Printed from smellbook.com/smells/fresh-wood. This printout keeps the entry for Fresh Wood itself: its description, reference card, Connections, questions, evidence, related smells, record details, states, names and citation. It leaves out your own notes, the map, the lists of paths, routes, stories and fragrance directions, and the lists headed “Also linked to” (other entries that share its place or material) and “Linked from”; they are on the page online. The entries this one links to are still printed under Connections and Related smells.
Categories and types group entries for browsing; they are editorial, not evidence. How smells are grouped.
Fresh Wood
A newly cut or worked wood smell with dry grain, resinous freshness and workshop associations.
Its type is State because its name already describes a condition, such as wet, toasted or after rain. That is a way of grouping entries; it is different from the states listed for this entry, which record how a smell is met. See how smells are grouped.
Links SmellBook records for this entry: where you meet it and related smells. EDITORIAL links are chosen by SmellBook editors. Nothing here is a ranking.
QUESTIONS ABOUT FRESH WOOD
Fresh Wood, question by question
What does fresh wood smell like? EDITORIAL
Fresh wood smells woody, dry and lightly resinous, with a clean, slightly sweet freshness from newly cut grain. Some woods, such as pine, smell sharper and more resinous; others are milder and drier. Sawdust adds a fine, dusty texture in the nose. It is easily confused with pencil shavings or with a timber yard.
It is met in a woodshop, when sawing or sanding a fresh cut board, during carpentry and DIY projects, and at timber yards and building sites where new boards are stacked.
One VERIFIED scientific claim from one published source is recorded for this entry: Odorants of Scots pine wood. This claim says only what its source supports, in the scope shown with it.
How do people describe it, and what is it compared with? EDITORIAL
Fresh Wood is a general material-state profile; species can create very different smell identities.
Answers marked EDITORIAL are written by SmellBook editors to describe the experience and add no scientific fact. Answers marked VERIFIED point to claims on published sources, checked against each source's own summary where one was available (each claim's page says how); what each claim supports is in its own text and scope.
01WHAT THE EVIDENCE SAYSVERIFIED
What the evidence supports
This one VERIFIED scientific claim, from one source, covers the chemistry reported. How the scientific evidence was produced: odour analysis with human assessors. This claim says only what its source supports, in the scope shown with it.
What is editorial
The description, smell words, associations and related smells on this page are written by SmellBook's editors and labelled EDITORIAL or CULTURAL; a claim below does not make them VERIFIED.
Gas chromatography–olfactometry of Scots pine wood strands and boards made from them found over 30 odour-active substances, mainly monoterpenes and monoterpenoids, with aliphatic aldehydes, alcohols, acids and phenolic compounds.
One softwood species and its strand board; other woods have different odorants.
How this was found: Odour analysis with human assessors. People smelled the separated compounds or the material itself (for example gas chromatography–olfactometry, dilution analysis, recombination or a sensory panel). Source: primary study; sensory or perception work.
Method Comparison for the Identification and Characterization of Odorants from Scots Pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) and Oriented Strand Boards (OSB) Made Thereof by GC-MS and GC-FID/O Using Different Headspace Techniques
Each step is a relationship SmellBook editors recorded in the knowledge graph, named as it is published there. Paths are not ranked or personalised, and they do not mean the smells smell alike.
These links were chosen by editors to help you explore; they are not scores or rankings.
IN FRAGRANCE & SPACES
Fresh Wood is a reference in curated scent directions.
Directions name SmellBook entries as descriptions to refer to; they are not product recommendations. Fragrance-free is always a valid choice for a space.
CULTURAL: This entry's associations depend on context, language, memory or culture; its description and smell words are editorial. It says nothing about research or historical evidence; evidence for this entry is shown separately: VERIFIED.
ATLAS POSITION098 / 200
MILESTONEIconic 100
PRIMARY CATEGORYNature
PUBLIC TYPEState
PROFILE STATUScomplete
States recorded for Fresh Wood
freshEDITORIALThe entry's name names this state. (“Fresh Wood”)Fresh vs Aged
cutEDITORIALThe entry records a setting in this state. (“fresh cut board”)
A state says how an entry is met, such as wet, aged or roasted. It does not create a new smell, and it adds no scientific fact by itself: states marked EDITORIAL come from the entry's own records, and only those marked VERIFIED are reported by a VERIFIED claim.
Names and identity for Fresh Wood
How this entry is identified and named, for citing it or matching it with other records.
@misc{smellbook_fresh_wood_r3,
author = {{SmellBook}},
title = {Fresh Wood},
year = {2026},
note = {SmellBook Public Atlas, revision 3, 2026-10-06, smellbook:smell:fresh-wood},
url = {https://smellbook.com/smells/fresh-wood}
}
TY - ENCYC
ID - smellbook-fresh-wood-r3
TI - Fresh Wood
AU - SmellBook
T2 - SmellBook Public Atlas
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/06
ET - revision 3
UR - https://smellbook.com/smells/fresh-wood
N1 - SB-0098; smellbook:smell:fresh-wood; resolver https://smellbook.com/id/smell/fresh-wood
ER -
The citation names revision 3 of 2026-10-06, so a reader can tell exactly which version was cited. Citing records what was read; it does not grant a licence.
PROFILE NOTE
Fresh Wood is a general material-state profile; species can create very different smell identities.