Bergamot

The citrus behind Earl Grey tea — and the opening note of nearly every fine fragrance you've worn.

Bergamot is a small, green-yellow citrus fruit, a natural hybrid of bitter orange and lemon believed to have first grown along Italy's Calabrian coast in the seventeenth century. Today, the overwhelming majority of the world's perfumery-grade bergamot oil still comes from that same narrow stretch of coastline, where the microclimate between two seas gives the fruit its distinctive character. The oil is cold-pressed from the rind — the pulp itself is far too sour to eat, so bergamot exists in most people's lives purely as a scent, not a food.

That scent is most familiar to non-perfumers through Earl Grey tea, which is simply black tea flavored with bergamot oil pressed from the rind. In fragrance, bergamot plays the role of the classic top note — the very first impression a composition makes, before it settles into its heart and base. It has more roundness and sophistication than plain lemon, with a faint floral-bitter shadow that makes it a natural opener for bright, resort-style fragrances built around citrus and marine notes.

What bergamot actually smells like

Bright, slightly bitter, and refined — like a cross between lemon and orange with a cooler, more polished edge. It has a sparkling top-note lift without the sharp acidity of plain citrus, which is exactly why perfumers reach for it as the opening note of so many fine fragrances.

Where you'll find it in the Scentia line

Bergamot opens our breeziest, most coastal fragrance.

Common questions about bergamot in fragrance