Redamance Ching Shih Review (Marissa Zappas) 2021+ Queen of the Pirates Draw

February 27, 2021March 1, 2021

Ching Shih inspired Redamance Ching Shi perfume, image via Wikimedia Commons and Redamance (left)

Ching Shih (1775-1844) was not someone whom one would have predicted would earn top spot on a most wanted list. Trapped into life as a prostitute in one of the floating brothels of southern China, she would not have been even a footnote in history had she not been captured by pirates in 1801 and quickly proved her mettle. She married the top pirate brass, Zheng Yi, and, at his death, adroitly maneuvered her way into captaining what became the most extensive pirate fleet in the world. Over the years, and with an iron fist and a list of rules so strict that infractions were met with flogging and summary execution, she transformed her band of 70,000 men into an organized crime syndicate so powerful that not even the English, French and Portuguese navies could tame it. And, at the end of it all, Ching Shih walked away from her exploits a free and rich woman. Take that, Blackbeard.

Ching Shih in battle by an unknown artist, image Alamy

In Redamance’s surprising olfactory telling, brought to life by founder and perfumer Marissa Zappas, Ching Shih’s story is rendered as a surprisingly airy, elegant incense with a distinctive gunpowder note and osmanthus heart. I rather expected it to begin with a kaboom of cannon smoke a la Beaufort, but instead I get the barest touch of iris, which hints quietly at the evanescent notes to come. This is quickly followed by damp woods, like the wave-splashed floorboards of a junk, and incense starts to rise. Since I am now assuming Ching Shih will gather density, it surprises me by tacking its sails in the opposite direction, becoming lighter, more ephemeral. The incense that rises smells natural and minty, and the gunpowder is not the smoky, cade and birch brimstone one might anticipate, but mineral and tea-like, slightly astringent, its smokiness distant and subtle, conjuring unsheathed blades and unfired cannons – an anticipation of battle rather than its thick. I think of Ching Shih standing on deck, a cool, taut smile on her lips, beckoning the ships on the horizon to come into range.

photo of Osmanthus by Editor Elise Pearlstine©

Further along, osmanthus with its distinctive fruit leather note pulls forward and begins to seat itself at the center of Ching Shih. Initially, this essentially Chinese blossom smells chiefly of its characteristic fresh-cut apricot. But give it a little more time, and there’s saddle leather in there, too, and eventually, a jammier, dried fruit smell to the apricot. The flower’s natural sweetish spiciness is augmented by what I imagine might by a mild star anise note and perhaps a pinch of nutmeg, which also help to warm the fragrance. Myrrh makes its appearance towards the dry-down, underpins the osmanthus with some with cozy, chewy resin, and I become aware of the woody aspects of the opening again. Incense, osmanthus, myrrh and gunpowder merge seamlessly in the dry-down, leaving a tranquil trail.

In later years, Ching Shih diversified into casino ownership, the salt trade and even politics, becoming advisor to the local viceroy during the Opium Wars. And she ensured that her crew received jobs in the Royal Navy and kept their cut without penalty. Her life as has inspired countless books, films, plays, graphic novels and video games, yet she remains largelyunknown to Western audiences, an injustice that deserves to walk the plank. But in Redamance’s homage, Ching Shih is given her due with an ethereal, refined fragrance that suggests a certain nobility to the woman once feared as the “Terror of the South Seas.”

Notes: Spices, osmanthus, incense, gunpowder, myrrh.

Disclaimer: sample of Redamance Ching shih kindly provided by Redamance. My opinions are my own.

Lauryn Beer, Senior Editor

Redamance Ching Shih bottle, image courtesy of Redamance

Thanks to the generosity of Marissa Zappas of Redamance we have a 15 ml bottle of Redamance Ching Shih for one registered reader in the U.S. To be eligible, please comment on what strikes you about Redamance Ching Shih based on Lauryn’s review. Is there a woman you feel history has overlooked who should be commemorated in a perfume? Draw closes 3/2/2021.

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Marissa Zappas of Redamance perfumes/photo Talya Brott

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