Controversial coriander is having a fragrance renaissance

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Coriander is a common but profoundly divisive herb. Depending on how your palate reads it – a response determined by the OR6A2 gene – it either elevates a taco or tastes like soap. That divide exists within fragrances too. But before you take a side, you have to know what’s in the mix: is it the leaf, which smells herbaceous and a little metallic; or seed, more akin to light spice and rosewood?

Coriander plants are said to have fragranced the hanging gardens of Babylon, around 600 BC, while the seed has been used in commercial scents for decades; Jean Couturier debuted Coriandre in 1973. It’s also in Guy Laroche’s Drakkar Noir, launched back in 1982, and the first Comme des Garçons fragrance that Mark Buxton formulated in 1994. 

With a fragrance that centres around a controversial ingredient, we invite wearers to approach scent with an open mind

Coriandre 39, the latest in Le Labo’s City Exclusive collection, hits hard with herbaceous notes of coriander leaf and a blast of citrus. An hour after application, it calms into something warmer and more musky. “With a fragrance that centres around a controversial ingredient, we invite wearers to approach scent with an open mind,” says Deborah Royer, Le Labo’s global brand president. “This is not a fragrance that seeks approval but rather one that welcomes a personal connection.”

Le Labo Coriandre 39, £275 for 50ml

L’Artisan Parfumeur Cédrat Céruse, £170 for 100ml, harrods.com

Jorum Studio Pony Boy, £89 for 30ml

Byredo Tobacco Mandarin, £280 for 50ml

David Moltz, co-founder of DS & Durga, also sees his brand’s bestselling Coriander fragrance as a “Marmite” experience, and an example of how perfumes are becoming more polarising and experimental. “We are curators of the unseen,” he says, “and just as excited about the weeds growing in the cracks of Brooklyn as we are fields of flowers in the south of France.” L’Artisan Parfumeur makes a similar declaration with Cédrat Céruse, where it pairs the herb with fennel and pink pepper.

As with many newer scents – Byredo’s Tobacco Mandarin or Beaufort’s arson-forward Rake & Ruin – coriander seed is there for its soft, curry-like presence: it’s a seasoning. Like tomato and basil, or chips and vinegar, certain elements in the fragrance world make for soulmates. Pony Boy, from Scottish-based Jorum Studio, launched in 2022, is a mix of coriander and rhubarb, with compelling qualities. When approached more literally – as with the L:A Bruket and Diptyque Coriander candles – coriander has the essence of fluffed and folded laundry. The latter’s Thé candle also does something interesting with coriander seed, adding cumin and pepper. As does Trudon with Héméra, combining the seeds with pink peppercorn, teak and sandalwood. 

California-based perfumer Mandy Aftel has written six books exploring the links between aroma and taste. “I find it much easier to work with the seed than the leaf,” she says. “The smell of the leaf is polarising; people quickly write it off as smelling like food and often won’t greet the aroma with an open mind.” Others will find it delicious, depending on their genes.