Over the past six months, perfumer Bertrand Duchaufour has created three startlingly original floral fragrances.  Beginning with his “corrupted floral oriental” Penhaligon’s  Amaranthine. Amaranthine was a fragrance that delved into all the dark and private places that a floral fragrance can go (amusingly dubbed “Amaranthigh” by many because of the sensuality it oozed). The second in this floral "trilogy" was L’Artisan Parfumeur Nuit de Tubereuse. In Nuit de Tubereuse M. Duchaufour took a common central floral note, tuberose, and stripped it down to its core and then artistically surrounded it with spices and woods which allowed the tuberose to flaunt a different aspect than has been done by other perfumers. Both Nuit de Tubereuse and Amaranthine gave off a feeling of darkness. To round out this exploration of floral fragrances M. Duchaufour decides to clean off the dusty window and let the bright mid day sun stream through; that warm light is Penhaligon’s Orange Blossom.

M. Duchaufour has been reinterpreting older discontinued fragrances from Penhaligon’s and they are being released under a new name dubbed "The Anthology Series." Orange Blossom (originally created in 1976)  is an entirely new fragrance inspired by the original formulation.

Orange Blossom is full of bright notes and evokes a journey begun on a sunlit day. In this case M. Duchaufour has chosen to amplify and expand on his central note. It is redolent of life through the use of fruit and floral notes which are well accompanied by the notes used in conjunction with them. There are no dark corners in Orange Blossom just a beautiful lightness. If Amaranthine is the small hours of the night and Nuit De Tubereuse is the evening, then Orange Blossom is high noon.

The opening of Orange Blossom roars with intensity from the first moments as a deep orange blossom accord is apparent. Editor-in-Chief, Michelyn Camen, has called orange blossom “the other white flower” if you need proof; Orange Blossom, the fragrance, is Exhibit A. The opening is intensely floral but the supporting notes add a zest to this which keeps it from being cloying. M. Duchaufour uses a skillful mix of violet leaf to accentuate the green, lemon-cedrat to accentuate the citrus character and pink berries to balance the sweetness. These notes are used to help define the orange blossom accord and delineate it. The heart then takes the orange blossom and makes it the center piece of an olfactory floral arrangement including rose, tuberose, peach flower, and orchid. Throughout the middle stage of development the orange blossom is complimented by the other floral notes, particularly the peach flower.

The base is clean woody lines from cedar and sandalwood accompanied by a light white musk and a tempered vanilla. This is a good place to  exit; the drydown of light woods and musk are slightly sweet with the presence of the vanilla and it allows the last rays of the central accord to recede gracefully into the sunset.

Orange Blossom has excellent longevity and moderate sillage.

 Salvatore Dali

It is always exhilarating to see an artist working at the highest level and interpreting something so well known in unique ways. I am tired of saying  with each new fragrance that this is M. Duchaufour’s best fragrance, because each new creation by him seems to be better than the last. That is perhaps short selling the amazing creativity he is currently displaying.

Andy Warhol

What I prefer to say is M. Duchaufour has made three spectacular floral fragrances such that in the future we might refer to this time in his oeuvre as his “Floral Period.” For now, it is just a delight to to wear his  fragrances and to anticpate what is next (according to an interview with Michelyn Camen last year for Fragrantica,he’s thinking about taking on vetiver).

Disclosure: This review was based on samples supplied by Penhaligon’s.  

– Mark Behnke, Managing Editor