Patchouli 1854 Honoré Payan

Until now, I had always thought of Grasse as a city of flowers; I had never thought of it as the home of patchouli fragrances.
But the perfume house Honoré Payan, founded in Grasse in 1854, not only offers the expected floral scents, it also reveals seductive vanilla and fantastically beautiful patchouli fragrances, such as its "Patchouli 1854", where even the bottle catches the eye and makes you want to touch it and get to know it better.

I can't remember how many times over the last few years I've thought: "This really is the most beautiful patchouli fragrance!", but I've had to correct myself just as often: I kept hitting the next one and the next one and the next one - one more beautiful, stranger or even just dirtier than the other; richer in truffle spores.
When will this search end?
I hope never!

And what do I feel now, as the first rich drops warm on my skin, vibrating softly, reaching my senses, awakening them and making them pay attention?
As they awaken, they blossom into the most beautiful flowers, only to be given enough surface area to be touched, enveloped as completely as possible by this dark beauty of scent; sensual, beautiful and enraptured by a flow of fragrance that takes some getting used to and is quite extraordinary.

As if awakened from a deep sleep, still somewhat dazed, I encounter warm earth here, heavy with memories of many kinds, flavored by them, infinitely sad and yet comforting.
Tears, wept from joy and pain, fermented into golden drops of honey.
Golden resins with mysterious inclusions.
Melted chocolate, very dark and yet delicately veined with finely drawn veins of warm spicy vanilla, lazily flowing and generously dusted with reddish-brown cocoa.

This companion does not reveal more to me; it keeps its real secrets to itself.
It entices me with what it describes, but encloses me protectively in one of its spicy, earthy-sweet fragrance embraces and invites me to linger, to feel safe and let the little wounds heal.
The longevity of this fragrance makes it easy to accept this offer and slip into this darkly aromatic cocoon of scent.
If you find me here, please let me sleep!