The secret essences allow players to permanently get extra aroma dice throughout the game to increase their chances of successfully distil the fragrance notes that they desire.
At the start of each round, one of the 12 extra aroma dice is drawn out of the bag and placed on the game board. The first player to spend an action can take that die for the rest of the game. Every time he rolls his dice, he can roll the extra aroma dice too, thus increasing his chance to successfully distill. The extra white aroma dice are especially helpful, since they are wild.