Jardin du Poète (Eau d'Italie)

Guest review by Ash

Sicily is the inspiration they say....

Well, imagine a "hybrid fruit" of Seville orange, Kinno (Pakistani mandarin) and California nectarine... I know, I know... but just imagine. You are sitting in the sun, there is a faint nip in the air but layered so with sun's heat, the breeze by alternate degrees is both warm and chilly. And you are peeling this fruit, your fingers dig into the top and a citrusy (more orange) zesty aroma, the spray of peel oil suddenly comes at you. And as you split it open and this one being a hybrid has its skin coming off easy and that breath of freshness preserved in each fruit wafts up. And then the succulent sweetness, a delight so light yet so emphatically orange, a smell which factually glitters in your mind's eye as you inhale, and then you swallow the taste and savour that slice. And somehow all this freshness, almost alive quality so well preserved here owes itself to immortelle flower and benzyl cinnamate.

So, this little scene has a smell equivalent in form of ‘Jardin du Poète’. Now, why does only a poet get to have something this pretty is beyond me. A scientist, I do assure you, would strive for something as good.

I like it, a lot. And a musical simile—of course, when it comes to me, all perfumes are musical compositions—can be aptly applied here. The scents of all those diverse orange scent-flavours mixed up with bitter florals and woody nuances making up this perfume play out in this theme; Albeniz’s Asturias as rendered by John Williams (guitar), Ulas Hazar (saz) and Pablo Galdo (piano). Though each rendition is unique but together, despite being supplanting in nature, they also complete one another.

Bravo, Mr Duchaufour!

I was almost and I repeat almost, at the verge of writing an ode of despair to the barrage of perfume tinctures you’ve been pouring out recently, especially Traversee du Bosphore and Nuit de Tubereuse. But, this simple yet delightful interpretation has me all contrite.

Year: 2011
Perfumer: Bertrand Duchaufour
Notes: Bitter Orange, Grapefruit, Basil, Angelica, Helicrysum, Pink Pepper, Cypress, Vetiver, Musk