Ethyl Benzoate

What Ethyl Benzoate smells like

Ethyl benzoate has a sweet odour described as wintergreen, fruity, medicinal, cherry and grape, according to Wikipedia and supplier data; its taste adds minty and birch-beer notes. Perfumery sources emphasise a heavier fruit character, hinting at blackcurrant and grape, and note its use in floral compositions, restricted to a few percent by its potency.

Leading note

Sweet cherry-grape

Clear facets

Wintergreen, medicinal

Supporting facets

Blackcurrant

Faint facets

Floral

Character

Sweet, heavy, medicinal, fruity

• fruity
• sweet
• cherry
• medicinal

What makes Ethyl Benzoate distinctive

Fruit with a medicinal edge: cherry and grape over a wintergreen sharpness, between methyl benzoate's floral and the sweet esters.

How Ethyl Benzoate is used

Used in floral and fruity compositions in small amounts, and in fruit flavours.

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

How Ethyl Benzoate differs from similar materials

Methyl Benzoate

Methyl benzoate is more floral and phenolic, ylang and tuberose; ethyl benzoate is fruitier, cherry and grape.

Each difference compares the published descriptions of the two materials. Smell varies with grade, supplier and dilution; compare them side by side on blotters before substituting one for another.

Identity and classification

Type

Aroma chemical

Origin

Occurs in nature

Odour family

Fruity / Floral

Note position

Top to heart note

Physical form at room temperature

Liquid

CAS number

93-89-0

Molecular formula

C9H10O2

Molecular weight

150.17 g/mol

IUPAC name

ethyl benzoate

The CAS number, formula and molecular weight are taken from PubChem compound 7165, whose own record lists this CAS number; checked 19 October 2026.

Safety and compliance

Hazard classification of the neat substance, as PubChem summarises it, read 26 October 2026. Companies notifying the ECHA C&L Inventory report it as not meeting the GHS hazard criteria (1,729 of 1,839 reports). Unless it is harmonised, this is the notifiers' own classification, not a binding one.

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

• Methyl Benzoate

  Aroma chemical · Floral / Fruity — sweet, floral, fruity, medicinal

• Benzaldehyde

  Aroma chemical · Gourmand / Fruity — almond, cherry, sweet

• Ethyl Cinnamate

  Aroma chemical · Resinous / Fruity — balsamic, fruity, sweet, plum

• Ylang Ylang Oil

  Essential oil · Floral / Spicy — floral, creamy, sweet, banana

Used in formulas and accords

Used in 1 published formula

Ethyl Benzoate is an ingredient in 1 perfume formula in the Formula & Accord Library.

RUŌOD House Originals

Original compositions by RUŌOD House.

• Cherry Lacquer

  RUŌOD House Creation · listed as “Ethyl Benzoate 10% DPG”, at 10% in DPG

Further reading

• Fruity Notes in Perfumery: Esters, Lactones and Ketones

  How fruit is built in perfumery from esters, lactones, ketones and sulfur materials, why 'C-14' is a lactone, dosage, stability and restrictions.

Questions about Ethyl Benzoate

Sources

• PubChem — compound 7165, checked 19 October 2026.
• PubChem — GHS classification (the ECHA C&L Inventory notifications and any harmonised EU entry), read 26 October 2026.
• Wikipedia — Ethyl benzoate — published perfumery reference.
• Parchem — ethyl benzoate — distributor's description.
• Scentspiracy — Ethyl benzoate — distributor's description.
• Olfactory profile: the RUŌOD Lab team's synthesis of the published descriptions above, reviewed 20 October 2026. Evidence: more than one published description. Classification and the short description: revision 1. Descriptions of odour are judgement, not measurement.