Hyssop Oil
Hyssopus officinalis
Odour
Powerful, somewhat sharp, but sweet-camphoraceous odor, and with a warm-aromatic, spicy undertone.
Flavour
Warm and sweet, slightly burning or biting, but rich aromatic and herbaceous-spicy. Suggested use level 0.10 to 0.40 mg%, Minimum Perceptible 0.03 to 0.05 mg%.
Blends well with
amyl salicylate
citrus oils
eugenol
geraniol
laurel leaf
lavender oil
linalool
myrtle
rosemary
sage
sage clary
Common adulterants
- camphor oil
- camphor oil fractions
- cedar leaf oil
- lavandin oil
- myrtle oil
- sage oil
Notes
Production unlikely to increase as the herb loses popularity continuously despite being known for a very long time.
Full Arctander text
#### Hyssop Oil.
Presumably originating in the Mediterranean area, **Hyssopus Officinalis **has been known and cultivated as a culinary herb and for medicinal uses for hundreds of years. The plant grows wild in the coastal areas of the south of France, Italy, Yugoslavia, U.S.S.R., etc., and is cultivated in
these countries and in Bulgaria, Hungary and Holland for the purpose of distillation of its essential oil. Hungary and France regularly produce small quantities of the oil by steam distillation of the overground parts of the plant, harvested immediately prior to inflorescence.
Smaller quantities of oil are produced in Holland and Germany.
**Hyssop Oil **is a pale yellow or faintly greenish yellow to almost colorless oil of a powerful, somewhat sharp, but sweet-camphoraceous odor, and with a warm-aromatic, spicy undertone. Its flavor is warm and sweet, slightly burning or biting, but rich aromatic and herbaceous-spicy. The suggested use level is 0.10 to 0.40 mg%, and the **Minimum**** ****Perceptible**** **is 0.03 to 0.05 mg%.
**Hyssop Oil **is used in flavor work, not only to replace the herb in pickles, meat sauces and seasonings, etc., but also to give bouquet to alcoholic beverages, particularly the "chartreuse" type of liqueur. In perfumery, the oil will induce a rich body, warm and spicy-herbaceous notes and personality or typical character to certain types of fragrances, e.g. the citrus type colognes, fougères, ambres and light-aldehydic fragrances as well as heavy, oriental bases. Hyssop oil blends well with citrus oils, lavender oil, rosemary, myrtle, laurel leaf, sage and sage clary, amyl salicylate, linalool, eugenol, geraniol, etc.
The oil is occasionally adulterated with cedar- leaf oil, camphor oil or camphor oil fractions, lavandin oil, myrtle oil, sage oil, etc. The annual production of Hyssop Oil is very small, probably less than one ton. It is not likely that production will be increased as the herb has been known for a very long time and still seems to lose in popularity almost continuously.
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