Ever since I discovered artisanal perfumer Ineke Ruhland’s line of fragrances I have looked forward to her march through the alphabet.  Field Notes From Paris was one of my favorite releases of 2009 and showed me a perfumer hitting her stride just as she has most of the letters left to explore.

I met Ms. Ruhland for the first time this past April, at Sniffapalooza Spring Fling, and asked her what “G” would be and the only answer she gave me was, “Shakespeare meets manga”. I have to say that is one of the more interesting sound bite descriptions I’ve received for a fragrance and I’ve been eagerly awaiting some more information. Now we have it, as the press release for Gilded Lily has arrived on my desk.

Of course the phrase “gilding the lily” comes from Shakespeare’s King John and like so many famous quotes is not used coloquially exactly as it appears. The line is really “To gild refined gold, to paint the lily”.  Ineke feels the phrase, in either form, “is an apt description for perfumery in general since perfumers are always looking for ways to embellish the beauty of nature.”

Gilded Lily will be an Eau de Parfum inspired by the Goldband Lily of Japan. According to the press release Victorian plant hunters discovered this lily growing wild in the northern Japan mountains and brought it back to England.  Ineke did something similar as she planted some of these flowers to study them so they could become the heart of Gilded Lily.

Gilded Lily is described as a “fruity chypre” which opens on top notes of pineapple and rhubarb. The heart is the goldband lily and the base is patchouli, oakmoss and amber.

Gilded Lily will be available for order in mid to late September on the Ineke website. A special note is that anyone who has bought a full sized product or the current Deluxe Sample Collection V3 from the Ineke website will receive a sample for free once Gilded Lily is available. If you haven't yet purchased volume 3, you can buy it on the Ineke website now and you will then receive a sample of Gilded Lily upon release.

-Mark Behnke, Managing Editor