The Best Perfumes Of 2018 – Nostalgic Defiance

Last December, while composing my usual list of the best perfumes of the year, I wrote that most brands chose to play it safe in 2017. I don’t think 2018 presented me with much cause to change that assessment. If anything, it was the mainstream sector – rather than the indie world – that permitted itself to cultivate a few buds of bravery, granting marginally larger budgets to some releases and making a tentative move to abandon certain exhausted cliches. That said, the perfume world remains in the grip of the same forces that maintain a restrictive hold over many global business operations and, consequently, compel decision-makers to follow the path of least resistance towards the easiest options on offer.

Some would argue that those restrictive influences aren’t making their presence felt at the very top: according to many reports, sales of the most ‘high end’, most expensive fragrances displayed healthy growth this year. And if that’s true, then it’s yet another neat reflection of the wider picture: the gap between the two poles of ‘western’ society continues to widen, prompting fears about the collapse and disappearance of what once felt like a safe middle. Certainly, the fragrance industry remains fascinating to watch, and even though 2018 didn’t give us any headlines about high-profile acquisitions or brand bankruptcies, I would say a few interesting developments aren’t too far away.

But what about the perfumes themselves? As ever, once the year’s olfactory plonk was dismissed and poured down the drain, the number of commendable creations left standing was more than respectable. Olivier Polge brought a sense of streamlined ease to Chanel with Paris-Biarritz. Quentin Bisch added a new chapter to the tale of modern chypres with his endearing Nomade for Chloe. The folks at Acqua Di Parma bottled an irresistible Italian sun in Chinotto Di Liguria. To mark the twentieth anniversary of the original Cartier Declaration, Mathilde Laurent presented a suitably more statesmanlike, parfum version. Tom Ford offered a chuckle-inducing time-warp to the past with Fougere Platine. The irrepressible combo of lime and verbena sparkled with Mediterranean vigour in Goutal’s Bois D’Hadrien. And the re-invention of Miller Harris entered a delightfully spiky phase with the appearance of the nettle-infused Wander Through The Parks. Excellent creations all… but they haven’t made it onto my Top 10.

I’ll leave you in peace to read the list in a moment, but if I had to sum it up in a few lines, I suppose I’d say that it’s defiant. For one reason or another, all the scents on it feel like a statement of intent: a refusal to descend into the soup of banality. Tellingly, in many cases, this means resorting to retro styles. But not in all. Some of the compositions below feel like a genuine gaze into the future: a desire to capture and pin down a glimpse of what hovers in the distance and might one day come to be.

Cardamusc by Christine Nagel for Hermès
When Christine Nagel revived the Hermessence range, she did so with all the style and elegance for which she’s rightly renowned. The finest of the quintet she added to the collection was, without doubt, Cardamusc: a time-slowing, heart-capturing embrace between the vivacious coolness of cardamom and the come-hither glow of modern musks.

Niral by Bertrand Duchaufour for Neela Vermeire Creations
We’ve come to expect a riot of multi-sensory stimuli from Neela Vermeire, but with Niral, she outdid herself in that particular regard, presenting iris and violet against a rosy-sandalwood backdrop of the most vivid hues this side of Juhu Beach. With scents like this, who needs tinted sunglasses.  

Papyrus Oud by Michel Almairac for Parle Moi De Parfum
The fact that this is unashamedly an update of Almairac’s own Gucci Pour Homme from 2003 doesn’t mean it shouldn’t be allowed on the list, because encountering – and then wearing – its precision-engineered balance of incense, pepper, cedar, amber and oud was one of my most memorable olfactory highlights of the year.

Dryad by Liz Moores for Papillon
The greens, mosses and narcissus-like florals of classics from yesteryear made their presence felt in the summer-in-a-forest delights of Dryad, Liz Moores’ most assured and confident composition so far. A dream-laden sunset you wish you could relive for days.

The Tycoon by Bertrand Duchaufour for St Giles
Proving that modern chypres can be commanding, sophisticated and surprising at the same time, The Tycoon presents an agenda that ranges from galbanum to castoreum – with brief items on magnolia and oakmoss – before throwing it all out of the window and insisting that everyone takes the rest of the day off. Assertively fun-loving.

Imitation Woman by Pierre Negrin and Imitation Man by Leslie Girard for Amouage
The trend towards futurertro aesthetics in several recent releases found its most endearing and satisfying form in Creative Director Christopher Chong’s Imitation duo. The male version dressed up a hairy-chested patchouli with a gloriously weird leather-violet accord, while the feminine iteration channeled candle-wax aldehydes through blackcurrant and a delightful, vintage-inflected ylang. Despite their name, these are two of this year’s true originals.

L’Oudh by Andy Tauer for Tauer Perfumes
With characteristic disregard for fashions and popular tastes, Tauer waited years before giving us his take on oud. But unsurprisingly, when he did, the result was notable for the integrity and lack of ostentation that have won the Swiss perfumer so many fans. Like a back-to-basics primer, L’Oudh ignores all alleged competitors, showcases its star material’s key facets (minus pungently fecal notes) and then throws down the gauntlet to most other scents claiming to contain agarwood.

Cuir Celeste by Quentin Bisch for Ex Nihilo
Inspiration, name and execution all align in this suitably angelic presentation of leather, wherein the material is lifted up to some distant comet’s tail thanks to the help of pepper and ambrette. Plus, it proves that Bisch remains a talent to watch.

Impression Cedarwood Heart by Alexis Dadier for Ostens
Perhaps the most heartwarming of Ostens’ deliciously geeky releases is this take on nostalgic comfort from Dadier. Using tobacco to form a bridge between galbanum and cedar, it is part a trip into a freaky, Hansel & Gretel fairy tale, part a magical day spent at your favourite grandparent’s. In other words: enchanting.

The Dawn by Carlos Benaïm for Editions De Parfums Frédéric Malle
Although its Burj Khalifa price tag may mean few end up smelling it, The Dawn could possibly turn out to become the final word on modern perfumery’s insistent use of woody-amber materials in masculine scents. Here – beneath the canopy of a leathery oud – they’re presented with finesse, restraint and more than just a hint of danger. It may be The Dawn, but I’m not sure it’s inviting anyone to get out of bed any time soon.

Happy new year!

Persolaise