Etat Libre d'Orange
A unique visual signature based on accords, character, and seasonality
A hot, almost aggressive wave of cinnamon and dark rum hits immediately, spiced and alcoholic, with cumin's peculiar earthiness grounding the sweetness before it can establish itself. You're hit with something genuinely peppery—uncomfortable, almost challenging.
The vanilla notes settle into the framework, creating a creamy, almost custard-like sweetness that the cistus absolute renders slightly floral and resinous. The cumin softens into background grain, and the composition begins to feel intentional rather than chaotic, though the bourbon vetiver emerges with genuine woody complexity.
The vinylguaiacol becomes increasingly prominent, lending a smoky, charred quality that transforms the base into something closer to burned sugar and leather than typical gourmand dryness. The fragrance becomes quieter, more intimate, clinging close to skin rather than projecting.
Frustration arrives as a deliberate contradiction—a fragrance that embraces excess where restraint might be expected. Mathilde Bijaoui has constructed something deliberately indulgent, even hedonistic, built on the tension between spiced warmth and creamy sweetness. The opening assault of cinnamon and rum immediately establishes a boozy, almost intoxicating character, whilst cumin adds a dusty, slightly unsettling earthiness that prevents this from becoming a simple gourmand confection. What emerges is a fragrance for those who find conventional sweetness cloying; the cumin acts as a counterpoint, introducing a savoury grain-like quality that makes the vanilla and vanilla absolute in the heart feel less saccharine, more purposeful.
The bourbon vetiver base grounds everything with a woody, slightly leathery quality, whilst chestnut wood contributes an almost nutty warmth. The vinylguaiacol—that phenolic, smoky aromachemical—introduces a charred, slightly medicinal undertone that's genuinely unusual in a gourmand composition. It whispers of burned caramel and woodsmoke rather than candied comfort.
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3.8/5 (349)