Why is orris so expensive?

Because you are paying for time. The rhizome must be lifted, dried and then stored for three to five years before the irones responsible for the scent have formed in usable quantity. Yield after all that is very low. The cost is largely stored working capital and warehouse risk across a half-decade, not scarcity of the plant.

What is the difference between orris butter, concrete and absolute?

Butter is the steam-distilled product, solid at room temperature because of its high myristic acid content, and the most prized form. Concrete is solvent-extracted. Absolute is the concrete washed with alcohol to remove waxes, giving a pourable material with a somewhat different profile. Butter is generally regarded as the finest, and priced accordingly.

Location taken: American Plant Food Company, 7405 River Road, Bethesda MD.. Names: Iris pallida 'Albo Variegata' , Dalmation Iris, Sweet Iri Classification: Plantae > Angiosperms > Monocots &gt — Reference photograph of the material, not of a specific lot. Photo by David J. Stang, CC BY-SA 4.0 · 7 photographs

SKU: ORRIS-BUT-001
Material: Botanical Extract
Origin: Italy
Extraction: Steam distillation of matured rhizome
Plant part: Rhizome, aged 3–5 years
Lots held: 1

OrrisSample data

Orris Butter

Iris pallida(Iridaceae)

Low StockItaly250 g unreserved

GC-MS AvailableCOA AvailableOrigin VerifiedTraceableSample AvailableLimited LotSeasonalPremium GradeCultivated

Iris pallida rhizome butter after multi-year maturation — violet, powdery, and among the most expensive naturals in use.

Pricing

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Price for this material depends on the lot, quantity and destination. We confirm it in writing rather than publishing a figure that would not survive your requirement.

MOQ

1 g

Available quantities

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Orris butter is produced by steam distilling Iris pallida rhizomes that have been dried and stored for several years. The storage is not a formality: the irones responsible for orris's scent are not present in the fresh rhizome in usable quantity, and form slowly through oxidative breakdown of precursors during maturation.

That multi-year lag, combined with a very low yield, is the entire reason orris is among the most expensive materials in perfumery. Nothing about the price is scarcity theatre; it is stored working capital.

The product is a solid, waxy, pale butter at room temperature, high in myristic acid, which must be gently warmed and is typically used as a tincture or a dilution rather than neat.

Declared origin: Italy
Additional origins: Not recorded
Harvest season: Rhizome lifted, then matured 3–5 years
Harvest year: 2021
Traceability: Not recorded

Lots

ITA-ORR-2021-001Limited lotOrigin verified

Available

Origin: Italy
Harvest: 2021
Available: 250 g
Testing: Completed

Trace this lot

Harvest / collectionHarvest · 10 May 2021
Raw material collected at declared origin during the 2021 season.
Steam distillation of matured rhizomeProcessing · 11 Jun 2021
Steam distillation of matured rhizome carried out at origin. Batch identified as ITA-ORR-2021-001.
Intake and identificationIntake · 12 Jul 2021
Batch received, weighed and assigned a lot reference against the supplier declaration.
Analytical testing completedTesting · 13 Jul 2021
Analysis completed for this lot. Reports are released per the documentation panel.
Origin declaration verifiedDocumentation · 14 Aug 2021
Supplier origin declaration checked against shipping and batch documentation.

Supplier and producer identity is held internally and is not published. Disclosure to a buyer of record is handled case by case.

Violet-like, powdery and cool, with a soft woody-rooty base and a faint buttery sweetness. Extraordinarily elegant and extremely tenacious.

Violet96

Powdery92

Rooty74

Woody58

Waxy62

Earthy44

Relative prominence of each descriptor, recorded on evaluation. Indicative only; not an analytical measurement.

Botanical name: Iris pallida
Botanical family: Iridaceae
Common name: Iris Butter, Beurre d'Iris
Material type: Botanical Extract
Plant part: Rhizome, aged 3–5 years
Extraction method: Steam distillation of matured rhizome
Extraction technology: Multi-year rhizome maturation, then steam distillation to a concrete butter
Colour: Pale cream to ivory
Appearance: Solid waxy butter at room temperature; melts on gentle warming
INCI name: Iris Pallida Root Extract
CAS number: 8002-73-1
EINECS: 289-955-4
HS code: 3301.90
CITES status: Not CITES-listed
REACH: Not recorded
Shelf life: 240 months
Storage: Store sealed, cool and dark. Solid at room temperature; warm gently to working consistency. Repeated heating and cooling cycles should be avoided.
Allergens: Not recorded
Regulatory notes: Not recorded

Natural materials vary by harvest, season and lot. Specifications describe the referenced lot and are not a guarantee for future batches.

Fine Fragrance

Alcoholic fine fragrance, extrait and eau de parfum formulation.

Cosmetics & Skincare

Leave-on and rinse-off cosmetic formulation.

3 documents on file

COACertificate of Analysis — ITA-ORR-2021-001
Irone content quantified for the referenced lot.
Documentation available upon request
GC-MSGC-MS Report — ITA-ORR-2021-001
Documentation available upon request
SDSSafety Data Sheet
Documentation available upon request

Documentation is issued per lot where it exists. Where a document is listed as available on request, it has not yet been published to this catalogue. Sign in to access documents released to account holders.

No sustainability information has been recorded for this material. We do not publish a general claim in its place.

Packaging options

1 g
5 g
25 g
100 g

Shipping eligibility is subject to destination-country regulations. Transit estimates are shown only where a configured shipping lane provides them.

Why is orris so expensive?: Because you are paying for time. The rhizome must be lifted, dried and then stored for three to five years before the irones responsible for the scent have formed in usable quantity. Yield after all that is very low. The cost is largely stored working capital and warehouse risk across a half-decade, not scarcity of the plant.
What is the difference between orris butter, concrete and absolute?: Butter is the steam-distilled product, solid at room temperature because of its high myristic acid content, and the most prized form. Concrete is solvent-extracted. Absolute is the concrete washed with alcohol to remove waxes, giving a pourable material with a somewhat different profile. Butter is generally regarded as the finest, and priced accordingly.