Jean Claude-Ellena via CaFleureBon  (courtesy of Jean-Claude Ellena) composed Perris Monte Carlo Jasmin de Pays

“My devotion to jasmine lies with my childhood in Grasse.” ~ Maître Parfumeur Jean-Claude Ellena

What a coup it was when Creative Director Gian Luca Perris of Perris Monte Carlo was moved to create a collection celebrating the cradle of perfumery, Grasse! It was foremost in his mind that none other than native Grasseois Maître Parfumeur Jean-Claude Ellena would memorialize those blooms which he had harvested with his grandmother as a young boy –  rose de Mai and jasmin de Grasse. A bond so formative, intimate, pivotal – must be respected and acknowledged. I mustn’t be greedy, much as I venerate the rose; we at ÇaFleureBon are a team and do well to consider one another’s needs and desires. Having to choose, Perris Monte Carlo Jasmin de Pays ensnared me posthaste. I confess that jasmin de Grasse first clutched me by the throat in 1972 and hasn’t released me since.

Jasmine Festival via Yes Cannes.com

As a young girl traveling alone thoroughly intoxicated by its natural beauty, the Provençal plenitude of floral, herbal, animalic aromas which assaulted my senses left a permanent impression: Molinard, Fragonard, Gallimard – I frequented each factory more than once, committing those odors to memory. I sojourned at a tiny pension (no Air BnB in those days!) called Le Paradis: from its flung-open windows I was privy to goats wandering the hillside – the scent of herbs crushed under their little cloven hooves, freshly hung laundry. I rambled throughout the countryside, the widespread fields of flowers like an inebriated somnabulant. Thirteen years later and a newlywed, I cautioned my husband that once we approached the city of Grasse he would notice a significant change in me: he laughingly dismissed it as hyperbole. When we did arrive he stared at me as if I were a stranger: “Your skin! Your demeanor. You ARE a different person!” It was just so – relaxed, blissful in my element, I felt as if I had come home to roost.

 

Jasmine Festival in Grasse via Telegraph UK

Perris Monte Carlo Jasmin de Pays is my Gold Standard forever jasmine; I doubt that I will ever need another. The master has seen to that, evoking jasmine’s fully-fleshed voluptuous nature while sacrificing none of its joy. It is a painting rendered by the loving hand of one who can navigate the terrain blindfolded (If you are not a jasmine devotee, my rantings may seem extreme; however, if you crave all the aspects, facets of a true jasmine soliflore and the sense of bien-être it proffers, you will fully appreciate my sentiment). Why is this so? Succinctly put, the finest materials in gifted hands yield veracity, and in this instance truth IS beauty. Jean-Claude Ellena’s jasmine is not petulant, frilly, frou-frou, gourmand; there is no need. What exists is an embarrassment of riches: the deft dash of clove to showcase jasmine’s spicy dimension, employment of tagetes (marigold) with its deliciously sweet, herbal fruitiness and dry, tenacious leathery undertone, a welcome elaboration upon a seemingly unstudied naturalness. This sort of sleight-of-hand is precisely the point – why fiddle with perfection?

Jasmine flowers fused by Michelyn Collage

Underscore the composition with a scrupulous choice of musk and photorealism assumes its own olfactory form. Do more brushstrokes improve a work of art? I’m somewhat at a loss for words; if Jasmin de Pays is an aquarelle, it is surely one which balances substantivity with delicacy, which is no mean feat. Maître Ellena has offered us his heart, his youth, his life’s experience unreservedly with the candor and artistry for which he is justly renowned. I, for one – am deeply grateful.

Notes: jasmine absolute, clove, tagetes, musk

Sample kindly provided by Gian Luca Perris at Esxence 2019 – I am thankful! My nose is my own…

~ Ida Meister, Senior Editor and Natural Perfumery Editor

Photo by Roberto Greco

We are indebted to Gian Luca Perris of Perris Monte Carlo, who has offered an avant premiere 100 ml bottle of Perris Monte Carlo Jasmin de Pays for one registered reader in either the EU or USA. The draw is for registered readers only, so be sure to register if you have not done so. To be eligible please let us know what you enjoyed about Ida’s review, where you live, and if you have jasmine in your soul. Draw closes May 11, 2019

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