Colognoisseur Pitti Fragranze 2014 Final Wrap-up Part 2- The Top 10 New Fragrances I Tried

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I think I did pretty well for my first Pitti Fragranze as I tried 90 new perfumes over the three days. There were some which I had tried prior to Pitti but I don’t include those. The other thing to keep in mind is to try this many perfumes the surface area of my available skin was the most prime real estate inside the show hall. Therefore all of these impressions come from a much smaller sampling that I usually do. I can tell you all of the perfumes below will be worn extensively and duly reviewed. In alphabetical order here are the Top 10 New Fragrances from Pitti Fragranze 2014.

Aedes de Venustas Copal Azur– This literally was the very first new perfume I tried at Pitti standing outside with Francois Duquesne. He told me this was perfumer Bertrand Duchaufour’s most intense incense fragrance ever. If you love M. Duchaufour’s previous incense perfumes this is going to blow you away.

Huitieme Art Parfums Liqueur Charnelle– Pierre Guillaume’s cognac laced perfume has the feel of being in an exclusive club with a roaring fire. In one hand is a snifter. In the other a pipe ready to be lit. The surrounding wood has been buffed to leave a subtle scent in the air. I think is going to be one of my favorite winter fragrances this year.

Laboratorio Olfattivo Patchouliful– With a name like Patchouliful you might imagine perfumer Cecile Zarokian would have loaded up on the titular note. Instead Mme Zarokian goes entirely in the opposite direction with a patchouli that feels diaphanous and opaque. It has been a long time since I thought of a patchouli fragrance as light but Patchouliful carries off this style incredibly effectively.

Map of the Heart Black Heart v.2– The single most unique perfume I tried the whole weekend. This is a journey into a heart of darkness, composed of eucalyptus, black pepper, and smoke; by perfumer Jacques Huclier. The other members of this collection are going to be easier to wear but Black Heart snarls and crackles with eldritch energies as it feels like a curse is being twisted via smell. You might not want to wear it but you won’t forget it. I can’t wait to wear it.

Maria Candida Gentile Leuco– It seems like every other stand I stopped at had a new tuberose. Maria Candida Gentile found a way to rise above the crowd by pairing her tuberose with beeswax. It creates a tuberose that is luscious and soft which embraces you instead of dominating you. The magic combination of these two ingredients gives Leuco a style all of its own.

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Masque Milano Russian Tea– The concept of a tea fragrance is nothing new. Even the concept of a Russian tea fragrance is nothing new. How then did perfumer Julian Rasquinet, in his last perfume as an independent perfumer, find a way to create something which uses tea as a focal point for fascinating grace notes throughout? It is like a Russian tea service in a bottle.

Olivier Durbano Promethee– Olivier Durbano has been guiding his brand with a sure aesthetic for ten years. With Promethee all of that experience has come together to result in the best fragrance within his collection. Every time I smell this I am pleased to see the level of assuredness which went into its creation. It feels like the moment of triumph as Prometheus is freed from the rock.

Peccato Originale Antidoto– You know how citrus doesn’t last? I have an antidote for that. This new perfumes from Silvia Monti has a mesmerizing intensity of citrus notes that take hours to unwind to reveal mate and rum underneath. You want a citrus to wear in the middle of winter? This is the one.

S-Perfumes Musk-S– Maybe it’s because I spent a few months writing about the different musk molecules in Olfactory Chemistry but perfumer Carlos Benaim has blended a splendid musk cocktail. There seem to be more synthetic musks here than you can shake a stick at. Once they all settle down you get the smell of sun-warmed skin underneath a linen shirt.

Zarkoperfume Molecule 234.38– Okay yes I am a sucker for any perfume which has molecule in its name. Zarko Ahlmann Pavlov the creative director and perfumer behind the entire Zarkoperfume line wanted to take a single aroma molecule of molecular weight 234.38 and let it unfold on the wearer. It is not Iso E Super it is something else but it shares that peek-a-boo quality of Iso E Super. For those who have liked the single molecule perfumes from other lines you have to add this to your collection. For the chemist it is a must have.

This was a very hard list to compile and there are another ten I have which are also great. Keep your eyes opened for upcoming reviews of all the things I brought back from my first Pitti Fragranze.

–Mark Behnke

Read Part 1 of my Final Wrap-up here.

Daily wrap-ups live from Florence can be found here; Day 1, Day 2, Day 3.

