Aromatic rice commands the highest prices in both domestic and international markets because consumers prize both the mouth-watering aroma and delicate flavour of the rice. The major aromatic compound in fragrant rice is 2- acetyl 1-pyrroline (2AP). Using a panel of 380 diverse varieties of rice, metabolomics profiling of volatile compounds from the grain, and genome wide association with 33000 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), the objectives of this study were to identify (i) sensory traits that describe jasmine rice; (ii) the volatile compounds that define those sensory traits, and (iii) genetic markers for those compounds. The sensory descriptors fell into three clusters, with Cluster 1 describing high quality jasmine rice, Cluster 3 describing non-fragrant rice, and lower quality jasmine rices falling between the descriptors in Clusters 1 and 2. The compounds that most strongly discriminated the high quality jasmine rices from the other samples were 2AP and four other compounds, two of which required high resolution platforms to reveal their molecular structure and annotation. These five compounds associate with the same SNP on chromosome 8, several are fragrant with a low odour threshold, and they provide new information about the pathway of 2AP synthesis. Three QTL were found that associate with high or low amounts of the five compounds. Another 20 metabolites associated either positively or negatively with high quality jasmine fragrance. Significant genetic associations could be found for some of these compounds. By combining these platforms, we deliver new and valuable tools to breeders for selecting highly fragrant rice. We also deliver information and germplasm for the development of new populations targeted to provide appropriate phenotype data to identify QTLs for the other important metabolites identified here.