Eau de Parfum

Imagine a village fair where the smell of gunfire from the shooting range mingles with the sweeter aroma of gingerbread, cinnamon, clove and candied orange and you have Baptême Du Feu!

“The opening is just a ‘wow.’ Not many fragrances can elicit that response from me, but the trophy goes to Bapteme. It starts hot, metallic, but edible, spicy, and aromatic, too. What really grabs my attention second is its dichotomy of the innocent and the profane: candied tangerine and ginger, the smell of burnt cookies, burnt edges, a Maillard reaction captured in liquid form. This a plate of tiny edible barrels from smoking guns.

I am flummoxed by the deconstruction in its heart, beguiled even, because it somehow turns to a more prurious direction. Sweaty, ripe, but not dank. It isn’t dirty to the point of being rank, but there is a bit of ‘no-no’ business going on. The castoreum must be responsible, and it actually pairs wonderfully with the more confectionary notes (which would make sense given its notoriety as an additive for sweet flavors).”
— alphairone, Fragrantica

NOTES

tangerine
gingerbread
woody notes
castoreum
powdery notes
osmanthus

NOSE — Christopher Sheldrake

France, 2016

About Serge Lutens