Anise

History in perfumery

Anise has a documented history in cosmetic and aromatic use that stretches back to antiquity. Pliny the Elder records anise seeds in Roman kitchens and pharmacies, and the plant is mentioned in the Capitulare de villis of Charlemagne (around 800 CE) as a crop recommended for imperial gardens (Wikipedia, Anise; Britannica, Anise). Through the Middle Ages, anise circulated in distilled waters, breath sweeteners and digestive cordials across the Mediterranean basin.

Star anise (Illicium verum) reached Western pharmacopoeias by the seventeenth century via the maritime trade with southern China. The Dutch East India Company and later the British East India Company shipped dried star-shaped fruits to European apothecaries, who quickly absorbed the material into liqueurs and digestifs (Wikipedia, Illicium verum, accessed 2026-05-26). In modern industrial use, star anise feeds the pastis economy of the northern Mediterranean: Pernod (1805) and Ricard (1932) built their flagship spirits around anethole.

In western fine perfumery, anise sat in the background for most of the twentieth century, audible only as an aromatic accent inside oriental and fougère structures. Shalimar (Guerlain, 1925) places it as a small, almost unspoken note in its oriental opening. Pour un Homme (Caron, 1934, Ernest Daltroff) gives it a faint role inside its lavender-vanilla fougère.

The modern turning point arrives in 1997 with Lolita Lempicka, signed by Annick Ménardo with co-author Christian Dussoulier. The composition overdoses anethole and liquorice on a violet-tonka structure and creates a self-aware "gourmand-anisic" category that did not exist before. Hermès picks up the thread a decade later with Brin de Réglisse (Hermessence, 2007, Jean-Claude Ellena) on a lavender-anise-liquorice braid (Fragrantica, accessed 2026-05-26).

Botanical origin

In perfumery, the word anise covers two unrelated plants that converge on the same pivot molecule. Their botany is genuinely distant; their scent is close because the chemistry overlaps.

Green anise (Pimpinella anisum) is an annual herb of the Apiaceae family, native to the Eastern Mediterranean and Southwest Asia. The perfumer works from the small grey-brown seeds (technically schizocarps), steam-distilled to yield an essential oil. The plant grows around 50 to 70 cm tall, flowers in summer with small white umbels, and is harvested when seeds reach full maturity, typically late summer to early autumn (Wikipedia, Anise, accessed 2026-05-26).

Star anise (Illicium verum) is a small evergreen tree of the Schisandraceae family (formerly placed in Illiciaceae), native to southern China and northeast Vietnam. The perfumer works from the dried star-shaped fruits, made of six to eight follicles arranged around a central axis, steam-distilled before they fully ripen (Wikipedia, Illicium verum, accessed 2026-05-26). The fruits are toxic when not properly identified: Japanese star anise (Illicium anisatum) looks similar but contains anisatin, a neurotoxin, which is why supply chains are tightly controlled.

Three growing regions structure the global market in 2026. Green anise is cultivated mainly in Spain, Egypt, Turkey, Iran and Russia. Star anise comes almost exclusively from southern China (Guangxi and Yunnan provinces) and northern Vietnam, with China holding a regional monopoly that absorbs roughly 80 percent of world supply (Britannica, Star anise; Perfumer & Flavorist, accessed 2026-05-26). Star anise essential oil typically trades at around half to one third the price of green anise oil.

Production and extraction

The production logic for the two materials runs in parallel. Both rely on steam distillation of the dried fruit or seed, both yield a colorless to pale-yellow essential oil dominated by trans-anethole, and both feed into a captive market for isolated anethole used in spirits and confectionery.

Green anise oil is obtained by steam distillation of crushed mature seeds. The yield runs around 2 to 3 percent by weight (Wikipedia, Anise; Robert Tisserand and Rodney Young, Essential Oil Safety, second edition). The oil typically contains 80 to 95 percent trans-anethole, with smaller fractions of estragole (methyl chavicol), anisaldehyde and alpha-pinene. Star anise oil is steam-distilled from dried whole fruits, with a higher yield of roughly 5 to 6 percent and a trans-anethole content of 80 to 90 percent, complemented by estragole, limonene and linalool.

Three production routes coexist in 2026:

• Whole essential oil, obtained by steam distillation, used in fine perfumery for its rounded natural profile (anisaldehyde and minor terpenes add depth that the isolated molecule lacks).
• Isolated anethole, crystallized from star anise oil through fractional distillation and cooling, supplied as a near-pure aromatic crystal melting around 21 °C, used massively by the spirits and food industries.
• Synthetic anethole, produced by industrial chemistry from anisole and propylene or via para-cresol routes, supplied by major aroma chemical houses as a commodity at a fraction of the natural oil price.

The economics are skewed by adjacent industries. Pastis and anisette spirits (Pernod, Ricard, Pastis 51) consume the bulk of world anethole production, with perfumery taking only a marginal share by volume. That said, premium green anise oil from Spain remains a sought-after grade for niche perfumery and trades at a clear premium over commodity star anise oil.

Regulation. The IFRA Standards restrict estragole (methyl chavicol), a minor constituent of both oils, on safety grounds, with maximum levels by product category. The cis-isomer of anethole, present at trace levels in poorly stored or oxidized material, is more toxic than the desired trans-isomer; suppliers monitor the ratio by gas chromatography on every batch. Tian-shanlin and Japanese star anise contamination remains the main supply-chain risk for Illicium verum, which is why dedicated traceability programs run in Guangxi and Yunnan.

Several aroma-chemical anchors sit close to anise in the perfumer's organ: anisaldehyde (para-methoxybenzaldehyde) brings a softer hawthorn-anisic facet, anisic alcohol reads more powdery, and synthetic licorice notes (Glycyrrhizinate captives, Liquorice base from Robertet and Symrise) extend the gourmand register without adding pure anise weight. None of these molecules replaces the full natural complexity of green anise or star anise oil, which is why niche compositions still anchor anise effects on the natural distillate (Robert Tisserand, Essential Oil Safety; Steffen Arctander, Perfume and Flavor Materials of Natural Origin).

Olfactive profile

Anise sits in the aromatic family, anisic subcategory, with strong overlaps into the gourmand and oriental ambery families. Blind, the material reads as sweet, spicy and liquorice-like, with a clear pastis register. Green anise is the more floral and delicate of the two; star anise is more peppery, more powerful and rounder on the heart. Both anchor the same anethole pivot, which is why minor compounds drive the choice between them in a brief.

The opening evokes fennel seed, aniseed candy and pastis. The heart settles into a sweet, liquorice-warm register, with a faint floral lift on green anise (anisaldehyde) or a peppery roundness on star anise (estragole and linalool). The drydown drifts toward a powdery, mildly almond-tinged warmth if the formula uses anisaldehyde or heliotropin alongside the natural oil (Fragrantica note page; Bois de Jasmin, Lolita Lempicka review, accessed 2026-05-26).

The note polarizes audiences. The high anethole load triggers an immediate pastis association in Mediterranean cultures and a licorice candy association in Northern Europe and North America. Reactions split cleanly: pleasure or rejection, with little middle ground. Perfumers manage that risk by pairing anise with materials that round off its edges, typically vanilla, tonka, lavender, mandarin or rose.

Key characteristics

Notable perfumes featuring anise

Six compositions return regularly in the specialised press as benchmarks for the anise note. The selection spans 1925 to 2011 and covers oriental backgrounds, classical fougère accents and the modern gourmand-anisic register that Lolita Lempicka opened in 1997.

Frequently asked questions

See also