Kuromoji Oil

#### Kuromoji Oil. From a small tree in Japan, **Lindera**** ****Sericea,**** **is distilled various essential oils. The author finds that the oil from the leaves is still a commercially available item, and would like to submit the following comments from the studies of this oil: **Kuromoji**** ****Oil**, also called **Lindera**** ****Leaf**** ****Oil,**** **is a pale yellow or almost colorless, mobile liquid possessing a very strong, fresh-aromatic odor, reminiscent of myrtle leaf oil, eucalyptus smithii, eucalyptus dives, elemi oil, cajuput oil, etc. The flavor is spicy-warm, aromatic, somewhat bitter and slightly biting, not unlike the flavor of a poor-grade ("weedy") natural spearmint oil. **Kuromoji Oil **is steam distilled from the leaves of the bush, but even the twigs, bark and wood of this bush have been distilled experimentally. To the author's knowledge, and through direct communication with the producing areas, it appears that only the leaf oil is presently available. The oil has been produced in Formosa, too. **Kuromoji Oil **could find use in perfumery for its fresh and aromatic-spicy fragrance. In fougères, fougère-colognes, chypres, after-shave lotion perfumes, spicy colognes, etc., the oil would no doubt lend interesting notes. It produces interesting topnotes in high-class perfumes of the Oriental type, ambres and aldehydic fantasy types. In this respect, the oil resembles **Evoulimba Oil **(see monograph). It is more complex than the melaleuca oils or the eucalyptus oils, more powerful than myrtle oil, but its diffusive power and low- boiling constituents will place it as a "small" ingredient among the perfume materials which have to be adequately fixed and rounded off. Araucaria, cubeb oil, elemi resinoid, labdanum resinoid, opopanax resinoid, etc. are excellent fixative blenders for **Kuromoji Oil.** Ar present, the production of this oil is irregular and small, but there is ample material available for distillation on a larger scale.