Parfum d’Empire Vetiver Bourbon (Marc-Antoine Corticchiato) 2022 + The Precious Roots Giveaway

September 26, 2022October 6, 2022

A sunset, a vetiver roots nest on the beach: that’s the wild spirit of Parfum d’Empire Vétiver Bourbon in an AI version – Bottle ©Parfum d’Empire, vetiver on the beach via Midjourney with keywords and collage ©Emmanuelle Varron.

Parfum d’Empire is a world renowned independent brand which will be celebrating its 20th anniversary in 2023. Parfum d’Empire continues to be an oasis in today’s olfactory landscape and founder and perfumer Marc-Antoine Corticchiato always brings a piece of his soul to every bottle. For his new fragrance, the Corsican perfumer is sharing his love for vetiver, one of the most popular raw materials in perfumery. Often thought of as “masculine” due to its woody and rooty facets, vetiver’s warm, racy and elegant tones makes it timeless. In Parfum d’Empire Vétiver Bourbon, the perfumer wants to rekindle this powerful and almost rough character which he believes has been widely “urbanized” in fragrances for many years.

Marc-Antoine Corticchiato – Picture via Parfum d’Empire

At the Parfum d’Empire Vétiver Bourbon press event Marc-Antoine Corticchiato spoke of the importance of vetiver outside perfumery, for example its effectiveness in combating soil erosion thanks to roots that can go up to two meters deep in the ground. Resistant to cyclones, it is a plant which is an asset for poor countries and has medicinal virtues recognized since Antiquity. Parfum d’Empire Vétiver Bourbon pays homage to the type of vetiver grown on the Île de la Réunion (formerly called Île Bourbon when France took possession of it in 1642), whose essence is considered “the” highest standard and in nearly impossible to find and remains the most beautiful to work with for the perfumer. As he did for Parfum d’Empire Mal-Aimé, Marc-Antoine Corticchiato pays tribute to his deceased friend Lucien Acquarone, an incomparable distiller of plants used in perfumery; they went on many trips in search of the finest raw materials. Whenever Marc-Antoine and Lucien went to their extraction unit located in Madagascar, they would always stop over in La Réunion to stock up on vetiver essential oils, and watch the harvesting of its roots, which requires incredible strength. They then came up with the idea of recovering “Bourbon” strains to plant them in Madagascar and perpetuate the unique quality of this rare and multi-faceted vetiver.

Some of Parfum d’Empire Vétiver Bourbon raw materials – ©Emmanuelle Varron

Parfum d’Empire Vétiver Bourbon is a wild, mineral and intense fragrance, double dosed with the raw “bourbon” essential oil accompanied by a vetiver from Haiti to lift the intensely earthy and aromatic notes of great intensity, that is true to its DNA. To give the fragrance even more character, Marc-Antoine Corticchiato has also combined angelica root, peppery and vegetal, with cloves for a spicy effect that raises the temperature. If Parfum d’Empire Vétiver Bourbon celebrates the nourishing earth, it also underlines its nobility through an orris butter paired with cedar wood which rounds off any hard edges without ever changing the wild spirit of the perfume. Ambrette seed (vegetal musk) lightens it up.

One flew over the Parfum d’Empire Vétiver Bourbon’s nest – Nest in the forest ©Pixabay, bottle ©Parfum d’Empire, collage ©Emmanuelle Varron.

On the skin, Parfum d’Empire Vétiver Bourbon generously offers all its woody and earthy facets from the very first seconds. I can recognize “MAC’s signature, that of a perfumer who knows like no other how to make Nature speak through a bottle, where the raw materials are used in abundance, but without marketing fanfare and in perfect balance. As time passes, Parfum d’Empire Vétiver Bourbon continues to smell very natural playing between light and dark, sophistication and wildness. At first, its boldness might challenge those with more sensitive tastes. Stay with it as it unfolds this fragrance is quite complex and seemingly simplicity hides a fragrance with warm and woody tones that go perfectly with the floral and spicy facets created by Corticchiato, the magician.

In addition to the release of Parfum d’Empire Vétiver Bourbon, the other good news is that several of the brand’s perfumes (including this one) are now not only available in 50 ml… but also in 100 ml!

Notes: angelica, ambrette seed, clove, vetiver essence, iris, cedar wood, cistus.

Disclaimer: A huge merci to Parfum d’Empire for the 10 ml Vetiver Bourbon sample bottle provided for this review. The opinions expressed are my own.

Emmanuelle Varron, Senior Editor and Paris Brand Ambassador

Thanks to Parfum d’Empire, we have a 100 ml bottle of Vétiver Bourbon for one registered reader in USA, UK and EU. To be eligible, please tell what is your favorite Parfum d’Empire fragrance, how you feel about Emmanuelle’s review, do you own any Parfum D’Empire perfumes, like vetiver fragrances and and where you live. Draw closes 10/1/2022.

Parfum d’Empire Vetiver Bourbon will be available in October 2022 on the brand’s website, and worldwide soon after including Jovoy Paris’s website.

Please read Michelyn’s interview with Marc-Antoine Corticchiato here

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