Caldey Abbey Perfumes

Caldey Abbey Perfumes is based on the small island of Caldey in southwest Wales. The island is owned by a Cistercian monastery. Besides the abbey, there is only a small village, everything is firmly in the hands of tourists.

From the early 1950s, the monks sold bouquets of lavender grown on the island to day tourists. The idea arose to use the island's resources more wisely and create their own fragrances from the lavender and other plants native to the area. The first self-created fragrances were well received by visitors and it was decided to professionalize the production. A modern distillation plant was built and professional perfumers, together with the monks, developed more complex fragrances, which were marketed under the brand name "Caldey Abbey Perfumes".

In the early days, all fragrance essences still came from the island, but resources were far from sufficient, and eventually all raw materials began to be imported. However, the distillation process continued to be carried out on the island. In the 1970s, the competitive situation in the perfume market increased sharply and it became increasingly difficult for smaller companies to obtain raw materials, so that Caldey Abbey Perfumes was finally forced to abandon its own processing process in large parts of the production and buy ready-processed raw materials.

Currently, Caldey Abbey Perfumes employs a top British perfumer who reformulates the old fragrances or develops new fragrances for the company. Blending and bottling continue to take place on Caldey Island. In addition to perfumes, eau de colognes and aftershaves, the company also produces bath essences, hand lotions, and soaps. The island's lavender is again dried and sold in bouquets or sachets, as it was last in the 1950s.