Year: 2010
Notes: fruits, pear leaf, pear bark, olive branches, ambergris
Ciel d'Airain is a delicate, fresh and light woody-green, initially commencing within a fruity context.
Starting with a natural-smelling green fig accord, the citrus adds a luminosity to the top notes, while a soft pear note makes a brief appearance. As the fig intensifies, the woody aspect of the pear bark surfaces and, coupled with a woody olive aroma, provides a mild earthiness to the proceedings.
With a bright juicy verdancy, it's not too sweet at any given stage. But after the fig recedes, the olive increases its savoury presence with an ever-growing saltiness (heightened by the emerging ambergris). As the ambergris fully converges with the olive, the resulting smooth drydown is akin to the smell of warm moist skin, harbouring faint woody-herbaceous embellishments.
It's a wonderful effort that incorporates pear successfully, while finding a new way of innovatively showcasing fig as an accord. Unfortunately, regardless of the quality of the ingredients, one found it frustratingly sheer and not particularly satisfying to wear (lasting close to five hours but hardly perceptible after the first).
It's a real pity, as it's one of the more appealing (and better structured) offerings from this house.
Starting with a natural-smelling green fig accord, the citrus adds a luminosity to the top notes, while a soft pear note makes a brief appearance. As the fig intensifies, the woody aspect of the pear bark surfaces and, coupled with a woody olive aroma, provides a mild earthiness to the proceedings.
With a bright juicy verdancy, it's not too sweet at any given stage. But after the fig recedes, the olive increases its savoury presence with an ever-growing saltiness (heightened by the emerging ambergris). As the ambergris fully converges with the olive, the resulting smooth drydown is akin to the smell of warm moist skin, harbouring faint woody-herbaceous embellishments.
It's a wonderful effort that incorporates pear successfully, while finding a new way of innovatively showcasing fig as an accord. Unfortunately, regardless of the quality of the ingredients, one found it frustratingly sheer and not particularly satisfying to wear (lasting close to five hours but hardly perceptible after the first).
It's a real pity, as it's one of the more appealing (and better structured) offerings from this house.
