Elderflower essential oil is steam-distilled from the delicate cream-white blossoms of Sambucus nigra, a fast-growing deciduous shrub of the Adoxaceae family native to Europe and western Asia, whose flowers have been woven into culinary traditions, folk medicine, and perfumery across the continent for centuries. The volatile fraction of the flowers is chemically complex and distinctive: GC-MS analysis of the essential oil of dried elder flowers has identified a rich array of esters, including several new and previously unreported ester compounds, alongside linalool, a-terpineol, nerol, geraniol, and the characteristic hotrienol, contributing to its delicate floral-honeyed aroma that is notoriously difficult to capture faithfully in distillation.^[1] Beyond its fragrance applications, Sambucus nigra preparations including essential oil fractions demonstrate antioxidant and antimicrobial activity against a range of food-relevant pathogens, a finding consistent with the plant's long traditional use as an immune-supportive botanical in European herbal medicine.^[2]