Joe Sheridan & Marilyn Monroe with an Irish Coffee and Cherigan Paris Iris Coffee by J collage
Sophie and Luc Gabriel, founders of The Different Company, saved Cherigan Paris from the ashes of time. Born in 1929 Cherigan Paris sadly didn’t survive the war, during its tenure, the house had a boutique on 120 Avenue des Champs-Elysées and a second store in Havana. You can see this connection revived in the perfume line with the new Or Des Îles, another favourite of mine, which captures a tropical feel, with creamy ylang ylang giving you this sensual Monoi sun oil smell. Vintage Fleurs de Tabac, that like Molinard Habanita was a perfume that masked the scent of cigarettes, making women smoking more acceptable. Cherigan Paris fragrances were also housed in Art Deco style glass with the original Chance in a stunning horseshoe bottle.
Cherigan founder Luc Gabriel with Imperial Blue, Vintage Chance
In 2023, Cherigan Paris relaunched Bleu Imperiale as Imperial Blue, a floral chypre with a splendid retro style flacon in a limited-edition of 1000 pieces. It’s a joy to have such care given to these lost classics. The line today, has a more updated feel, yet its bottle design gives you that Art Deco spirit with the font and design. Cherigan Paris Iris Coffee launched in 2021; yet it takes you back in time, fitting beautifully with the brand’s aesthetic and history, feeling like it has always been part of the historical 1920s-40s collection, with a nod to the original Havana boutique and the use of coffee.
Flann O’Brien in the 1950s Photograph: The Irish Times and The Third Policeman Dalkey Archive Press
Its also hard not to miss the word play and word play is a common thing here in Ireland, especially with the influence of post modern writers like James Joyce and Samuel Beckett, but its writer Flann O’Brien that’s a favourite of mine. His writing takes you on wildly winding adventures feeling almost surreal, yet knowing the people of this country, feels also rather hyper real. He’s also famous for a limerick that begins with “a pint of plain is your only man”, and it’s because of a plane in Limerick that we have Irish coffee.
Foyens courtesy of the brand
Chef Joe Sheridan is credited as the inventor of the Irish coffee, which was seen as a high form of sophistication, an exotic mix of products and cultures. Foyens in Limerick, is hardly exotic, but it was the last stop to refuel before the long flight to America, the who’s who of the time would have stopped off there and stayed warm with one of these tipples for the long flight. The roaring twenties had brought glamour back to the world and more of the world was being seen through books and the silver screen. Cherigan Paris Iris Coffee really puts you back in that era, as you smell it, there’s something of that 40’s glamour and a dandyish feel to its rich creamy aromatic opulence.
Joe Sheridan, Marilyn Monroe and Arthur Miller RTE archive
Cardamom brings beautiful warmth to a musky creamy coffee. It’s a comforting blend of tonka bean, bergamot & cardamom, feeling bright and fresh before slowly growing darker and more roasted, tuning into an almost coffee lavender haze. The aromatic, spicy and creamy feel make me think of popular perfumes of the time. Think Guerlain Jicky but not as dirty and Caron Pour Un Homme de Caron, but not as powdery or sweet, rather Iris Coffee is darker with a very present musky creamy cardamom coffee note that makes it more contemporary, stretching through time, like it’s always been.
image by J WeareScentient
Cherigan Paris Iris Coffee gets slowly smoother as it dries down. There’s a very clever interplay of creamy tonka bean and sandalwood with delicious bitter aromatics enhancing both scent profiles. Dry velvety iris adds a sense of luxury to the tonka bean and sandalwood, beautifully balanced feeling like a creamy foam texture sitting over this darker aromatic coffee warmth. Jasmine adds a creamy white floral feel, tinged with a hint of green, giving a quiet sharp pinch and spiced whiskey warmth as the Irish coffee rolls down your throat. Iris Coffee is a clever composition to give that sensation, but it never feels boozy or ever too gourmand. The coffee here is used more as an aromatic, letting the creamy sandalwood and tonka bean opulence blend with jasmine and iris evoking almost like sensual furs wrapped around passengers on long haul flights. I find there’s something rather sensual about wearing it, that rich opulent feel, gives you a quiet luxury sensation of elegant material cut with clean lines, leaving you enrobed in a furry fluffy iris-sandalwood-muskiness with tonka bean which keeps you coming back to experience that rich creaminess. There’s a lovely complexity at play, the slow evolution as iris and tonka bean interact with each other is enchanting, the iris cools the ginger bread facets of tonka bean, making it feel tamed and drier, while tonka bean keeps the iris on the edge of velvety and powdery with more of its woody rooty facets working the magic. A delicious flight of adventure.
Notes: Bergamot, Jasmine, Cardamom, Iris, Tonka Bean, Coffee, White Musk.
Cherigan Paris Iris Coffee was kindly sent for review; opinions are my own.
-Guest Contributor, J WeAreScentient
Cherigan Paris courtesy of the brand
Thanks to Cherigan Paris there’s a giveaway USA AND EU for a 100ml bottle of Cherigan Paris Iris Coffee extrait. You must be registered. To be eligible, please leave a quality comment about what sparked your interest about JScentient’s review of Iris Coffee and where you live. Draw closes on 9/3/23.
Cherigan Iris Coffee is available at Jovoy Paris, Merz in Chicago USA and on the Cherigan website.
Emmanuelle’s introduction to the brand and reviews of Cherigan Fleurs De Tabac & The Purple Bar here. Enjoy Ida’s review of Cherigan Fleurs de Tabac
Please enjoy read Karl’s review of Cherigan Fiesta Habana.
Bonus video: Learn how to make the perfect Irish Coffee in the place of its invention.
Note to readers. Personally, I’d use Jameson or Teelings whiskey over Powers as my preferred choice.
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