Countdown 24

'Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house not a creature was stirring, except for my nose! Yes we have reached the 24th day of our Christmas Fragrance Countdown, and I want to talk about one of my most evocative and festive perfumes. I am very excited to be able to introduce to you all, a house of the most stunning quality and bold, characterful invention. I also want to chat about another special aspect of perfume, the broadness of the meaning of evocation. Arso (2011) comes to us from the modern day masters Profumum Roma, and is F- Word beautiful. It is perhaps the greatest example of a pine and incense based perfume with all of its festive associations. It is the big brother to Cape Heartache that we discussed the other day. No strawberries present in this though. Here we meet a signature of Profumum Roma, a relatively straightforward pyramid of notes, and yet one of enormous richness and depth. Profumum Roma allow a relative small number of notes to all have greater impact and volume. In fact this marvel is almost an extrait in its concentration and so needs no help in taking you on a day long journey. Allow me to share the following from Profumum Roma: " Outside the first snow was falling and the wind was caressing the leaves of the pine trees. Inside the chalet of a good red wine mingled with the notes of a beautiful jazz music. You and I hugging on an old sofa and around us the smell of a crackling fireplace, the white smoke of a precious incense and the warm scent of pine resin " We open proceedings with an explosive burst of Pine Sap. WOW! This takes you to a dry and smoky forest immediately. It is overwhelmingly beautiful, and arrogant in its knowing. I then get an enormous amount of fresh and aged Cedar, think fresh pencil shavings, but of a great magnitude from a tree rescued from a forest fire. It is all smoky and heady but concealing a deep rooted sappy pine. It reveals itself to be dense and resinous. I am already completely hooked, I need nothing else. Being generous, Arso then gives us a finely balanced and sweet Amber in the heart, which provides a backbone to the smoke and dynamism of the opening. How best to give all of this lift and intention, well we have a sweet incense, full of energy and radiance. Then to my nose we finish with a warm leather, and best of all a salty/sweet Ambergris. Ambergris is of course the waxy excretion of Sperm Whales. It adds an element of depth and Umami to a fragrance and tends to veer towards a sweet trail. This Ambergris finds its greatest expression in the perfume Ambra Aurea, again from Profumum Roma. In Arso, the savoury and smoky opening is so expertly counterbalanced by the sweetness that this brings. The effect is staggering and excites me every time I wear it. The bonus at this time of year is of course its relationship to Christmas trees and their Pine filling the air. Yet this is to be worn anytime you want to feel its bracing opening and yet its melting warmth. It comprises some of the finest quality raw materials in any perfume I have encountered, and though it is pricey it more than rewards your nose and heart. I wish that many things at twice the price could say the same. So, back to my earlier talk of evocation. Of course perfume can transport you to a forest or a desert, it can remind you of a Camel or Cowboy. These things are all wonderful, but they are not the best thing for me. No, for me it is always about people. I am delighted to have shared this love of mine with a few people, and hopefully all of you this month. The beloved is also a huge support, even when I force her to smell the latest dung and badger based smells. But one of my closest friends in particular now also embraces this passion. We spend many hours chatting and smelling and inspiring one another to ever greater olfactory Joy. We are both ready to be challenged and horrified by the levels of mastery and originality out there, and we never settle for anything less. We went to Rome to visit Profumum Roma, and sample all it had to offer. It was here where I purchased Arso, and another perfume and smelled more gems than I can count. We could have got it in London, but that's not us. No we had to go to the source of the magic. My nose and heart were happy, and that is evocation. I remember a wonderful trip with much loved friends and whenever I smell this beautiful masterpiece am reminded of and grateful for that amazing time. Try this glorious perfume by all means, but more importantly, keep making memories. To you sir! Happy Smelling. J xxx