One of my very favorite movies is “The Sound of Music”. That sweeping panoramic shot of the alpine meadow with Julie Andrews singing the opening line of the movie. I’ve always wanted to know what that scene smelled like.  Then I became aware of Brigitte Witschi’s line of Bergduft Fragrances. So far there have been three releases all based on native Alpine flora; Alpenrose, Blauer Enzian and her first fragrance Edelweiss. I recently got a chance to experience Edelweiss and while I’m not sure I found my Alpine meadow I found a very nice powdery floral fragrance.

 

Fr. Witschi says on the Bergduft website:

“My ambition is to create timeless fragrances of Swiss origin, individual and without flourish.
Fragrances representing the beautiful and light aspects of Switzerland:

The pureness and the incomparable magic of Swiss mountains.
The freshness and beauty of nature – beyond vogues and ephemera.
A deep breath of cool, refreshing air”

I think after having read all of this I expected to encounter a fragrance which was redolent of airy ozonic notes, leading to green, and perhaps some evergreen to finish. Now the closest I’ve been to the Alps is when I sat in the front row for a revival screening of “The Sound of Music”. Fr. Witschi’s vision of Edelweiss starts with fruit. Now I can’t recall seeing many fruit trees in the Alpine meadow in “The Sound of Music” but this is a very pleasant opening and while I expected fresh ozonic notes Fr. Witschi outsmarted me and chose the freshness of bright fruits to open Edelweiss. The heart has the expected floral notes in the presence of iris and jasmine; this has the effect to turn Edelweiss strongly powdery. Then the oddest thing happens rising out of the powder is a strong vanilla note which tones down the powderiness but does enhance the sweetness of the jasmine. The vanilla is the beginning of a warming trend as both cedar and sandalwood along with tonka finish this fragrance in a  comforting snuggly space.

 

 

 

Bergduft Edelweiss has average longevity and sillage.

I ended up not finding my metaphorical Maria in a bottle but Fr. Witschi’s unusual evocation of Edelweiss is no less the pleasant for her unconventional, to me, choices. Once I shook off my preconceptions Edelweiss was a nice powdery comfort scent.

Disclosure: This review was based on a sample provided by First-in-Fragrance.

–Mark Behnke, Managing Editor