SOFT AMBER - CRISP CITRUS FRUITY

For anyone who's tired of vanilla meaning sweet.

Fragrance Notes: Sicilian Lemon, Calabrian Bergamot, Angelica, Honey, Fig, Heliotrope, Benzoin from Laos, Egyptian Jasmine, Madagascan Vanilla Absolute, Peru Balsam, Australian Sandalwood, and Musk.

Perfumer: Jacques Huclier.

Fragrance Match: Maison Margiela REPLICA, Jazz Club.

Sara Carner's love letter to Barcelona's old quarter: medieval stone, balconies spilling geraniums, pastelerías and wine bars and old men playing cards by the fountains.

It opens bright: Sicilian lemon and Calabrian bergamot over honey, and then it does something unexpected. The middle turns smoky and faintly dirty: benzoin, jasmine, and a fig that reads less like fresh fruit than dried fruit steeped in something strong. Heliotrope gives it an almond-creaminess underneath.

The vanilla everyone talks about is there, but it isn't a bakery. It's vanilla absolute sitting in Peru balsam and Australian sandalwood: resinous, grounded, closer to church and cellar than kitchen. Rich enough that one spray is a decision and two is a statement. Assertive. Not for everyone, and it knows it.