Virginia Cedarwood Oil is a pale yellow to slightly orange-yellow colored oil which, on rectification, will yield a water-white, oily liquid. It is slightly less viscous than Atlas or Texas cedarwood oils and it does not deposit crystals at ordinary temperatures. The odor of Virginia cedarwood oil is at first oily-woody and almost sweet, mild and pleasant, somewhat balsamic and typical of cedarwood (lumber). The odor becomes drier and more woody, less balsamic as the oil dries out on a perfume blotter (Texas cedarwood oil smells sweeter as it dries out). The odor of Virginia cedarwood oil is well known to many eastern American owners of cedar chests, cabinets, boxes, etc. On the unpolished surface of such wood, one can often see small crystals. The oil, too, may deposit crystals on cooling or prolonged standing. The crystals are cedrol crystals and their appearance in the oil is to a certain degree a sign of high cedrol content or a sign of age—or both. According to Schimmel, an absolutely pure cedrol, recrystallized, is odorless. The content of cedrol in Virginia cedarwood oil is usually rather small, and this oil is not a good source for the isolation of cedrol.
Arctander, Steffen . Perfume and Flavor Materials of Natural Origin (p. 173).