MALT

Malt in perfume suggests the aroma of prepared cereal grains: warm, biscuity and gently sweet, sometimes with a more roasted edge. Different malts provide different references, from lighter grain warmth to darker toast or coffee-like impressions. A perfumer can draw on that range to give a gourmand scent a cereal texture, rather than sweetness alone. It need not make the whole perfume smell like beer or whisky.

In malting, grains such as barley are soaked, allowed to germinate and then dried; further heating or roasting helps shape their aroma. The fragrance note is an interpretation of those impressions, not proof that malt has been added to the formula. It is also distinct from maltol, the name of a particular sweet-smelling molecule. The surrounding notes determine how dry, sweet or roasted the final effect feels.