Sultan Pasha Chypre Chrysantheme photo Sultan Pasha
Sultan Pasha (pronounced Sue-Tan) is one of the kindest, most generous and funny souls in perfumery. Some months ago, as the pandemic waged, he sent me out of the blue samples of his entire line of attars. Now, if you are not familiar with attars, they are highly concentrated perfumes – you need only open the tiny vials to release their aromatic genies. My immediate favourite in a line full of gorgeous compositions was the new Chypre Chrysantheme (from the Classical Occidental Line).
Gustav Klimt, The Park, 1911, creative commons license
At first inhale, this is a perfectly constructed, 40s-style chypre, full of oakmoss with a crisp, non-nonsense bergamot top note. But in moments, Chypre Chrysantheme evolves into a dizzying array of notes so complex that trying to decipher its unique beauty is like to trying to deconstruct the brushstrokes and palette of a Klimt painting. Yes, Sultan Pasha Chypre Chrysantheme is that good, which is why I recently chose it as one of my ten best of 2020 (as did Deputy Editor Ida Meister).
ÇaFleureBon Editor-in-Chief Michelyn Camen, Deputy Editor Ida Meister and Sultan Pasha lunching at Esxence 2019
At the heart of this lovely composition is the distinctive bouquet of chrysanthemum. Of all the blossoms I can think of, chrysanthemum smells least like a flower. Dried flowers, perhaps; there is certainly an echo of herbal tisane in its odor. But there is none of the heady, bloomy quality of roses, jasmine, or iris, nor the piercing sweetness of lily-of-the-valley or linden, nor the ephemeral loveliness of lilac or mimosa. Rather, the smell of chrysanthemum is a bit like chamomile tea, strewn with dark green, weedy leaves, turned loam, and parched hay. The anti-spring flower, its austere handsomeness the aroma of fall, of encroaching chill. So, marrying chrysanthemum with that quintessentially autumnal fragrance style, the chypre, fits as perfectly as a Dior tweed suit.
photo courtesy of Sultan Pasha
But Sultan Pasha does more than just make a sensible marriage of style and aroma here: he creates a miniaturist canvas of what seems like a hundred ingredients, that, when opened, expand and then expand again into a mural of varying brushstrokes, of gradations of colour and shadow, and outstanding loveliness. Right at the top are the citrus notes mixed with some flowery verbena, and I get a pointillist dot of rose. Next, is a procession of herbal and waxy garden smells, led by clary sage (which has a natural affinity with chrysanthemum) and honey/beeswax.
Gustave Caillebotte, Four Vases of Chrysanthemums, 1893, creative commons license
In the centre of this profusion is a resplendent heap of golden chrysanthemum on a velvety bed of ancient oakmoss. Pasha’s delineation of the flower is so precise that it is like smelling every slender petal and the soil it grew in. The dark green aroma of chrysanthemum leaves carries the oakmoss forward gracefully, and some slinky civet nuzzles in behind it. Somewhere, lurking below, are a scatter of vetiver and woods, but they remain largely out of sight, there to augment the forest floor fragrance of flowers and moss from where the chrysanthemums glint like burnished gold.
Over time, civet, musk and castoreum become more assertive, nodding to chypres past with their elegant animalism. For the next several hours, the chrysanthemum, moss, citrus and patchouli turn about each other in a slow fouetté, and the supporting notes peek in and out at leisure. In Chypre Chrysantheme, Sultan Pasha has produced a beautifully structured perfume of restrained sensuality and elegance. With its unconventional, herbal-floral heart, and perfect balance, Chypre Chrysantheme is nothing short of superb.
Notes: Lime, lemon, bergamot, lemon verbena, rosa alba otto, jasmine absolute, chrysanthemum absolute, hyacinth, damascena rose absolute, centifolia rose absolute, lily of the valley, coffee absolute, clary sage, honey absolute, oakmoss, tonka absolute, civet, white ambergris, beeswax, aged patchouli, musk, labdanum, Madagascan vanilla, Siamese benzoin, seaweed absolute, styrax, castoreum, olibanum, sandalwood Mysore, bourbon vetiver.
Disclaimer: sample of Sultan Pasha Chypre Chrysantheme generously sent to me by Sultan Pasha. My opinions are my own.
Lauryn Beer, Senior Editor
Sultan Pasha Chypre Chrysantheme attar
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