Extracting Roots theme
You can order all perfumes featured in this theme as a pack of samples.
In this theme
In this edit we explore the materials/notes in perfumery that come from under the ground.
There aren’t many roots in perfumery and most of them are technically rhizomes (underground stems), but there is a royal perfume material among them: orris. It comes from the roots (rhizomes) of iris. The note of iris in perfumes is a woody/leather note coming from the twisted bulb that forms under the ground. The iris flowers have no distinct aroma and cannot yield any material useful to perfumers. The rhizomes however, when dried, pulverized and extracted produce a material (orris butter) that has a complex (musky, ambery, green, fruity and leathery) pleasant and extremely long lasting aroma.
The other star root is vetiver. It comes from tropical locations such as Haiti, India, Indonesia and so on (we also have a Dorset vetiver in our perfume portfolio). This root has a dry spicy, ambery aroma occasionally with a green or salty nuance.
Then you have relatively the rare calamus and asafoetita and a bit easier to come across angelica and ginger. For the enclosed selection and corresponding sample pack we picked perfumes with a distinct note of one the fabulous perfumery roots.
This blend is fresh and smoky at the same time (just like vetiver can be). In PG6.1 there is both the whispering coolness of herbs and bergamot as well as the radiant smoky warmth of tea, vetiver and tobacco.
Try this perfume to get an idea of how the warehouse where they dry, mature and process iris roots might smell. The air would be musky, sweet in the unique powdery orris way, with a hint of an ancient Vatican library and the alchemist-herbalists lab at the same time.
A rare perfume note on its own but occasionally it is part of a mix in heavy orientals (and also part of the Worcester sauce, for instance). In Tara Mantra it is a shade that highlight the oud theme and at the same time is part of the sharp ink accord.
Fareb is bright spicy gourmand perfume with a generous portion of ginger in the recipe.
Calamus is technically a rhizome not a root and its extract has a "milk-truck" or "shoe-repair shop" odor. This material works beautifully in crisp leather perfumes, but for some reason it is not very common in perfume formulas nowadays. Luckily, we have a beautiful calamus perfume in our collection. In this formula this material is in the truly royal company of osmanthus, wild vanilla and precious resins.
