RUŌOD Lab

Clove Bud Oil

Essential oil · Spicy / Floral

clove, spicy, warm, sweet — heart note.

Aroma illustration for Clove Bud Oil: cloves, for its clove note. It illustrates smell associations, not the material or its source.Illustration of dried clove buds, each a slender stem with a rounded head.
Aroma View: an illustration of what Clove Bud Oil smells like (clove), drawn by RUŌOD Lab — not its appearance or its source.An original illustration of the botanical source by RUŌOD Lab — not a photograph of the material.
Images

By the RUŌOD Lab TeamRevision 1Updated

In short

Clove bud oil is distilled from the dried flower buds of Syzygium aromaticum. It is rich in eugenol and gives a warm, spicy note.

What Clove Bud Oil smells like

Clove bud oil is warm, sweet and spicy, with more complexity than the leaf oil, in perfumery glossaries; they credit its sweeter, fruitier warmth to eugenyl acetate, which the leaf oil has little of. Eugenol is its main constituent. The Good Scents Company lists clove bud oil under clove alongside eugenol and eugenyl acetate. Like eugenol, it is a skin sensitiser.

Leading note
Sweet clove
Supporting facets
Fruity, rounded, woody
Faint facets
Medicinal
Character
Warm, rich, sweet
  • clove
  • spicy
  • warm
  • sweet

What makes Clove Bud Oil distinctive

The finer clove: eugenol rounded by eugenyl acetate into a sweeter, fuller spice than the leaf oil.

Where the descriptions disagree: Sources disagree on how much eugenyl acetate the leaf oil contains, and so on how large the difference is.

How Clove Bud Oil is used

Used in spicy, oriental, carnation and gourmand compositions and in flavours.

Typical role: modifier (used in small amounts to change the character of a blend).

How Clove Bud Oil differs from similar materials

Clove Leaf Oil
Glossaries find the leaf oil harsher — a raw, one-note eugenol with a phenolic edge; the bud oil is sweeter and more complex.
Eugenol
Eugenol is the main constituent alone; the bud oil adds eugenyl acetate's sweeter, fruitier warmth.
Pimento Berry Oil
A glossary finds pimento rounder and drier, without the medicinal sharpness, with cinnamon-bark warmth underneath.
Eugenyl Acetate
Eugenyl acetate is one of the oil's sweetening constituents, a milder floral clove.
Bay Oil (West Indian)
Bay oil is fresher and more terpenic; clove bud is the sweeter, richer clove.

An asterisk marks a difference that a cited source states directly. The others compare the published descriptions of each material. Smell varies with grade, supplier and dilution; compare them side by side on blotters before substituting one for another.

Formulation considerations

Rich in eugenol, a declarable allergen with an IFRA Standard.

Identity and classification

Type
Essential oil
Origin
Natural
Odour family
Spicy / Floral
Note position
Heart note
Physical form at room temperature
Liquid
Botanical source
Syzygium aromaticum (L.) Merr. & L.M.Perry
CAS number
8000-34-8

The CAS number was checked on 19 October 2026 against a PubChem substance record that gives it for this material. A natural material is a mixture, so it has no single formula; its composition varies with origin and processing.

Safety and compliance

This page is general information, not a safety assessment or a specification. Confirm identity, composition, IFRA status and allergen content from your supplier's documents for the lot you hold.

Materials it works with

  • Eugenol

    Aroma chemical · Spicy / Floral — clove, spicy, warm

  • Rose Oil (Rosa damascena)

    Essential oil · Floral / Fruity — rose, honeyed, spicy, fresh

  • Cinnamon Bark Oil

    Essential oil · Spicy / Gourmand — cinnamon, spicy, sweet, hot

  • Vanillin

    Aroma chemical · Gourmand / Amber — vanilla, sweet, creamy

  • Clove Leaf Oil

    Essential oil · Spicy / Woody — clove, spicy, dry, woody

Clove Bud Oil is also suggested as a partner on the pages for Bay Oil (West Indian), Caryophyllene Oxide, Cinnamon Bark CO2 Extract, Holy Basil Oil, Nutmeg CO2 Extract and Pimento Berry Oil.

Used in formulas and accords

Used in 12 published formulas

Clove Bud Oil is an ingredient in 5 perfume formulas, 5 accords and 2 bases in the Formula & Accord Library.

Community formulas

RUŌOD House Originals

Original compositions by RUŌOD House.

Further reading

  • Spicy Notes in Perfumery: Warm and Fresh Spices

    Warm and fresh spice materials, their key constituents, why cinnamon and clove are closely restricted, and how to build warmth within the limits.

  • How to Make a Carnation Accord

    Building carnation from eugenol, isoeugenol, rose materials and benzyl salicylate: an illustrative accord, balancing, IFRA and EU allergen limits, and records.

Questions about Clove Bud Oil

Is Clove Bud Oil natural or synthetic?

Clove Bud Oil is natural. It is a volatile oil obtained from plant material by steam distillation or, for citrus peels, by cold expression.

What is the CAS number of Clove Bud Oil?

8000-34-8, the registry number for the essential oil as a substance rather than a single molecule. It was checked against PubChem on 19 October 2026.

Which published formulas use Clove Bud Oil?

Clove Bud Oil is used in 12 published formulas in the RUŌOD Lab Formula & Accord Library, including 1882 Naturals, Dried Fruits Accord and Fougere Base. Each is listed with a link under "Used in formulas and accords" on this page.

Sources

Your own records, next to the reference

Keep your own record of Clove Bud Oil — supplier, cost, stock, dilutions and where it is used — in RUŌOD Lab's material library.

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