A Golden Perfume by Aedes de Venustas

by: Serguey Borisov

When a perfume is made on behalf of a designer, or a jewelry brand, the results can vary, depending on the perfumer's ability to express the brand's DNA in the perfume, on the popularity of the advertising face, and on trend-watching ability, too. But when perfume experts themselves decide to launch a perfume, based on their knowledge of what their customers are buying, then the result must be an unequivocal success.

Karl Bradl and Robert Gerstner of theAedes de Venustas niche boutique know what their clients are looking for, and launch their Aedes de Venustas perfumes by choosing the most interesting topics.Subsequently they order their fragrances from noses (perfumers) who know how to make The Perfume, The Hit. Before they started working with Aedes de Venustas, perfumers Bertrand Duchaufour, Ralph Schvieger and Rodrigo Flores-Roux managed to create several iconic fragrances for L`Artisan Parfumeurand Parfums MDCI, Editions de Parfums Frédéric Malle and Atelier Cologne,Arquiste and Tom Ford. The new fragrance Palissandre d'Or forAedes de Venustas was created by a legendary perfumer. It`s a pity that Master perfumer Alberto Morillas is much less known to the public than his mega-hit perfumes: CK one, Acqua di Gio Giorgio Armani, 212 Carolina Herrera,Cologne Thierry Mugler, Givenchy Pour Homme, Flower by Kenzo, Omnia Bvlgari, Bright Crystal Versace, M7 Yves Saint-Laurent. But that`s every perfumer's story (somehow it reminds me of how we all know the singers but not so much the composers and lyricists of The Hit).

In addition, Morillas is the author of many cult niche fragrances, like S-Perfume,Vanille 44 Paris Le Labo, Jamais le Dimanche Egofacto, Kisses Don`t Lie by Kilian,Opus VII Amouage and many others. This trend – to invite stellar perfumers to create niche fragrances -  was launched by the bright idea of Frederic Malle, but still not so many niche brands are following. I do not know what the real reason for that could be: is it the fee amounts or poorly written perfume briefs?

Palissandre d'Or, in contrast to the multi-layered, complex and breathing perfumes designed by Bertrand Duchafour, is not pretentious, but a clear, simple and modest fragrance. It is not a symphonic perfume, but rather a perfume melody. Pleasant, light, an easy melody of a woody perfume with a spicy sweetness. The melody is full of elegant illusion in the beginning, when the flavor starts with an iris-musk granulated whiteness, but then it shows a light accord of brown spices like coriander and cinnamon, and finishes with dark and weighty polished wood. Palissandre d'Or is a masculine counterpart for Flower by Kenzo also created by Morillas: just as Flower by Kenzo was an imaginary powdery flower, so is Palissandre d'Or an imaginary spicy wood.

The list of notes in this case is a weak and inappropriate landmark. Morillas makes perfumes as well-shaped, seamless sculptures with no apparent joints, no mega-contrast or eye-catching details – and Palissandre d'Or is no exception in his list. And the idea of the title – Rosewood – is also associated with illusion and conceptual substitution. There`s no Rosewood / Palissandre oil from the Dalbergias tree, smelling of roses and smoke, in this perfume. Loggers and cabinetmakers often called various decorative woods (from pinkish-brown to brick-brown color) from different tropical countries also to be Rosewood, focusing not on the botanical genus but on the hardness and the ability to polish – and consequently named dozens of trees unrightfully "Rosewood". The experience of Golden woods in Palissandre d'Or is achieved by Sri-Lankan sandalwood, patchouli and a cedar wood triumvirate (yellow Alaskan cedar, Chinese cedar and Virginia cedar), which are extremely well adjusted to each other, so that it is very difficult to distinguish its component notes in the sweet and spicy wood accord. Or put your finger upon the Rosewood accord. But as for me, this trick should be forgiven, because there`s not anything that has to do with oud in the perfume. And moreover - the illusion of rose was created here without any rose oil participation.

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The fragrance is very persistent, but it cannot swagger its sillage and crawls on the skin rather modestly. The perfumer describes Palissandre d'Or as “fluidity, clarity and strength” and I do understand why. But I think of some ritual object made of dark colored woods, with exotic inlays on a vegetable theme. A sleek and large ritual object, without a clear manifested purpose. An object with a high value in itself, without the precious content and special functions. Something like a two-meter long aboriginal didgeridoo, made to declare all about war and peace, the birth of an heir, and other divine favors. Or a luxurious wooden inlay box with a muslin bag of simple black tea inside (the emperor of a powerful and prosperous nation would give the boxes to his faithful servants before their retirement – as all the people are so rich that only true emotions and attention signs are important). Or a ritual boomerang of truth, which is thrown into the sky by tethered to each other disputants to find out the truth of the dispute – the person touched by the boomerang first is considered to be wrong in the dispute. And such.

Anyone who believes that the main virtue of a perfume is its long sillage and ability to cut a dash, will be disappointed by Palissandre d`Or. The personality of this perfume has a balanced, imperturbable temper with a sultry Latin look – an ostentatious and deliberate calmth, dryness and centrality. Here I would like to recall that size (of the sillage) does not matter – but endurance (in time) and virtuosity do.

Palissandre d`Or Aedes de Venustas

Top notes: Ambrette seeds;
Heart notes: Pink pepper, Coriander, Nutmeg, Cinnamon;
Base notes: Sandalwood, Copahu balm, Cedarwood, Patchouli, Ambroxan.