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Post by Sister Mary Magdalen, Patron Saint of Perfumers

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Fragrance lovers, today I pray your indulgence as I sing a hymn to my favourite note in perfumery: Violet.

So unfashionable, I know. She has not the vampish allure of look-at-me Tuberose. She lacks the ballsy ubiquitous oomph of oudh. No, gentle reader, I languish in the limpid embrace of a shy flower. Her beguiling gaze from a by-gone time first lured this poor soul into the bottomless, limitless, wallet-emptying world of fragrance obsession.

My adoration for her is such, that I am not content merely to spray and smell, I must also consume violet creme chocolates, candies, liqueurs… anything really. Recently, after much searching, I procured a bottle of violet flavouring. Power up! Now I can have violet cereal. Violet anything!

Hence last week saw me whipping up a batch of vanilla butter cupcakes. They were in the oven and I was taste-testing the intensity of the violet white chocolate ganache that would soon adorn them, when I heard the all-too-familiar knock of my parcel postman at my front door. “My Tauer Explorer Sets!” I realised but even more delight was in store for that Swiss devil had included samples, one of which I had been fantasising about since first I read the list of notes:

Pentachords White by Andy Tauer for Tauer Perfumes 2011

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords in one line:
Vanilla, violet, amber, iris, Brazillian rosewood, orris.

Of course I sprayed away without delay and was immediately delighted by a clear violet and vanilla that stunned me with pleasure. Perhaps this explains my weakness: violet is key to a bliss lock in my brain. Andy Tauer shares his process via a generous and genial blog, so I know that he has used the particularly narcotic violet aromachemical – alpha ironine – in Pentachords White. Despite these gourmand sounding notes and a subsequent dusting of icing sugar that seems to fall on the starring pair of violet and vanilla, the overall fragrant impression is very dry. The blog tells me this is because the composition rests on Ambroxan. The salty, buzzy rasp of it is evident, but to my nose, exquisitely balanced. It radiates and gives structure, but does not dominate.

Photo Stolen Flickr

The longevity of Pentachords White is impressive, and the fragrance holds together. No element outlasts the others. To my nose, this is an all-night heavenly disco where Violet and Vanilla dance on a warm wooden floor whilst the Iris smoke machine and Ambroxan mirrorball add haze and scatter.

I’m fascinated by the idea of these Pentachords. I have now tried them all, and Pentachords White is truly the standout for me. This is not just due to my love of the violet, but also to my perception that this one much more than Auburn and Verdant successfully translates the 5 note concept. White truly is an unresolved tension between 5 points in space. It shimmers.

Photo Stolen Flickr

The play of oppositions in this scent is enthralling. Somehow Pentachords White manages to be sheer and abstract, yet alive on my skin. It oscillates between warmth and coolness. One moment a toothsome hologram of a violet ganache vanilla butter cupcake will loom in view (such synchronicity with my baking!), then a buzzing menace reminds that this sweet little treat just might bite back.

Further Reading: Smelly Thoughts and Now Smell This
LuckyScent has $150/50ml
Tauer Perfumes has $34.70/5 x 1.5ml Discovery set

Which of the Andy Tauer fragrances have you tried or did you like?

Sister Mary Magdelene, Patron Saint of Perfumers.