I’m looking for a black licorice type smell for a coon lure I’m working on. Is there anything like this available?

Sterling fur carries it in their catalog .

Anise oil is what your looking for.

I used to buy Anise by the pint from Blackies Blend when he was alive.He had the good stuff that would crystalize in the bottle at low temps.

The better grade Anise oils will usually crystalize when exposed to cool temps. Primarily due to the chemical compounds used in the development of the Anise oil fragrance.

Anisette wont chrystalize,and you can take a shot of it yourself once in a while to warm the cockles of your heart.

Yes, you are correct Bob, the Anisette Liqueur will not freeze or crystalize due to the alcohol content. Quite different than the essential oil ingredient that we are referencing.

A lot of modern luremakers don’t consider making a heavy anise lure because there’s not a lot of mystique surrounding an anise formula.

I will say anise is a good ingredient if looking for an odor push without making a lure taste bad. This is important to a lot of dogproof trappers.

Licorice oil and fennel are also ingredients that have an odor similar to anise.

I use it myself

https://www.fntpost.com/Products/Dunlap's+Smear+Bait/

You can buy true “Anise Star” it’s the fruit from a Chinese Evergreen. It’s basically a red seed pod about the size of a quarter , in a star shape. Not very expensive as I recall.
Probably a better option in a DP bait then “ Anise Oil” would be.

I would imagine the seeds should be taken out of the pods for the strongest flavor. As I recall, the pods smell pretty good as they are.

Too many years ago, I tried simmering star anise (pods with seeds) in vegetable oil. The end product didn’t smell like anise liquid at all. Had I soaked them in everclear for a month, the results would have been better. Had I removed the seeds and crushed them before soaking in everclear, I would have had a decent tincture, I think. Bob Jameson would know. Ask him.

Yes, you want the seeds. Then get a mortar and Pestle and crush the seeds well. The resulting powder will give you some great material. I use powder mostly now vs the essential oils.

You can puree or grind the seed pods in a blender, but it will give you some filler with that process. But you will still have a good base odor along with it. For consumer use it would be good. Commercial use I prefer the pure ground seed powder. Those that have not used the pure Anise powder would be very pleased.

Pure Star Anise powder is great material. It is similar to using Powdered Valerian Root vs Valerian Root fluid. You know when you have used the authentic material. The odor is quite robust and pure anise as it should be.

Thank you all for your replies….my venture continues.