Mark Behnke's Best Fragrance of the Year- Musc Tonkin by Marc-Antoine Corticchiato

This was a great year for perfume. I think there are no less than five fragrances I see being library quality fragrances in my collection. Those five would also be the five fragrances I considered for my Fragrance of the Year which was revealed yesterday in the Best of (and Worst) of 2012 list I did with EIC Michelyn Camen . Not only did we agree a lot but many of the lists I’m seeing also have a lot of overlap which I think means the best olfactory art really found an audience and that makes me happy.

Top 5 (Fragrance of the Year Candidates)

5. Etat Libre D’Orange Fils de Dieu (aka Philippine Houseboy) -If the year ended in March, Fils de Dieu would have been the winner. Ralf Schwieger’s homage to all things Southeast Asian smoldered and enticed with its beauty.

4. Olfactive Studio Lumiere Blanche -If there is one perfumer who I think “gets” me, without ever having met me, it is Sidonie Lancesseur. Under Celine Verleure’s creative direction and with Massimo Vitali’s photograph as brief, Mme Lancesseur turned white light into something complex.

3. Amouage Interlude Woman  -This is the only pick here where I think many will question my choice. I’ve read lots of comments on how many find this unlikeable. I found it to be the most endlessly fascinating fragrance of 2012. Perfumer Karin Vinchon Spehner and Creative Director Christopher Chong produced a fragrance of contrasting vectors that wasn’t easy to love but once I found my way I couldn’t let it out of my sight.

2. slumberhouse Pear + Olive -For most of the year this was going to be my best of 2012. Josh Lobb, the man behind slumberhouse, put almost every other perfume out there to shame. Pear + Olive is as intricate a creation as you can find. The delicate complexity takes my breath away with its fragility. More than anything on my entire list if there is only one perfume you should seek out Pear + Olive is that fragrance.

1. Parfum D’Empire Musc Tonkin -Part of why this is number one is I just love musk and Marc-Antoine Corticchiato has made a genius musk fragrance….without using musk! It is that bit of magic that makes Musc Tonkin my Fragrance of the Year. I have long since stopped trying to figure out how M. Corticchiato did it and instead revel in the Rubik’s Cube complexity of it all coming together. I said it before if this is truly only going to be a 1000 bottle limited edition and you love olfactory art you want this perfume in your collection.

Here are the remaining 20 top fragrances of 2012 in alphabetical order:

A Lab on Fire LiquidNight –This is the best fragrance Carlos Benaim has ever made. He is arguably the best designer mainstream fragrance perfumer working. With LiquidNight he showed what he can do with a niche aesthetic. It is Polo for grownups.

A Lab on Fire What We Do in Paris Is Secret –Dominique Ropion reiterates that the freedom allowed perfumers working for A Lab on Fire translate to great perfume. My ultimate comfort scent of 2012.

Aedes de Venustas – Bertrand Duchaufour had a quiet year but the two that did make my list are among the best perfumes he has created. Aedes de Venustas took a green rhubarb note and spun it into a fresh spring fragrance that I wore well into the summer. 

Amouage Opus VI, Beloved, and Interlude Man –Yes I’m going to cheat a little bit by putting three entries into one. It won’t be the last time in this list I do it. Creative Director Christopher Chong guided Amouage to a banner year. Amouage swings for the fences with every release and this year they hit four home runs.

Arquiste Parfumeur Boutonniere No. 7 –Gardenia was the note of 2012 and what was great about it was we were treated to many versions of it. The Arquiste version was found on the lapel of a Paris dandy attending the Opera Comique in 1899. The smell of a crushed gardenia bloom on a formal jacket made this stand out amongst the gardenia olfactory garden.

Sylvie Ganter and Christophe Cervasel

Atelier Cologne Ambre Nue, Rose Anonyme, Vetiver Fatal, Sous le Toit de Paris, and Mistral Patchouli –Owners and creative directors Christophe Cervasel and Sylvie Ganter have a clear vision of how they believe an Atelier Cologne fragrance should feel. In Ralf Schwieger (Ambre Nue and Sous le Toit de Paris) and Jerome Epinette (Rose Anonyme, Vetiver Fatal, and Mistral Patchouli) they have a one-two punch of elite perfumers realizing that vision. In 2012 this all-star team released five fragrances that as a whole I think are better than the original five releases from Atelier Cologne. The attention to aesthetic and art shows in every spritz.

Byredo Bullion – Jerome Epinette is the perfumer for Byredo under Ben Gorham’s creative direction and he made three fragrances for Byredo. Bullion which is centered on an osmanthus note that glows as golden as the name is the star here.

Carner Barcelona Rima XI –Creative director Sara Carner and perfumer Sonia Constant made a soft spicy pillow to lay one’s head upon. Deceptive in its lightness there is a real quiet strength to it.

CB I Hate Perfume #205 7 Billion Hearts –Smoking vanillas and incense; if that phrase get your heart beating join the remaining 6,999,999,999 of us. Christopher Brosius does it again.

DSH Perfumes The  YSL Retrospective Collection – The last cheat on the list but this six fragrance collection by Dawn Spencer Hurwitz who was asked by the Denver Art Museum to create a collection based on the “Yves St. Laurent: The Retrospective” exhibition was just flat out brilliant. It put every other poorly thought out group of fragrances called a “collection” to shame. This was truly a collection containing a coherent theme throughout as Dawn Spencer Hurwitz channeled YSL and turned it into olfactory art of the highest form. Each of the six fragrances captured a phase of YSL’s career with “Le Smoking” the diamond in a collection of other rare gems. This is what it means to have a collection of olfactory art, the only one worthy of that accolade in 2012.

