L’Artisan Parfumeur’s Le Potager Collection

The meteoric rise of fragrance has secured the category’s status as the subversive darling of the beauty world. With scent profiles becoming ever-more unorthodox and experiential, the perfumer’s palette is expanding to embrace unorthodox scents from garden vegetables to culinary compositions.

From Plate to Perfumer

Influenced by trends in food and drink, and a collective longing to feel comforted and nourished, fragrance brands are finding inspiration in diverse notes from allotment vegetables to earthy herbs. Inspired partly by a renewed interest in nature, biotechnology and artisan culinary skills, an abundance of epicurean connections is offering new ways to fuse two strongly connected senses. Unconventional, yet reassuringly familiar, food-inspired scents are a powerful way to connect with nature, remind us of life’s simple pleasures, and act as a balm for the soul in tumultuous times. From sweet roots to delicate leaves, perfume is translating the edible from plate to pulse points, and fragrance producers are leaning into the gastronomic palette to influence new fragrance notes. Niche season-led perfumery Ffern has collaborated with farmer and chef Julius Roberts to capture the scent of his rural smallholding – rich with the country garden scents of carrot, basil, herby hay and a wisp of autumnal smoke - and Symrise’s Garden Lab – an initiative that captured the natural oils of a diverse range of vegetables from mild artichokes to creamy cauliflower, brought niche vegetable notes to the fine fragrance landscape inspiring L'Artisan Parfumeur’s Le Potager collection. Amongst five innovative scents inspired by the Perfumer’s Vegetable Garden, the iconic Musc Amarante makes beetroot the centrepiece - the vegetable fascinating the perfumer "as much by its deep purple colour as by its mysterious smell of earth and ambergris" while its sibling fragrances capture allotment-inspired notes such as pea, cauliflower, fennel and tomato leaf.

Officine Universelle Buly’s Les Jardins Francais collection is inspired by a box of old seeds found at a Paris auction that translated into a collection of exotic vegetable-led scents. Described as “like a miraculous harvest in a universal garden ”, the collection includes offbeat pairings such as Watercress & Sardinian Parsley, Iraqi Beetroot & Rhubarb, and Caribbean Sweet Potato & Afghan Carrot. DS & Durga’s Bistro Waters is an aromatic green EDP inspired by the New York restaurant scene in the ‘90s. A fresh and savoury scent, the fragrance opens with lime and coriander top notes; unfolding to earthy bell pepper and pea flower accords before finishing with basil and the warm, woody aromas of nutmeg and moss water. As the pendulum swings from sweet to savoury, what’s next on the menu?

Gourmand Fatigue

From the earthiness of the allotment to the gourmand playfulness of bakeries and bars, fragrance is throwing its arms around the world of gastronomy. The recent nostalgic 90’s boom and the sweet scents that characterised them (Angel, I’m looking at you) combined with new launches from Kayali’s Yum and DS & Durga’s Pistachio dominating the dialogue, sweet scents have enjoyed a triumphant revival. But after every sugar rush comes the craving for an antidote, and micro trends are evolving that usher in a savoury bitterness that lies at the intersection of fragrance and mixology.

Mixologists - long the artisans of grown-up bars and sexy drinking establishments - are influencing fragrance in new and exciting ways. Tapping into cherished memories of celebrations, parties, happy hours, and sultry evenings spent in appreciation of the mixologists’ alchemic artistry, sharper cocktail and alcohol-inspired fragrances bring all of the feels with less of the fluff. Cool, intricately composed and discerning of palate, these elegant flavours are shifting the fragrance mood. Edinburgh-based indie fragrance brand Jorum Studio has created a new scent SPIRITCASK, designed to replicate the heady, oaky intensity of an empty whisky cask, and intriguing notes are gaining traction from Absinthe to Aperol. Iconic summer favourite - the Aperol Spritz – was the inspiration behind Antica’s glowing fusion of zesty orange, bitters and sweet sparkling prosecco, Mizensir’s Blue Gin EDP brings a vibrant hit of juniper to arrest the senses, and bitter, savoury notes are delivering new sensorial pleasures as the seasons shift.

Kingdom Scotland’s Collaboration with The Scotch Malt Whiskey Society

Scotland’s first niche fragrance house, Kingdom Scotland’s collaboration with The Scotch Malt Whisky Society united the aromatic worlds of whisky and fragrance with 2 luxurious scents Metamorphic and Portal. The rich, complex Metamorphic scent paired with ‘Peat Fire Tales of Orkney’ to unite the fragrance’s aromas of black pepper, tobacco and incense with the lightly peated profile of the whisky, a 19-year-old Highland bottling aged in a first-fill ex-PX Sherry butt. Portal’s green and herbaceous botanical scent complemented the Society’s juicy oak and vanilla whisky accords, described by the brand as ‘an expression of an eight-year-old Speyside whisky matured in a first-fill ex-Bourbon barrel’.

Advancing the whisky trend, Angela Flanders’ award-winning perfumery re-imagined its iconic Aqua Alba - taking the distinctive flavours of whisky and translating them into an updated fragrance. Distinguished, comforting and rugged, the new iteration evokes the olfactory nuances of the Scottish landscape - peat smoke, heather, wind-blasted wood and soft green mosses - a beautiful tribute to the country and its iconic spirit.

From the rugged outdoors to the sparkling glamour of the luxe cocktail bar, Kilian Paris continues the intoxicating trend started by its distinctive ‘Liquors’ Collection with its latest 2023 drop - Blue Moon Ginger Dash. Inspired by Kilian Hennessy's favourite summer cocktail, the cult 90's ‘Blue Lagoon’, the fragrance is a thrilling mix of lemon, vodka and blue caraçao liquor. Deepened with organic ginger essence on a base of white musk and ambroxan, this vivacious scent is the epitome of high-end happy hour.

So what’s it to be? Couture cocktail or creamy cauliflower? Earthy beetroot or a smoky Highland malt? As the worlds of flavour and scent continue to converge, perfume presents a huge epicurean opportunity for scent storytelling. Cheers!

Article Credit- Nicky Connors - nicky@constellarconsultancy.com

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