Hey all,

I’ve been in Finland for 6 years and I have a lingering question that seems surprisingly difficult to answer.

Whenever fall arives (aroud now), and also sometimes in spring, certain places fill up with this unmistakable “fresh” aroma that’s so typical of boreal forest. I’ve smelled it when I lived in Canada too. This smell is half the reason why I moved here: I just can’t get enough of it. It’s not pine: it’s rather subtle most of the time when it happens. I’m 95% certain it comes from the birth trees (koivu) when the temperature swings wildly - typically in spring and fall.

I’d like to know for sure it’s the birch trees that emit that smell, because then I’d plant a bunch of them on my property. But here’s the thing: I’m not entirely sure it’s birch trees, because none of the artificial koivu scents I bought manage to smell anything remotely close to that - if that’s what they’re trying to come close to.

And here’s the mystery: when the smell arrives and fills the air, I ask people around me and if they know what that smell is. And almost nobody I ask seems to be able to smell it at all! The best answer anyone’s ever given me once was “It smells like winter coming”, which is not terribly botanical 🙂

I chalked it up to the locals having lived here all their lives and having become nose-blind to that smell. But I recently invited friends from abroad, and they can’t smell it either.

I’m beginning to think being able to smell that smell is a genetic trait - like certain cats being totally unaffected by catnip.

Do you know what smell I’m referring to ? And if you do, can you confirm it’s koivu?