Perfumer's Alcohol

July 23, 2026

There is no one agreed product called "perfumer's alcohol".

Perfumer's Alcohol, or ethanol, is used in perfumery to dissolve aroma chemicals and dilute perfume concentrates to product fragrance product that can be sprayed. It's one of the most important solvents in perfumery.

Ethanol is also present in food and in drinks. Vodka contains up to 50 per cent ethanol, for example. Ethanol drinks contain water to make up the other proportion of the drink and this makes vodka unsuitable for perfumery.

It is possible to buy pure or almost pure ethanol, but countries apply tax and duties on ethanol which can add up to 100 dollars a litre, for example in Australia. Ethanol that is not for drinking is not taxed but it needs to be "de-natured"; that is, made unsuitable for drinking. This is done by adding something with a very strong bitter taste.

SD alcohol, denatured alcohol, or isopropyl alcohol are easily available, you might find it at a pharmacy. The de-naturat is often denatoium bensonate, which has a smell. There may be up to 1 per cent in these products.

Alcohol suitable for perfumery is de-natured with a small amount of something that does not have a strong smell.

There are some types of denatured alcohol "recipes" that have names. this includes 95PGF4 , SDA3C, and SDA 40B. This types of ethanol has up to 5 per cent water and a small amount of t-butyl alcohol (CAS: 75-65-0) and/or denatonium benzoate (Bitrex) (3734-33-6).

In practice, if an ethanol product