicinal, but it has a lasting, sweet-balsamic undertone. The odor of this oil is quite obnoxious to some people, sickly sweet, nauseating. To others, it is quite fresh and pleasant. The chief constituent is eugenol which is also present as a methylether. Myrcene, limonene dipentene and small amounts of citral bring a certain freshness to the harsh leafy, phenolic odor.
Flavour
Warm, almost pungent, spicy and somewhat bitter. To the author's knowledge, this oil finds little or no use in flavor work.
Notes
Salt is customarily added to the distillation water to increase temperature and complete distillation more rapidly. The old-fashioned Bay Rum was produced by distillation of rum over bay leaves.
Full Arctander text
#### Bay Leaf Oil.
**Bay Leaf Oil **or **Bay Oil **is distilled from the leaves of a middle-sized tree, **Pimenta Racemosa,**** **earlier known as **Myrcia Acris**. The tree grows wild, but is also cultivated in various islands of the West Indies, particularly on the island of Dominica. Other important producers are Puerto Rico, Venezuela, Montserrat, St. Lucia and the tiny island of St. John, U.S. Virgin islands, formerly known as the Danish West Indies.
The leaves are distilled either with water or with steam. It is customary to add salt to the distillation water in order to increase the temperature and thus complete the distillation of oil more rapidly (compare Vetiver oil in Réunion, etc.).
**Bay**** ****Leaf**** ****Oil**** **is a yellowish to dark brown liquid. (Variations in color occur according to the type of still used and the kind of shipping container). The odor is fresh-spicy, somewhat medicinal, but it has a lasting, sweet-balsamic undertone. The odor of this oil is quite obnoxious to some people, sickly sweet, nauseating. To others, it is quite fresh and pleasant. The chief constituent is eugenol which is also present as a methylether. Myrcene, limonene dipentene and small amounts of citral bring a certain freshness to the harshleafy, phenolic odor. The flavor of this oil is warm, almost pungent, spicy and somewhat bitter. To the author's knowledge, this oil finds little or no use in flavor work.
**Bay**** ****Leaf**** ****Oil**** **is used very extensively in hair lotions, after-shave lotions, and other "men's line" fragrances. The old-fashioned type of **"Bay Rum" **was produced in the former Danish West Indies by distillation of **Rum **over **Bay Leaves. **Bay Rum is still available, but often produced merely by dissolving a **Terpeneless Bay Leaf Oil **(see following monograph) in diluted alcohol and rum.
**Bay Leaf Oil **is readily available in large quantities, but unfortunately, also in quite variable qualities. The annual production is between 25 and 75 metric tons, of which a considerable quantity is consumed in the producing areas. Adulteration of **Bay Leaf Oil **occurs quite frequently, e.g. with clove leaf oil, bois de rose terpenes, lime oil terpenes, synthetic myrcene and other terpenes, all of which are cheaper than bay leaf oil and readily available in Europe and the U.S.A. Terpenes from the bay leaf oil itself are also available where the Terpeneless **Bay Leaf Oil **is produced (see next monograph).