Pitti Fragranze 2014 Day 1 Wrap-up- Old Friends, New Tricks, and a Mozart Ball

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Buongiorno Perfumistas!

Every perfume event I go to it seems like the first day is all about checking in with those who have become friends over the years. This began on the sidewalk outside the Stazione Leopolda in Florence, Italy the site of Pitti Fragranze 2014. Francois Duquesne emerged from his cab and I asked him if there were any new Aedes de Venustas fragrances coming. He pulled out a sample vial of Copal Azur the new release coming in the fall. This is composed by the man I call The High Priest of Resins, Bertrand Duchaufour. Copal Azur is one of the most resinous fragrances I have smelled in a long time and it is tuned expertly by a perfumer who seemingly can do this at will.

They finally let us inside and I began by walking the entire room to see what is here. After my reconnaissance was done and many hugs and handshakes exchanged I stopped to introduce myself to Andy Tauer who I met in person for the first time. We discussed the Sotto La Luna line and I asked what was next and he told me the formulas for the next two are finished. We have Sotto La Luna Hyacinth and Sotto La Luna Tuberose to look forward to. Based on our conversation I am particularly excited to see how Hyacinth is realized.

Next stop was with Jeroen Oude Sogtoen who was presenting the new bottle designs for Mona di Orio Perfumes. One thing I was delighted to see was Oud has been renamed Oudh Osmanthus. Mme di Orio used osmanthus as the perfect unusual floral foil to oud at a time when too many perfumes were just throwing it in to fragrances with no thought. Oudh Osmanthus showed there was a different, and better, way to go. The new bottles feel like they were designed to nestle in your hand perfectly. Finally I had the opportunity to try the new release Myrrh Casati by perfumer Melanie Leroux. Mme Leroux captures the shadow play Mme di Orio was known for and this looks to be a worthy continuation of the legacy. One last thing for those who were missing the original fragrances Lux and Nuit Noire are now both available again in the new packaging.

As I walked into the next room the team from Masque Milano were standing in front of a giant samovar. It will be no surprise to you that the fifth fragrance from Masque Milano is called Russian Tea. The perfumer is Julien Rasquinet who made this his last work as an independent perfumer before accepting a job at IFF. While I fully expect M. Rasquinet to produce more great fragrances Russian Tea was a great one to finish this phase of his life as a perfumer. It is smoky and it has a surprising grace note of mint which works surprisingly well. I kept returning to this strip throughout the day and the development and the way it evolved rewarded me every time. I am looking forward to wearing this on my return home.

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I then attended two presentations in the conference hall that were back to back. The first was from Mane all about their supercritical fluid extraction technique named Jungle Essence. This form of extraction gathers all a natural source has to give without having to be heated up. There is a video they used to show this process that I hope I can share with you in the future because it did the best job of showing how the process works. The best part was they passed around examples of raw materials captured via Jungle Essence and more traditional ways. It was striking how much more nuanced the Jungle Essences were, especially when comparing side by side. For me the most surprising was the difference between cardamom absolute and cardamom Jungle Essence. The absolute has a raw green quality which the Jungle Essence has but it is much softer.

The second presentation was by perfumer Maria Candida Gentile who presented the three fragrances in the “Il Volo del Calabrone” (The Flight of the Bumblebee) collection. Using three different versions of beeswax form three different countries she complemented each one with different notes. In Kitrea it is lemon. In Leuco it is tuberose. In Synconium it is fig. The different style of honey is apparent on first sniff, it really adds a dimension to a note which can be difficult to balance.

On my way down the hall I met the lovely Valerie “Cookie Queen” Sperrer. Now you would think I would say she gave me a cookie but she also had some new tricks to share and instead I got a Mozartkugel or as we call it in English a Mozart Ball. It was yummy after dinner tonight. Thanks Valerie.

Final stop of Day 1 was to meet the team at Grossmith and try the new Fortnum & Mason exclusive, Sylvan Song which is a fabulous floral fantasy as only Grossmith can do as they continue to create perfumes which feel like classics reinvigorated. I think I might have to arrange for someone to visit Fortnum & Mason for me as this is truly exclusive and will not be sold anywhere else.

It was off to dinner as I rode into a beautiful sunset over the Arno river.

I’ll be back tomorrow as I concentrate on the section of the exposition called Spring which has gathered a number of new brands.

Until then Ciao Perfumistas!

–Mark Behnke