04/30/2021
Intersport
62 Reviews
Translated
Show original
Intersport
Very helpful Review
10
'...Unveiled by Chemical Synthesis'*
When I was trying to get an overview of vetivers a few years ago (an unfinished business to this day) I got stuck with Route du Vétiver. As with almost all of my favorites of this particular ingredient, the modulation of the vetiver by something else plays a key element - much like Goutal's Vétiver Eau de Toilette and Lutens' Vétiver Oriental. In Maitre's vetiver, it's cassis, blackcurrant, probably the whole bush including the foliage, which adds a decent dynamic. Despite all the modulation, Route du Vétiver remains a very clear and impressive vetiver fragrance. Released in 1988, from the hand of the often mentioned but unfortunately rather cryptically documented Jean Laporte, it is also - together with the aforementioned Goutal Eau de Toilette - the 80s precursor for the multitude of vetivers released since 2000. My reason for this comment, however, is the recently published essay "The Smelling Principle of Vetiver Oil, Unveiled by Chemical Synthesis" by a team of olfactory chemists, including Philip Kraft, which goes into detail about the complexity and many unknowns that make up the fascination and diversity of vetiver. There is also reference here to a small amount of (-)-geosmin, that transgressive as well as mysterious component responsible for all sorts of impressions of damp earth, wet asphalt, pre-thunderstorm air, etc. Long before Ellen Covey's excellent Bat / Night Flyer, or the increasing 'molecular awareness' and namedropping of geosmin as an ingredient, Route du Vétiver was the root of this representation of moisture. I've often wondered how this perfume manages that, Laporte achieved a similar if much more floral swampiness in a non-vetiver fragrance with Jardin Du Nil, the geranium equivalent to Route. Although Radish Vetiver, released in 2019, flirts with Route du Vétiver, Laporte's perfume remains a solitaire in this category.
* Ouyang, J., Bae, H., Jordi, S., Dao, Q.M., Dossenbach, S., Dehn, S., Lingnau, J.B., De, C.K., Kraft, P. and List, B., 2021.The Smelling Principle of Vetiver Oil, Unveiled by Chemical Synthesis. Angewandte Chemie (International Ed. in English), 60(11), p.5666.
* Ouyang, J., Bae, H., Jordi, S., Dao, Q.M., Dossenbach, S., Dehn, S., Lingnau, J.B., De, C.K., Kraft, P. and List, B., 2021.The Smelling Principle of Vetiver Oil, Unveiled by Chemical Synthesis. Angewandte Chemie (International Ed. in English), 60(11), p.5666.
1 Comment