Back to the Land by Jockum Nordstrom

Perfume should reflect the creators’ life experience and heritage. Swedish husband-and-wife creative directors Christine and Niclas Lydeen have been introducing us to their Nordic aesthetic through the perfume line Agonist since 2008. The Lydeens are also influenced by Christine’s time in Paris working in fashion and Niclas’ experience as an Art Director. This combination of style and place makes Agonist one of the more interesting fragrance lines and I am always looking forward to what comes next. For their seventh fragrance the Lydeens still want to represent Sweden but they also wanted to celebrate the birth of their first child. That is why the perfume is named after the Egyptian goddess of fertility and motherhood, Isis.

As he has been for the previous six fragrances, Fabrice Pellegrin is the perfumer who has to bring The Lydeen’s vision to life. Some of the best perfumes come from a long time working relationship and based on the results it seems like Creative Directors and Perfumer are definitely working together to create something clearly different but approachable when it comes to Agonist. For Isis the top is an icy green glaze which is broken by a twisted gourmand heart of peach and caramel; which is much better than it sounds. The base turns as warm as a fire kissed hearth within the home keeping the winter at bay. The completely unique heart makes Isis into a gourmand which is delightfully different.

Niclas and Christine Lydeen

The wintry mix at the start comes courtesy of tangerine, labdanum, and ginger. The labdanum takes the sweetish tangerine and re-winds its life cycle back a few days until it was a green orb on the branch. This takes the sweet and completely transforms it into something slightly bitter and it imparts a slight chill to things. A large slug of ginger finishes the job as it places the early moments right in to the deep freeze. This is how I like my ginger used, as something which imparts a bit of attitude along with its energy. When I first wore Isis the next thing that came out was the peach. Peach is one of the more ubiquitous notes of the fruity floral genre and when I usually detect it the next thing to come is a big old bouquet of floral notes. Except M. Pellegrin surprised me and while I was waiting for the flowers the caramel started to ooze onto the scene and while the sweet quotient was starting to rise, M. Pellegrin wasn’t quite done. Now a spicy black pepper along with a richly herbal anise attenuates the sweet and turns this into something like the Swedish candy Hallon Lakrits Skallar. The Swedish candy is a mix of salt licorice along with raspberry.  Just like Isis the mix of spice, licorice, and fruit is unexpectedly delicious.  The base notes create a roaring bonfire of warmth with amber, benzoin, and vanilla all contributing to the flames.

Isis has all day longevity and average sillage.

Agonist has once again managed to capture a characteristic Swedish feel without turning into something trite. The Lydeens and M. Pellegrin are to be congratulated for continuing to expand the geography of perfume beyond the usual places. They have given birth to a very unusual gourmand that I really look forward to wearing throughout the autumn.

Disclosure: This review was based on a sample provided by Intertrade Europe.

Thanks to Intertrade Europe we have a sample of Isis to giveaway. This is for our US readers only. To be eligible leave a comment on what your favorite Swedish thing is; IKEA and meatballs not allowed as answers. Also be sure to let us know if you’re in the US. The draw will end on October 7, 2013.

We announce the winners only on site and on our Facebook page, so Like Cafleurebon and use our RSS option…or your dream prize will be just spilled perfume.

-Mark Behnke, Managing Editor