Le Labo Osmanthus 19, courtesy of the brand

Oh, Le Labo, you had me at smoky. When I was offered the opportunity to smell the Kyoto City Exclusive, Le Labo Osmanthus 19, I had no idea what to expect but said yes immediately. I enjoy osmanthus scents, and I’m always curious as to what Le Labo is up to with their City Exclusives. When my sample arrived, I hurriedly unpacked it because I couldn’t wait to get my nose on it. It was love at first sniff. I don’t write that lightly.

Perfume lovers are well aware of Le Labo, but for the uninitiated, the name of the perfume does not necessarily correspond with the scent, and the number associated is the number of ingredients. If you are a patchouli lover, you might be disappointed, say, in Patchouli 24, which smells more like a burning fire than the woody, earthy, almost dirt-like essential oil we’re all used to smelling in our local New Age shops. (For the record, I love both!) These perfumes are named by the highest concentration within the formula. This does not necessarily mean the scent will smell like that, since the overall blend may highlight a different facet of that note.

I give you this background so that you know that Le Labo Osmanthus 19 is not a floral scent as you might expect from that name. It is instead a smoky, resinous, incense scent that nonetheless has a clean, sexy aspect to it that makes it irresistible. I credit that to the osmanthus.

Le Labo Osmanthus 19 (Osmanthus 19 unassembled), courtesy of the brand

The top notes are frankincense and lavender, and I know I write this in nearly every review, but despite my obsessive love of smoky scents, I am usually not a lover of either of those two notes. This is why perfumery is so magical to me–it can take something I wouldn’t usually think to enjoy and turn it on its head, so that I’m sniffing my wrist over and over, not able to get enough of it. This is a deceptively simple formulation, in fact: lavender and incense at the top, osmanthus at the middle, and woody and resinous notes at the base. And yet it smells complex, sophisticated, and exactly what I want to be wearing once we get into the brisker temperatures of fall’s sweater weather.

Kyoto Machiya courtesy of the brand Kyoto Le labo

Japan is a uniquely special place to Le Labo and was the location for their first non-US lab, in Tokyo. This inspired their first City Exclusive for Japan, Gaiac 10. Osmanthus 19 is the second City Exclusive scent made for Japan in 2024. Per the brand: “Kyoto, with its quiet elegance and seamless blending of natural beauty and artisanship, embodies so much of what we stand for.”

Kyoto Machiya, courtesy of the brand

Debra Royer, Global Brand President & Creative Director at Le Labo, puts it more philosophically: “Our homage to the harmonious wisdom we revere in Kyoto, Osmanthus 19 is a reminder to continually seek out impermanent, untamable beauty and to be renewed by what is soulfully timeless. As it finds its way beyond the city, we hope it resonates with the same quiet spirit, transporting wearers to those special places that unfold slowly and reveal themselves like a personal poem.”

 City Exclusives, courtesy of the brand

It certainly resonated with my spirit, and I wish it could physically transport me to Kyoto, where I might actually snag a bottle. For now, I’ll settle for a fragrant journey and delayed gratification, since I’ll have to wait until next September, when the City Exclusive Event comes around again and the Exclusives are available globally for one month online, at Le Labo and select retailers. In the meantime, I cherish my sample and luxuriate in it on special occasions.

City Exclusive Osmanthus 19 courtesy of the brand

Main Notes: Frankincense, Lavender, Osmanthus, Resins

Mimian Morales, Contributor

Disclaimer: Le Labo kindly provided me with a sample of Osmanthus 19. My opinions, as always, are my own.

Please read Michelyn’s interview with Fabrice Penot of Le Labo here

Learn more about Le Labo by visiting the official website.

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