Mitsouko Guerlain 1919 Extrait

"Mitsouko" is translated as "mystery" by Guerlain and appears to be their transliteration of the japanese name "Mitsuko" which actually means "Child of Light". It is supposed to be inspired by the 1909 novel "La Bataille" by Claude Farrère in in which a Japanese woman falls in love with a British officer in the early 20th century. Mitsouko is a chypre, in which the scent molecule aldehyde C-14 (Persicol, 1,4-Undecanolid - chemically a lactone and not, as one might suspect by the name, an aldehyde) was used the first time. 1,4-Undecanolid is responsible for natural peach flavour and was synthetically produced for the use in Mitsouko. Thus, Mitsouko was a milestone in modern perfumery. Charlie Chaplin is supposed to have been a prominent user of Mitsouko. It is said it was his signature fragrance of which he kept several bottles in stock at home and in the studio. The fragrance was reformulated by Edouard Fléchier.