1445 from Castle Forbes is a morning in the Scottish countryside, where frost and dew fill the landscape. It is a highly traditional fragrance, celebrating the fuzzy green texture of ferns and grasses – a profusion of the very best features of the Fougere style. 1445 demonstrates the overwhelming confidence of simplicity: a single idea well executed, it sings out from amongst the robust folds of petitgrain, lavender, and patchouli – staple ingredients of the genre. This is sharpened with the brightness of lemon, the anisic snap of tarragon, and the fire of clove, resting on a dominant vetiver note – reiterating the imperative sense of clean essential to this scent.
Bon Monsieur from Rogue Perfumery leans on a brilliant quality of lavender absolute, speaking volumes amongst incredible nuance. Balanced with oakmoss, with these two notes, there’s no mistaking the genre of this scent. Camphoraceous overtones blankets a medley of bergamot, rose geranium, carnation, and lily of the valley - all on a woody, mossy, musky base. This is a confident, gutsy, and sumptuous fragrance, oscillating between a green, mint-like freshness and spicy ambery warmth - never at the expense of its elegance.
In 1725 (Histoires de Parfums), lavender’s anisic facets are drawn out and paired with a complementary dose of star anise and liquorice root, brightened up top with the remarkable charge of bergamot, lemon, and grapefruit. This sizzling accord ascends – an intermezzo of spicy, sweet, and bright – until this lands on a generous cloud of heliotropin musk, vanilla, and cedarwood for structure. The total composition is richly filled with air; plush without being heavy - it is a happy scent.
DGAF from BORNTOSTANDOUT marks the swing into a more modern profile, emphasising a fascination for violet leaf - an adjunct that imparts intense green freshness, between herbal, floral, and ozonic. It is like liquid fire, a purifying sensation rounded out with sage and pepper. DGAF is pleasantly dry yet creamy, as the grains of its woody surface are impregnated with resins, incense, and cashmeran musk. The overall scent is a composite of harmonious contrasts - it is finished with rose in its centre: just enough to keep things interesting.
Aventus (Creed) represents the apotheosis of the modern - contrasts are presented with a certain swagger, as bombastic citrus notes are set against leather tones, and wood notes are soaked in a melange of fruits and spices. It is immediately appealing for this reason, arresting one’s attention with top notes of apple, blackcurrant, and pineapple, working into a generous heart of romantic jasmine and deep virile underpinnings of patchouli, birch, ambergris, and musk. Watch as generous hesperidic top notes soar and sparkle, succumbing to the birch note in the base, lending its signature smoky and leathery facets, then washed in the warm salty brine of ambergris.
Finally, Zoologist’s Dodo Jackfruit is a work of exaggeration, within an indefatigably civilised Fougere frame. Sturdy and steady lavender forms its heart, spicy with cool-and-warm breath and its signature fuzzy texture, infused with the sizzling and minty beat of geranium, softened with romantic orange blossom, and warmed with tonka bean. Amongst all of this dashes tropical fruits and spicy citruses - yellow and green colours twisting around this staid medley of notes. For those familiar with the Fougere - this is a welcome surprise.
