Black Currant

Black currant in perfumery is usually a synthetic accord built around buchu leaf oil (which smells of black currant and cat urine) and various sulfuric fruity molecules. It smells of tart, juicy berry with a characteristic slightly 'catty' sulfurous edge — the same molecule that gives Sauvignon Blanc its signature. Black currant is the most-used fruit in modern perfumery: it's in Lancôme La Vie Est Belle, Mugler Aura, and dozens of fruity-florals since 2010. The 'catty' edge is dose-dependent — at high levels it's unmistakably cat pee.