Chatillon Lux Agua Fresca
Agua fresca – just the name summons hot sand and white linen shirts, the smell of pool water and citrus as the sun simmers and Latin dance music beats somewhere nearby. Mexico’s summer drink of lime juice and melon provides the inspiration for Chatillon Lux Agua Fresca from St. Louis perfumer Shawn Maher. A deliciously nectarous but airy blend of apricot, yuzu, ripe melon and berry, invigorated with cucumber, deepened with vetiver and smoothed with cream, Agua Fresca is a summer splash in more than one sense – it is one of the best summer releases of 2022.
Agua Fresca first iteration was a perfume Maher created for another brand that never quite gelled. He eventually released it under Chatillon lux’s label as a limited edition called Nonaginta, which soon became a fan favourite. But while he received requests to add it to the permanent line, Maher felt the scent lacked the personal connections of his other fragrances. Inspiration came from his memories of those 90s unisex fruity scents and summer drinks in Maher’s neighbourhood, the Latin-inflected Cherokee Street Historic District in Saint Louis.
Shawn Maher of Chatillon Lux and Maher Olfactive
“Because I really love an agua fresca to help quench the fires of hot sauce … it hit me that this was the direction that this fragrance should head,” Maher explains. “Unsurprisingly, this juice starts off with a melange of tropical fruits. It contains the citrus of a yuzu accord, an apricot essential oil, a lime accord based on the candy-like lime oxide, a melon accord with the 90s-tastic calone as well as the apple-tinged musk zenolide, a strawberry accord featuring strawberry glycidate and cassiffix, and a pineapple essential oil.”
When I first sprayed on Chatillon Lux Agua Fresca, I expected a lime-squeezy, tropical fruit cocktail as big one of those coconut umbrella drinks that turn up in beachy rom coms from the 60s. But smelling Agua Fresca was quite another matter. That initial spritz instead made me think prunol! – that delectably elegant DeLaire base of peaches, cardamom and aldehydes – and I was reminded of David Jourquin’s stunning Cuir Venetien, which uses an extravagant amount of the accord. Agua Fresca’s opening is similarly and surprisingly elegant. Instead of going for overtly sunbright olfactory colours in Agua Fresca, Maher creates an ambrosial cocktail of bright piquant citrusy notes and flowery yuzu that he swirls into a shimmering, aquatint schema with the exquisite delicacy of origami.
Agua Fresca image via unsplash
The opening brings delectable apricot and yuzu notes that together smell initially like ripe peach spattered with lime juice. The effect of the top notes is so delectable I run to the kitchen for one of the peaches I bought yesterday for comparison. But, as seconds tick by, the yuzu and apricot unnoticeably separate and become more discernable as themselves. First is the apricot, fuzzy-skinned, sweet, mouthwateringly life-like. Next, yuzu brings its customary sharp citrus brio and flowery edge. These two notes are so lusciously realistic that I would have loved Chatillon Lux Agua Fresca had it stopped right there.
But Maher is too thoughtful a perfumer for that. After the top notes of Agua Fresca leave me downright thirsty, Maher offers a cool drink of cucumber water as refreshment and adds a generous dose of transparent jasmine hedione to aerate the fragrance. A toned-down strawberry adds a berryish sweetness that, when swirled into the creamy base and merging with the cucumber water brings memories of crustless cucumber sandwiches and fresh berries with clotted cream served on sheeny porcelain plates in the English countryside. But then a subtle dab of coconut shifts Agua Fresca back to tropical climes. I don’t really pick up the vetiver in the base, which is something of a wonder, since that rooty savour is usually hard to miss. Maher uses a particularly light Haitian vetiver along with the aroma chemical vetikone, that, he explains, “emphasizes the grapefruit rind aspect of vetiver so that it would blend in with its surroundings.” In its middle section, the composition coalesces into a lovely, refreshing fusion of velvety, ripe tree fruit, vivid yuzu and creamy berry.
Cinco de Mayo festival, Cherokee District, St Louis photo Cherokee Street.com
On paper, the notes listing for Chatillon Lux Agua Fresca may recall some of the unfortunate celeb fruity disasters that have blighted many a nightclub dance floor. But believe this writer when I tell you this sophisticated, gorgeous fragrance is a perfect antidote to the predictable array of citrus and aquatic eau de colognes that leap onto fragrance shelves every June. I’ll be wearing this a lot – with a great big smile.
Notes: Melon, apricot, yuzu, pineapple, strawberry, cucumber, vetiver, cream.
Disclosure I received a sample; opinions my own
Lauryn Beer, Sr. Editor
Chatillon Lux Agua Fresca, image via the brand
Thanks to the generosity of Chatillon Lux, we have a 50 ml bottle of Agua Fresca for one registered reader in the U.S. To be eligible, please leave a comment saying what strikes you about Chatillon Lux Agua Fresca and whether you have a favourite Chatillon Lux fragrance. What do you crave to drink when the weather boils over? Would it make a good perfume? Draw closes 6/15/2022.
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