In short
Hyssop oil is distilled from Hyssopus officinalis. It has a sweet, herbal and camphoraceous odour, used in small amounts in aromatic compositions.
What Hyssop Oil smells like
Hyssop oil has a powerful, somewhat sharp but sweet-camphoraceous odour with a warm-aromatic, spicy undertone, in Arctander's description as reproduced by The Good Scents Company and Hermitage Oils; he adds that it brings body and warm, spicy-herbaceous notes to citrus colognes, fougères, ambers and oriental bases. Fraterworks adds a dry, hay-like, tea-like drydown. Other suppliers lean minty, pine-like and terpy, and Charabot notes an animalic base.
- Leading note
- Sweet camphor
- Clear facets
- Warm spice
- Supporting facets
- Herbaceous
- Faint facets
- Hay, tea, minty, pine
- Character
- Powerful, warm, sharp
What makes Hyssop Oil distinctive
A camphor that is sweet and warm rather than cool, giving herbal colognes body.
Where the descriptions disagree: Arctander describes a sweet, warm, spicy camphor; some suppliers lean minty and pine-like.
How Hyssop Oil is used
Used for body and warm, spicy-herbaceous notes in citrus colognes, fougères, ambers and oriental bases.
Typical role: modifier (used in small amounts to change the character of a blend).
How Hyssop Oil differs from similar materials
- Rosemary Oil
- Rosemary is cleaner and more herbaceous; hyssop is sweeter-camphoraceous with a warm, spicy undertone.
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.
Formulation considerations
Contains ketones such as pinocamphone; check the regulatory position before use.
Identity and classification
- Type
- Essential oil
- Origin
- Natural
- Odour family
- Aromatic / Green
- Note position
- Top to heart note
- Physical form at room temperature
- Liquid
- Botanical source
- Hyssopus officinalis
- CAS number
- 8006-83-5
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
-
Lavender Oil
Essential oil · Aromatic / Floral — lavender, herbal, floral, fresh
-
Rosemary Oil
Essential oil · Aromatic / Woody — herbal, camphoraceous, fresh, woody
-
Sage Oil (Dalmatian)
Essential oil · Aromatic / Green — herbal, camphoraceous, fresh, warm
-
Clary Sage Oil
Essential oil · Aromatic / Amber — herbal, tea-like, ambery, musky
Used in formulas and accords
Not currently used in any published formula.
The Formula & Accord Library lists Hyssop Oil here as soon as a published formula, accord or base uses it.
Further reading
Questions about Hyssop Oil
Is Hyssop Oil natural or synthetic?
Hyssop 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 Hyssop Oil?
8006-83-5, the registry number for the essential oil as a substance rather than a single molecule. It was checked against PubChem on 19 October 2026.
Sources
- PubChem — substance 135277111, checked 19 October 2026.
- Hermitage Oils — Hyssop essential oil (quoting Arctander) — distributor's description.
- The Good Scents Company — hyssop oil — odour database.
- Fraterworks — hyssop oil — distributor's description.
- Olfactory profile: the RUŌOD Lab team's synthesis of the published descriptions above, reviewed 21 October 2026. Evidence: several independent published descriptions, which agree. Classification and the short description: revision 1. Descriptions of odour are judgement, not measurement.