Ineke Ruland

Ineke Hothouse Flower – In a year with so many good gardenia fragrances it shouldn’t be a surprise I have two on my list. Ineke Ruhland captures a gardenia weighted down and surrounded by the humidity of a hothouse. This gives a depth to the central note that nobody else who assayed this in 2012 came close to matching. I felt like I was surrounded and consumed with this gardenia.

Jul et Mad Stilettos on Lex –The story of the Mad half of Jul et Mad as Stilettos on Lex captures a young woman in NYC who uses her fragrance to make an impression. Created by Dorothee Piot this is a modern sophisticated fruity floral chypre. That phrase works because it isn’t left to turn into a muddled mess but instead it is an assured woman of style in fragrant form.

Les Nez Turtle Vetiver Front –As part of The Turtle Project Isabelle Doyen is taking vetiver and examining it from all sides. In this second exercise she views it from the “front”. What she sees is the essence of smoky vetiver and how to illuminate and contrast that aspect. This feels like an artist’s study of a particular color or material. I wonder if we will refer to this as “The vetiver phase” of Mme Doyen’s career. The first two have set a high bar for whatever is to come.

Maison Francis Kurkdjian Oud –Thankfully I didn’t feel like every other new perfume I had to test had oud in the title. The one from Francis Kurkdjian, like Mona di Orio’s brilliant Oud of last year, is not content to just let the oud be exotic and different. True artists know how to twist it and make it sing the way they want it to sing. M. Kurkdjian turns oud from a bass to a tenor and it is much the better for that effort.

Memo Luxor Oud –John and Clara Molloy as creative directors along with perfumer Alienor Massenet are producing one of the finest lines of fragrances out there. Luxor Oud was the better of the two released in 2012. This felt like the formula had been discovered in a secret compartment in The Sphinx and Mme Massenet added a modern spin. As with the Maison Francis Kurkdjian Oud, Luxor Oud is the better for having a perfumer who will work with this fractious note until it behaves the way she wants it to.

M. Micallef Ylang in Gold –From the first moment I observed the gold dust swirling in the liquid in the bottle to the patch of skin it was sprayed on I knew this was going to be on my list for this year. Ylang in Gold is a soliflore done the Martine Micallef way, which means it is sophisticated, chic, and almost too beautiful to wear. Wear it anyway and glory in its exquisiteness.

Parfums MDCI Chypre Palatin –IFRA, restricted ingredients, we can’t do great perfume, regulations will be a nuclear bomb to the industry; I’ve heard all of the doomsayers all year long. Back at the beginning of the year Bertrand Duchaufour showed with this incredibly modern chypre that it is only the unimaginative and untalented that should be worried.

Providence Perfume Co. Moss Gown –This is the most thoroughly original fragrance I experienced in 2012. Charna Ethier is elevating the natural perfumer’s art by being unafraid to use the unusual. Sunflower essence and a double barreled boronia combine to make Moss Gown unforgettable.

Tommi Sooni Passerelle –Creative director Steven Broadhurst and perfumer Brent Sclitter made what seemed like millefeuille of florals. I know there aren’t a thousand floral notes but Passerelle made me think there was. Passerelle had the most fascinating development on my skin and after hours and hours I was always sad to see it go. Thankfully it just took another spray to start over again.

Ulrich Lang Lightscape –I think we all forget Ulrich Lang is a damn fine perfumer with all that he has been doing in turning the Elements Showcase into a premiere fragrance event. Even I grabbed a sample of Lightscape as an afterthought. To those of you reading this act with more forethought than me and you will be rewarded with one of the best perfumes of 2012 in all of its violet and iris facets. Even on this list it might be last but it truly is near the top of the heap for the entire year.

So there is my top 25, sort of. There was so much great perfume this year and I tested just under 500 new fragrances I thought I would just add another 25 as Honorable Mention although if you realize it these are really the perfumes I thought came out in the top 10%. Here are the next 25 in alphabetical order:

Aftelier Sepia, Agonist Black Amber, Andrea Maack Coal, Ann Gerard Cuir Nacre, Bond No. 9 Manhattan, Byredo Black Saffron, Di Ser Kaze, Diptyque Volutes EDP, Dita Von Teese, Frapin Speakeasy, Guerlain L'Heure de Nuit, Hermes L'Ambre des Merveilles, Keiko Mecheri Canyon Dreams, Penhaligon's Peoneve, Puredistance Opardu, Robert Piguet Notes, Six Scents No. 2 Modesty, Six Scents No. 4 Nappa Noir, slumberhouse Sova, Tableau de Parfums Dark Passage, Tom Ford Lys Fume, Tom Ford Noir, Undergreen Gold, Vero Kern mito, Xerjoff Al Khatt.

 

I also want to take this opportunity to thank the entire perfume community from Facebook groups to the people who actually make the liquid we all love so much. I think I had more contact with every part of the industry in 2012 and there was one commonality to every interaction; every single person was giving of their time and willing to allow me to do my job communicating the world of olfactory art to the readers of CaFleureBon. A heartfelt Thank You to every one of you.

Happy New Year!

–Mark Behnke, Managing Editor

For yesterday's post we had a draw for Michelyn's Rising Star and for today's post we have a draw for the artist I named my Rising Star. Thanks to our friends at Parfum1.com we have a draw for 1.7 oz slumberhouse Pear + Olive.

To be eligible leave a comment on my choices whether you agree, disagree and let me know what I left out. If you want a second chance to win anybody who leaves a comment on the piece I did with EIC Michelyn Camen will be entered a second time. If you've already left a comment you are fine if you haven't head over and add one for a second chance for this draw. The draw will close on December 30, 2012.

We announce the winners only onsite and on our Facebook page, so Like CaFleureBon and use our RSS option…..or your dream prize will be just spilled perfume.