Perfumer Rewind: Bertrand Duchaufour “The High Priest of Resins” 2002-2007

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Throughout the early years of the 2000’s there was a perfumer who I dubbed The High Priest of Resins. Over five years and seven perfumes perfumer Bertrand Duchaufour would make seven perfumes with significant incense accords in them. By the time he hit the seventh, 2007’s Amouage Jubilation XXV, he would have perfected his touch with these ingredients to produce a perfume I consider a masterpiece. As I look back it was definitely a process which spread across work for three brands; Comme des Garcons, L’Artisan Parfumeur, and Eau d’Italie. Each of the perfumes created for those brands allowed him to test the limits of the resinous side of his palette.

It started in 2002 with the release of Comme des Garcons Series 3 Incense Avignon & Kyoto. For those fragrances M. Duchaufour constructed two disparate incense accords. For Avignon it was the stony chill of a cathedral made of ancient stone. It carries the weight of the centuries as you feel the slightly metallic tang of the incense over the aged wood of the pews. Kyoto, as its names portends, was a Japanese minimalist aesthetic. Clean woods matched with the sweeter resins make for a truly meditative harmonious, soothing incense accord. Both of these fragrances are still among my favorites but they really were the foundation of where M. Duchaufour would start to refine the accord.

In 2004 it was his work for the original Eau d’Italie fragrance which would show the light use of incense and L’Artisan Parfumeur Timbuktu the deeper darker side. With Eau d’Italie M. Duchaufour puts in an ethereal gauzy incense veil over the opening moments of a perfume that will turn very green and floral. It was a bit of ingenious sleight of hand as just as you think you’re headed in one direction off you go in an entirely different one. He had found a way to take the lighter accord of Kyoto and now make it float like a feather. Avignon’s incense accord is so astringent it has sharp edges to it. With Timbuktu M. Duchaufour decided to add some attenuating resins in myrrh and benzoin to soften those edges without sacrificing the impact.

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Bertrand Duchaufour

By 2006 he was looking for ways to take incense and match them with florals. L’Artisan Parfumeur Dzongkha would have a heart of chai tea, incense, and orris. This incense is the exact middle ground between the previous lighter style and the weightier version. It has a presence without being overwhelming. In Dzongkha combined with a chai accord and orris it forms a heart of one of the most underrated perfumes in M. Duchaufour’s vast portfolio. Eau d’Italie Paestum Rose has always been considered to be one of his finest creations as he replaces the orris of Dzongkha with a redolent Turkish rose. He returns to the heavier incense accord but uses elemi, opopanax and benzoin to smooth the rough edges. It gives an uplifting foundation and at this point I thought this was the pinnacle of M. Duchaufour’s incense perfumes.

Late in 2007 Amouage Jubilation XXV would prove to me there was one perfume left to draw all of this together. Throughout Jubilation XXV the experience with these notes comes back to coalesce into something transcendent. It starts with that gauzy lilting incense on top before heading into a floral and incense heart. The heart of Jubilation of XXV is a model of precision as M. Duchaufour also dusts it all with spice. By the time the deeper incense accord is on display in the base M. Duchaufour has determined it is myrrh and opoponax which provide the perfect partners to his austere frankincense.

Every one of these perfumes I have mentioned is among my favorites but it is this sense of feeling, as a perfumista, that I am following the development of an artist as he learns to fine tune his use of materials which makes this so interesting. M. Duchaufour has done this over the years as he has perfected his leather accord and rum accord over the course of many releases all leading to one which brings all of it together. It is what makes him one of the most fascinating perfumers working today and forever, in my mind, The High Priest of Resins.

–Mark Behnke

New Perfume Review Eau D’Italie Graine de Joie- Vivacious Pomegranate

Posted on by in Mark Behnke, New Perfume Reviews and tagged , , , , , .

It seems like every trendy thing eventually finds its way into fragrance. For that reason it should be no surprise that pomegranate seems to be showing up in a few 2014 fragrances I’ve tried. There’s nothing wrong with that and it is interesting to see how different perfumers choose to use it. For the eleventh fragrance from Eau D’Italie, Graine de Joie, the creative directors Marina Sersale and Sebastian Alvarez Murena asked perfumer Daphne Bugey to create a fragrance to “conjure(s) up the irresistible light-headedness of when you fall in love.” Mme Bugey decided that pomegranate was the keynote to create this feeling.

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Sebastian Alvarez Murena and Marina Sersale

I always hesitate to describe a fragrance in terms of age but Graine de Joie seems like a bubbly ingénue laughing at the world and joyous at having found love. Mme Bugey assembles an array of fruits along with a critical linchpin of praline before ending on a soft sheer white musk. Graine de Joie is effervescent in its joie de vivre.

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Daphne Bugey

Mme Bugey trots the pomegranate out right away but in truth pomegranate does not have the heft to really carry off a fruity opening by itself. Therefore Mme Bugey adds apple as a framing note to help define the unusual fruitiness and to add foundation. As the fruitiness attenuates a breezy, slightly watery freesia arises to combine with the pomegranate. The combination is like a sunny smile and it here where Graine de Joie really comes together. The next transition is really the most interesting part of Graine de Joie. At first I think I’m detecting wood but then it turns into a nutty quality and then there is a dusting of cocoa. Finally it all coalesces into a praline accord as Graine de Joie takes on a very unusual gourmand aspect for just a short period of time. Eventually it ushers in cedar and a collection of white musks to impart a soft sheer musk accord to the final moments.

Graine de Joie has 6-8 hour longevity and below average sillage.

For most of the first fragrances of Eau D’Italie there was almost a seriousness that belied the passion behind the brand. Starting with 2012’s Un Bateau Pour Capri there has been a noticeable lightening in tone. Graine de Joie is the most ebullient example of this lighter tone and it is that which makes it so easy to wear. I think when one says a fragrance is easy to wear it also becomes easy to dismiss and in the case of Graine de Joie that would be an error. That praline transition in the heart definitely rises above a fragrance that just wants to smell good. Mme Bugey’s skill at adding that into a fruity floral construction without making it intrusive was more impressive each time I wore it. I know for me I experience something much larger than a grain of joy every time I wear Graine de Joie.

Disclosure: This review was based on a sample provided by Eau D’Italie at Esxence 2014.

–Mark Behnke