Lychee is a little, luscious round fruit produced by the rare subtropical lychee tree. It was first cultivated thousands of years ago in the region straddling Southern China and the Malay Peninsula. It was valued for its sweetness by Chinese emperors, who believed that the fruit symbolized love and royalty – a sentiment that continues to this day. It’s also why you can find lychee trees that date back over a thousand years in some parts of Southern China.
But what does lychee smell like?
Lychees have a sweet, tropical-aquatic smell. It might smell like roses to some, while others claim traces of pear or watermelon. Lychee’s light, fresh scent pairs well with other tropical flavors. It’s often used to either add a clean, aqueous undertone to light floral compositions or a fruity element to traditional floral compositions. And like most fruits, lychees can’t be distilled because of their high water content. In place of this, modern perfumers use synthetic lychee notes to simulate the fruit’s sweet, tart scent.