Autumn 26

El aceite esencial de lavanda Maillette se considera una de las mejores variedades en perfumería. Aunque comparte el carácter característico de la Lavandula angustifolia, su aroma es notablemente más suave, más dulce y con más matices. Nuestra lavanda Maillette se cultiva y se cosecha en Provenza, donde esta flor se cultiva desde el siglo XV.

Our Roman chamomile comes from the flats of Norfolk, where the flowers are harvested from July to August, at the peak of their bloom. A low, creeping perennial, Roman chamomile releases its gentle apple scent into the air when trodden on. After harvesting, the flowers undergo steam distillation quickly in order to preserve their fruity, sweet herbaceousness.

Sandalwood is a slow-growing plant that can reach heights of ten metres, which, due to its popularity, is extremely vulnerable to over-harvesting. Ours comes from sustainable groves in Australia, and is extracted by steam distilling the tree’s wood and root chippings.

Peru balsam is drawn from the forests of El Salvador and Guatemala, where the Myroxylon balsamum tree was once traded through Peruvian ports. The tree bark is gently scored, releasing a dark, honeyed resin, then steam distilled and transformed into an oil that is sweet and woody.

Marjoram is an aromatic herb - closely related to oregano. As a fragrance ingredient, it brings a surprisingly spicy facet, with a dry, herbal edge. Marjoram essential oil is obtained through steam distillation of the dried flowering plant.

Valerian is a flowering herb whose essential oil is extracted from the plant’s root. On its own, its scent is powerful and is therefore rarely used in perfumery. Our nose, Elodie, uses the oil with careful restraint, for the distinctive herbaceous and earthy depth it lends to a composition.

Grown on Calabrian hills overlooking the Ionian Sea, the fruit is harvested by hand and the oil extracted at source. The La Face family planted their first bergamot in the 1930s and have been mastering the craft of producing citrus oils ever since.

Ffern petitgrain is harvested in Paraguay from a hybrid tree - a cross between a sweet Citrus x sinensis and a bitter Citrus x aurantium. Grown by a network of family farmers, the tree’s leaves and branches are cut and immediately distilled in hand built, clay sealed wooden distilleries.

Ffern’s geranium, Pelargonium graveolens, is also known as the rose geranium. Legend has it that this flower was created when the prophet Mohammed, after bathing in a river, laid his shirt upon a mallow branch to dry. The mallow was so honoured that it transformed into the beautiful rose geranium.

Scentless when fresh and native to Asia, patchouli is a member of the Lamiaceae or Mint family. Our patchouli is hand-harvested on the Indonesian Island of Java. It’s then dried in the shade and briefly fermented, helping to break down the cell walls before the copper still hydrodistillation.

Gurjun balsam is a natural resin drawn from trees of the Dipterocarpus genus, native to Southeast Asia. It’s obtained through tapping the tree bark - a traditional extraction method that allows each tree to rest and replenish for months or even years before being tapped again. It carries a woody depth with smooth, slightly leathery undertones.