Cedarwood smells dry and pencil-shaving sharp, a classic, clean woody note, while guaiac wood is smokier and softer, often carrying a faintly rosy, tea-like or barbecue-smoke nuance that makes it feel quite different despite both being described simply as “wood”.

Cedarwood’s Familiar Dryness

Cedarwood is one of the most recognisable woody notes in perfumery, with a crisp, almost sharpened-pencil quality. Different varieties — Atlas, Virginia, Texas cedarwood among them — each bring slightly different nuances, but all share that same dry, grounded woodiness that works as both a supporting base note and, in simpler colognes, a lead note in its own right.

Guaiac Wood’s Smoky Softness

Guaiac wood oil, by contrast, has an oily, smooth texture with a distinctive smokiness that some describe as reminiscent of barbecue or whisky, along with a faintly rosy or tea-like sweetness underneath. It tends to be used where a perfumer wants a woody note with more warmth and complexity than a straightforward dry cedar. Both are covered alongside the other classic woody materials in our guide to fragrance notes, part of the complete guide to perfume.