If there is one note that appears in more fragrances than any other—across any family, any price, any era—it is bergamot. It is the most used olfactory note in the history of perfumery. And yet, most people don’t know what it is.
What is bergamot
Bergamot (Citrus bergamia) is a citrus fruit that grows mainly in the Calabria region of southern Italy. Its fruit is not eaten—it is too bitter—but its peel produces, through cold pressing, one of the most valuable essential oils in the world. Calabrian bergamot oil has Protected Designation of Origin: no other bergamot in the world has exactly the same characteristics.
What bergamot smells like
Fresh, floral, slightly bitter, and enormously elegant. Bergamot has the quality of seeming simultaneously citrusy and floral—it shares characteristics with the bitter orange blossom (neroli) but is lighter and more luminous. It is what makes Earl Grey tea recognizable (the bergamot-flavored tea) and what gives that characteristic initial freshness to classic Eau de Cologne.
Why it is so widely used in perfumery
Because it is the universal connector. Bergamot blends well with absolutely everything: flowers, wood, spices, amber, musk. It acts as an "opener"—that first note that prepares the nose for what comes next—but also as an integrating element that gives cohesion to the entire composition. Without bergamot, many great fragrances would be harsher in their opening.
Bergamot in the great classics
It is in Eau de Cologne by 4711, in Chanel N°5, in Guerlain’s Shalimar, in almost all classic fougères. Practically no 20th-century fragrance does without it. And in the 21st century, it remains just as omnipresent.
Bergamot in divain fragrances
In divain, bergamot appears as a top note in dozens of fragrances, from the lightest fresh scents to the densest orientals. It is our reference citrus note to add brightness and elegance at the start of any composition.
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