Ormonde Jayne
Ormonde Jayne
262 votes
A unique visual signature based on accords, character, and seasonality
An immediate citrus detonation—sharp grapefruit pith meeting orange's oily sweetness—explodes alongside juniper's piney gin bite and cardamom's spicy-green intensity. The clary sage contributes an almost vinous, aromatic quality whilst bergamot adds its distinctive Earl Grey facet, all buoyed up by that unmistakable hedione shimmer that makes the whole construction feel three inches off the skin. There's a mentholated coolness here, almost medicinal in its clarity.
As the citrus oils fade, the composition settles into an unusual midpoint where tea's bitter tannins meet a soft, soapy magnolia-rose hybrid, whilst the Iso E Super begins its insistent woody hum. The violet adds a powdery, lipstick-like quality that shouldn't work but somehow grounds the airier elements, and the first whispers of tobacco appear—dry, papery, almost like walking past a tobacconist rather than smoking a cigar. The suede accord adds a buffed, skin-adjacent warmth.
The base reveals Pilkington's true intention: tobacco rendered translucent and clean, wrapped in the molecular embrace of Iso E Super and cashmeran's woody-musky blur. Sandalwood provides a creamy backdrop whilst moss adds a subtle verdant edge, and tonka bean's hay-like sweetness prevents things becoming too austere. What remains is closer to the memory of tobacco than the thing itself—abstract, refined, and remarkably persistent for something so sheer.
Montabaco Verano is Linda Pilkington's masterclass in controlled contradiction—a fragrance that pairs the crystalline snap of citrus and herbs with the languid warmth of tobacco, all suspended in an airy, almost architectural composition. The opening is a solar blast: grapefruit and orange absolute collide with juniper's gin-bright tang and cardamom's eucalyptol edge, whilst clary sage adds its muscat-wine sweetness and bergamot cuts through with Earl Grey sharpness. This isn't your typical citrus-woody affair; there's a deliberate, almost aggressive freshness here, amplified by what must be hefty amounts of hedione creating that radiant, scrubbed-clean expansiveness.
The tobacco accord, when it arrives, doesn't play the expected honeyed, rum-soaked role. Instead, it's dry and almost austere—blonde leaves rather than sticky syrup—wrapped in the gauzy, skin-like embrace of suede and cashmeran. That hefty dose of Iso E Super creates a pulsing, woody radiance that hovers just beyond recognition, whilst sandalwood and moss anchor the composition without weighing it down. The magnolia and rose remain ghostly presences, adding a soapy-clean floralcy rather than any overt bouquet.
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4.3/5 (116)