SMELLBOOK REFERENCE · SB-0062
Hay
Permanent ID: smellbook: · updated 2026-10-06, revision 3
Character EDITORIAL
Hay smells dry, grassy and warm, with a sweet, sun-baked note that some compare to tea leaves or tobacco.
Words: dry, grassy, warm, sweet. Families: Temperature and texture, Sweet, fruity and floral.
States: dry (EDITORIAL). 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.
Met in: Barn, Stable.
Evidence
Scientific evidence
- Volatiles released as cut grass dries (CLM-HAYDRYING-001). Joost A. de Gouw, Carleton J. Howard, Thomas G. Custer & Ray Fall, Emissions of volatile organic compounds from cut grass and clover are enhanced during the drying process, Geophysical Research Letters, 1999.
Historical evidence
- Coumarin and good hay in 1911 (CLM-HAY-001). Unsigned, Hay (fodder), Encyclopædia Britannica, 11th edition, 1911.
Molecules named in these claims: (Z)-3-hexenal, (Z)-3-hexenol, 2-butanone, acetaldehyde, acetone, methanol. A molecule listed here is named in a VERIFIED claim about this smell. It is not presented as the cause of the smell; each claim says what its source supports.
Cite
SmellBook. (2026). Hay (revision 3, 2026-10-06). SmellBook Public Atlas. smellbook:smell:hay. https://smellbook.com/smells/hay
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