Illustrator Rene Gruau for DIOR Perfumes
Maison Dior is perhaps my favourite of the glossy counter Houses. It is still making interesting and carefully orchestrated olfaction pleasing to both niche and mainstream lovers alike. Hermès has its master minimalist Jean-Claude Ellena and at Cartier resides Mathilde Laurent, the White Witch of Perfumery. The Wasser tenure at Guérlain is lacklustre, resulting in fragrances that swing wildly between pouting exclusivity and yawning pedestrianism. Arguably, François Demachy at Dior has been quiet and consistently solid, producing and maintaining an elegant and tricky swathe of perfumes. Yes there have changes in formulations and style. IFRA restrictions have impacted on the personalities of the house classics and critics and bloggers alike are happy to bemoan the death of true style chez Dior. I disagree. Demachy’s stewardship of the perfume collections has perhaps erred on the safe side, yet as a guardian of taste, heritage and grace, he has perhaps fared better than the relentless Guerlain flankering, and YSL’s decent into Middle Eastern sell out.
Both Dior and Chanel have exceptional couture collections. Chanel’s Les Exclusifs was launched originally by Dom de Vetta with the Chanel in-house perfume team. He is now the Creative Director of London-based house Shay & Blue, one of my go-to fragrances for innovative olfaction. Dior has La Collection Privée, and La Collection Couturier Parfumeur a refined gathering of scents, inspired by locations, memoires and people connected to Monsieur Dior. I got into La Collection Privée quite early on, buying bottles of Eau Noire (2004) and Bois d’Argent (2004) on a trip to Paris in 2005 and adding Cologne Blanche (2004) a year later. Francis Kurkdjian’s Eau Noire is a vertiginous descent into corrupted lavender, liquorice and seared thyme and one of my fetish scents.
Patchouli Impérial, launched in 2011, is part of La Collection Couturier Parfumeur and pays homage to one of perfumery’s most enigmatic and alluring notes, pogostemon cablins or patchouli, a versatile and verdant shrub, related to mint. Patchouli is a compulsory note in traditional chypré fragrances and its warm, woodsy presence in many key Dior formulations makes it an emblematic material for the house. Diorling, Miss Dior, Dioressence, Dune, Midnight Poison and the almighty Eau Sauvage all utilise the diverse aromatic facets of this extraordinary raw material. It embeds, warmth, mystery and solicitation; marrying beautifully with rose, woods, tonka and vanilla.
In the 18 and 19th centuries, silk traders were terrified their precious cargoes would be consumed by moths during long voyages so dried patchouli leaves were layered throughout the bundles of fine silk to repel the voracious insects. When the silks reached their destinations, the delicate fibres were impregnated with the rich, balsamic tones breath of patchouli, kickstarting a passion for the shrub which has never really faded.
Patchouli is unusual in that aging deepens and shifts the olfactory flavour. Like a fine liqueur, the oil can develop rounded fruit tones, black-cherry tobacco tints, whiffs of chocolate and crushed tree sap. Patchouli Impérial has the most delicious sensual opening; I had forgotten just how incredibly well assembled the components are in this glowering Dior. The thing I noticed most of all was how much it reminded me of the original Angel and therefore how amazing the patchouli really is in Olivier Cresp and Yves de Chirin’s ground-breaking gourmand masterpiece.
The gunshot of patchouli, straight out of the bottle is incredible, chocolately, rooty, green, lacquered, shellacked and glowing. Amid the shrubby rush are carefully accented notes of mandarin, bergamot and coriander seed essence. This citric hit is vital to the success of the earthy patchouli, it sweetens the air and sets the scene for the descent into the woodier base arena of sandalwood that at first seems too clean and linear, but then breaks apart on the skin into a creamy addictive veneer. Demachy has rendered the patchouli mellow and languid, but so rounded and intensely moreish, I cannot stop worrying my own wrists, nuzzling the skin, it is such a comforting and yet alluring odour. Reviews have been mixed it's true. I love it so much more than I expected to, it is a regal and correct interpretation of a beloved note that eschews the easy hippy/earthy associations and aimed higher, resulting in a complex perfume that somehow seems made of one element whilst coalescing glow, prestige and style around you.
Disclosure – From my own collection
The Silver Fox, Senior Editor
We have a 5 ml decant for a reader in the USA or EU. To be eleigible please leave a comment with your favorite Dior perfume, where you live and why you would like to win Patchouli Impérial. Draw closes January 26, 2015