Angelos Creations Olfactives Karikia bottle courtesy the brand apped by Michelyn
Who would in the world think of pairing mulchy tobacco with airy aldehydes? Who would mix dessert notes with frankincense, stir in some black pepper and nutmeg and then bakes the whole thing into a hazelnut syrup and tonka-infused gourmand? I mean, who thinks about two dozen contradictory notes would work as cohesively as Pink Floyd before things went nutty? And speaking of nuts, who adds a big dollop of hazelnut syrup and pancakes to this mix and somehow turns the whole thing into an original, addictive, and perhaps the world’s first, tobacco gourmand? I mean, who would even think such a thing? Greek perfumer Angelos Balamis, that’s who.
selfie of Angelos Balamis for ÇaFleureBon
In a few short years, Balamis has become one of artisan perfumery’s most creative but disciplined perfumers. His fragrances make me think of William Morris fabrics with their rich palette and intricate precision. He has an uncanny instinct for knowing which fragrance combinations will work while juggling myriad, sometimes contradictory notes. So, if anyone can whip up a 5-star, 3-course olfactory meal out of ingredients that on paper seem well, a little bonkers, it is this guy.
Tobacco leaves drying in the sun, Greece, image via Media Storehouse
Balamis’ newest, Karikia, is inspired by traditional tobacco farming, a trade deeply embedded in Greek culture. After visiting a few of the handful of remaining traditional tobacco farms, Balamis was urged to create a fragrance that captured the unique scents of the karikia, or land ramps of tobacco plants. But rather than simply recreate the odor of the plants, Balamis wove together a lattice of contrasts that give Angelos Creations Olfactives Karikia texture and depth: light and dense, bright and dark, edible and resinous. The result is perhaps the first true tobacco gourmand, with as many ingredients as fruitcake and just as rich, but a lot more delicious.
First up is blood orange, aldehydes and saffron mixed like an exotic cocktail, with a pinch of black pepper for the jazz. It’s a great opening sentence and is followed by a whole paragraph of delights that somehow fall into place as Karikia’s story starts to tell itself. Early on, Karikia poses green, coniferous aromas against bright, bold ones. But the scene quickly changes, and I find myself being led through an old hayfield to where tobacco is in leaf. There’s a mix of hay, honey and nutmeg here, as if someone set out a cream tea on a straw bale. But the scene shifts again.
A.A. Milne smoking a pipe, vintage photo colorized
Now I’m in an old high-class hotel bar, where gents smoke expensive tobacco and sip tiny glasses of hazelnut liqueur at tiny oak tables. The loamy, rich scent of un unsmoked pipe bowl drifts up with an aroma suggestive of cherry or stewed plum and stirs with the scent of Fra Angelico. Omani frankincense here, with its distinctive minty-herbal quality, cuts through the fruity sweetness with a trail of smoke and pine, smelling less like the church and more like Christmas.
The centerpiece, though, is tobacco, young leaf mixed with dried. Augmented by spice and fruit, the tobacco combo smells like one of those fancy custom blends you can buy at great expense from some of London’s finer tobacconists. Hinoki lends some of its turpenic sharpness to the base, and oak its denseness. But the real delight of Karikia’s later phase is the arrival of dessert: tonka bean’s raisiny aroma, vanilla bean and nutmeg. These custardy scents mix with the tobacco accord deliciously; the earthy-herbal tobacco and vanilla-tonka are a match, as Tom Ford already proved. But the addition of spice and hazelnut and pancakes (!) is one of the oddest strokes of genius I’ve experienced in perfumery. But genius it is. The bready, yeasty smell of pancakes is another great companion for tobacco (think how well hops and barley go together in beer), and the hazelnut – which is definitely the note of 2023 – adds a delicious, sweet nuttiness.
The drydown brings a darkening and dustiness as the saffron peeks through again and the woods sound their soothing low brass. Angelos Creations Olfactives Karikia smells like half a dozen things at once now: tobacco, cooked fruit, hazelnut syrup, pancakes, and soft spice. I don’t know how it works. It shouldn’t work. But boy, does it. One of the most deliciously original fragrances of the year, and perfect for nippy weather.
Find a deep, comfy chair, pour a drop of Fra Angelico, ask Spotify for some Maria Callas, and breathe it all in.
Notes: Aldehydes, blood orange, acacia, English oakwood, saffron, tobacco leaves, blue tansy, boronia absolute, Omani frankincense, Madagascan black pepper, nutmeg, hinoki wood, white cypress, bois de Siam, mahogany, Virginia cedarwood, Bulgarian tobacco absolute, hazelnut sirup pancake, Madagascan vanilla absolute, tonka bean absolute, French hay absolute, beeswax absolute, castoreum (recreation), Australian sandalwood spicatum, ambergris.
Disclaimer: Sample of Karikia kindly sent to me by Angelos Balamis. My opinions, as always, are my own.
Lauryn Beer, Senior Editor
Angelos Creations Olfactives Karikia bottle courtesy the brand
Thanks to the generosity of Angelos Balamis, we have 30 ml bottle for a registered reader in the USA or EU only. To be eligible, you must register. please leave a comment saying what strikes you about Karikia based on Lauryn’s review and where you live. Have you tried anything from Angelos Creations Olfactives? Draw closes 12/22/2023.
Great News: If you live in the USA, Angelos Creations Olfactives are available at Luckyscent.com to buy or sample.-Michelyn
Angelos Balamis was Michelyn’s rising star of 2020 and joint Artisan Perfumer of the Year 2022.
Angelos Creations Olfactives Karikia Fougeriste was one of Lauryn’s top ten of 2022
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