Hyraceum “Signature” Absolute

In 2024 Firmenich announced the discontinuation of their acclaimed Hyraceum Absolute 60% DIPG. In 2025 Fraterworks began manufacturing its replacement in Grasse. We are now the only supplier of this wonderful natural musk absolute.

Hyraceum Absolute opens with fierce animalic intensity—phenolic, urinous notes mingle with tarry leather and scorched earth. This fossilised essence captures millennia of African sun and stone. Use it where you need uncompromising animalic depth without ethical compromise.

This material transforms on warm skin from challenging rawness to seductive warmth. Build leather accords with unprecedented realism or add subliminal sensuality to florals. Master perfumers reach for Hyraceum when synthetic musks lack soul and natural alternatives prove too tame.

Dose carefully—traces add mysterious depth whilst higher amounts create bold animalic statements. Combine with labdanum for rich leather effects or blend into oud reconstructions for authenticity. In chypres, it provides the dark foundation modern regulations have diminished in their restriction on oakmoss.

What is Hyraceum?

Hyraceum comes from the fossilised urine and faeces of the Rock Hyrax (Procavia capensis), a small mammal native to Africa and the Middle East. These rabbit-sized creatures live in colonies and use communal latrines in protected rock crevices over many generations.

The hyrax produces unusually viscous, jelly-like urine that's exceptionally rich in calcium carbonate and other minerals. When deposited repeatedly in the same sheltered spots by entire colonies, this material dries, hardens and petrifies over centuries. Some deposits are over 50,000 years old.

Collection involves mining these ancient, fossilised middens - the rock-like masses that have accumulated in caves and crevices. The material is literally chipped away with hammers and chisels, as it's extremely hard and dense. Collectors harvest only from abandoned sites where no living hyrax colonies are present.

The raw "Africa Stone" is then either extracted with solvents to produce an absolute (like the discontinued Firmenich product) or macerated in alcohol to create tinctures. The Fraterworks Signature Absolute undergoes extraction in Grasse using traditional methods to capture the complex aromatic compounds that develop during the millennia-long ageing process.

Interestingly, the Rock Hyrax's closest living relatives are elephants and manatees - they shared a common ancestor 60 million years ago. Despite looking like oversized guinea pigs, they have continuously growing tusk-like incisors similar to elephants.

Odd Naming Convention

Note that this absolute is diluted in DPG to make it fluid. Firmenich's version of this material was called Hyraceum Absolute 60% DIPG which normally means 60% hyraceum absolute and 40% DPG, but for some reason they did the opposite, and it was 40% hyraceum and 60% DPG. For the sake of continuity and discovery we have followed that same inversion of the perfumery convention here and so this product is called Hyraceum “Signature” Absolute 60% DPG but contains 40% hyraceum absolute and 60% DPG.

Synergies: Labdanum, Castoreum, Oud, Tobacco absolute, Costus root, Patchouli, Honey Supreme, Miel Blanc de Laire, Mielarome.

NOTE: We ship hyraceum and other very high-odour products in sealed foil bags to prevent cross-contamination in the event of leaks or parcel damage.

Origin: Abyssinia (Ethiopia)
Part: Fossilised Glandular secretion
Method: Solvent extraction

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