Baked earth. Midsummer heat. A heady Tuscan afternoon. That was our vision for Summer 19.
This year, we return to the landscape, pausing in the moment between late afternoon and early evening - when the light dims and the air begins to cool.
We’ve added Haitian vetiver and ferula gummosa to the mids and base - drawing the dry of the midday into the herbaceous tones of the evening.
The resinous notes that rise from the scorched terracotta earth linger, but are more subtle, diffused by aromatic, culinary notes of basil and coriander.
The brown eyed rock-rose is gone - in its absence, the citrus trees are a little sharper; honed by the vetiver, and made young by the green mandarin.
The flowers of the jasmine show their first signs of opening - a quiet but steady voice amidst this summer scene.
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The development phase of Summer 20 has been our most challenging yet. We were delighted with Summer 19, but as always, the work was not - and never will be - finished. A progression into a summer’s evening seemed a natural course.
To begin, we worked on rebalancing the core citrus blend, amplifying the bitter orange and introducing Egyptian basil, first seen in Spring 20. This took us close, but didn’t capture the succulence of the early mediterranean evening. After many iterations, we found the solution: green mandarin. The under-ripened, floral notes of the green mandarin work alongside the neroli to bridge the gap between the baked earth and the culinary, unifying the fragrance.