When Thierry Wasser succeeded Jean-Paul Guerlain as the in-house perfumer at Guerlain in 2008 we waited to see whether he would build on the success of his earlier efforts, for the House, of Iris Ganache and Quand Vient La Pluie. While the latter is a top-notch floral, Iris Ganache is probably my least favorite of the L’Art et La Matiere line within Guerlain. In Iris Ganache M. Wasser chose to mix iris and chocolate and instead of finding common ground the two notes seemed to clash. Quand Vient La Pluie showed when M. Wasser go it right it could be spectacular as the triad of heliotrope, jasmine and violet is balanced beautifully. Since becoming the in-house nose he has released two other fragrances Guerlain Homme which while well constructed had longevity issues on my skin and Idylle which, again returned to the use of florals, showed a deft touch and is a good modern chypre. His latest creation for Guerlain was the seventh fragrance in the L’Art et Matiere series, Tonka Imperiale.
When I saw that M. Wasser was once again headed into gourmand territory, I was worried. In Iris Ganache he let the gourmand elements spiral out of control and it made me question his ability to correctly balance those components. Tonka is a versatile note to create a fragrance around as it works well with herbal notes and sweet notes and in many ways this was less challenging than the attempt made in Iris Ganache where the sweetness just become overwhelming. What I ended up finding in Tonka Imperiale is that M. Wasser can use gourmand elements to great effect and when using a note like tonka which can present two differing facets he knows how to accentuate both of them.
The opening stages of Tonka Imperiale are dominated by an austere almond note. A more full almond note carries a bit of woodiness, to my nose. In Tonka Imperiale this almond note carries the slightly bitter aspect one gets when you are hulling almonds and it is a nice complement to the sharply herbal rosemary that appears next. The rosemary is a perfect choice as it really accentuates the herbal character of the tonka as it begins to appear.
As the tonka rises in intensity a sweet hay note appears which signals the beginning of the sweeter side of tonka being explored. M. Wasser chooses a pair of notes in honey and tobacco which impart sweetness without becoming cloying. In Tonka Imperiale, the sweetness is expertly managed and is pleasant without being annoying. The base adds vanilla in and in this case the sweetness is also kept to a minimum as amber is allowed to warm and soften the closing stages of Tonka Imperiale’s development.
Tonka Imperial proves that all perfumers deserve a second chance and this time M. Wasser has created a beautifully engineered gourmand that escapes all of his previous foibles and shows an artist who has learned every nuance of his central note and how to bring it to life.
And as Michelyn, who loves this fragrance says “la guerlainade is back.” (See her review, written on January 27, 2009 http://fashiontribes.typepad.com/fashion/2010/01/guerlains-new-star-fragrance-tonka-imp%C3%A9rial.html)
Disclosure: This review was based on a sample purchased from The Perfumed Court.
– Mark Behnke, Managing Editor