When I visited Robertet I was very impressed with the number of fractions they take of various raw materials. For those who aren’t familiar a fraction is a smaller temperature range collected during final distillation forming a different scent profile. Depending on when it is collected it can have very different characteristics. One part of this group of raw materials were the ones named “Coeur”; French for heart. As you might intimate from that it is the oil collected within a few degrees of the very center of the distillation temperature range. What you also might expect is this is the most authentic version of a particular raw material. What I found was with some of the nuanced character distilled away in front of and behind it the “Coeur” was not just a more focused version it also draws your attention to certain aspects easier to overlook in the unfractionated essential oil. The new Vilhelm Modest Mimosa uses Mimosa Coeur in a stunning way.
Jan Ahlgren
Creative director Jan Ahlgren has been working with perfumer Jerome Epinette since the inception of the brand last year. It has been a prolific partnership with Modest Mimosa the twelfth release with two more to come before the end of the year. What is becoming the typical Vilhelm architecture is three phases of two notes. This does require that those few notes provide something memorable to elevate the fragrance overall.
Jerome Epinette
Modest Mimosa opens with neroli and carrot. This is the second time this year a perfume has opened with this and I have been taken with it both times. The neroli has some transparent green qualities which mesh extremely well with the earthy rootiness of the carrot. There is a sun-warmed quality to these notes when they are paired. Then the Mimosa Coeur comes out. As the heart of mimosa the green facets and the slightly woody components have been distilled away. What is left is the most delicate creamy indolic white flower. M. Epinette then chooses violet to prop up the mimosa Coeur with its slightly sugared sweet floral nature. This all ends on a foundation of refined leather and what is called “salt musk” in the notes. What that means is one of those white musks that imparts a slightly ozonic quality as well. In the case of Modest Mimosa it adds expansiveness to the leather while subtly deepening the animalicness of it all.
Modest Mimosa has 12-14 hour longevity and average sillage.
2016 has had more than its fair share of excellent mimosa perfumes this year. What is nice about these different interpretations is each is distinct. Modest Mimosa’s comes from going straight to the heart of it all.
Disclosure: This review was based on a sample provided by Vilhelm.
–Mark Behnke
