Pierre Guillaume
A unique visual signature based on accords, character, and seasonality
Hazelnut arrives with immediate clarity—roasted, almost buttery, with none of the synthetic plasticity that plagues cheaper gourmands. It's fresh-cracked shell hazelnut, still warm from roasting, before any sweetness complicates the picture. The woody backbone already whispers beneath, preventing any sickly opening.
Heliotrope emerges as the hazelnut softens, introducing an almond-paste creaminess and a faint spiced warmth that suggests clove and vanilla without naming either. The sandalwood becomes the dominant structural force here, providing a creamy-woody embrace that feels almost like sitting inside a wooden box lined with silk. Fleur de sel begins its mineralising work, offering small moments of saline clarity.
What remains is primarily sandalwood and cedarwood with the faintest memory of hazelnut—the composition becomes increasingly woody and slightly arid, the powdery accord creating a soft, almost imperceptible second skin. The salt note lingers longest, rendering the finale unexpectedly dry and elegantly restrained, like the scent of toasted timber after rain.
Praliné de Santal is a dessert whisper rather than a declaration—a fragrance that understands restraint without sacrificing indulgence. Pierre Guillaume has engineered something deceptively simple: hazelnut's buttery warmth opening into heliotrope's almond-tinged sweetness, then anchored by a sandalwood and cedarwood base that prevents the composition from dissolving into pure confectionery. What makes this work is the tension between the gourmand's creamy pull and the woody foundation's refusal to surrender to it. This isn't a nougat bomb; it's more akin to catching the scent of praline dust on a wooden spoon, where the woody notes add a subtle grain, almost a textural quality that keeps everything grounded.
The spicy accord (76%) manifests quietly—not as obvious pepper or cinnamon, but as a gentle warmth that prevents the composition from feeling cloying. Fleur de sel in the base is the true masterstroke, introducing a mineralised dryness that cuts through the creamy heart notes with surgical precision. It's the olfactory equivalent of a pinch of sea salt on caramel. The 52% powdery accord adds a soft veil, reminiscent of crushed almond skin or the ghostly residue of cocoa powder.
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3.6/5 (741)