Jasmine L'Orientaliste 1997

As a child in the Czech Republic, I attended a kindergarten. This kindergarten was housed in an old villa and was surrounded by a garden on three sides. During the time of the actual owners - before World War II - this must have been a beautiful garden. By my time, it had already become overgrown, the grass was very densely rooted and mostly more brown than green. But in spring - my favorite season - it was green again, just like the trees in the garden, the cypress trees, and some remaining rose bushes. And also the jasmine, or rather the plant that I believed to be jasmine my whole life, was green and filled with many white, fragrant flowers. I now know that this was a so-called "False Jasmine," a Seringa bush. I first encountered real jasmine in Spain, Jasminum officinale and Jasmin Sambac. Climbing plants that gradually cover an entire wall and are often used in Spain as property wall greenery. It looks beautiful all year round, and when it blooms, it smells lovely too. The flowers even bear a distant resemblance to frangipani flowers; instead of the twist in the middle, they have a small dark indentation towards the flower head.
Jasmine is one of the flowers I loved as a child and still like very much today. Jasmine scents are also part of my collection, e.g., À la Nuit by Serge Lutens or Voile de Jasmin by Bvlgari.

Natural jasmine has a very sweet and pleasant scent, but it can reach a level that can cause headaches, both in volume and sweetness. In the Arab countries, jasmine is indispensable in perfumery. There are many attars with jasmine, some better and some worse.

So it does not surprise me at all that a beautiful, full, soft jasmine scent comes from Marrakech, and I must sincerely thank you, dear Joe, for this fine gift. It is truly nothing but jasmine that can be perceived; it is a pure jasmine soliflore. But here it is one of the most beautiful kinds. Fine, soft, fragrant, light - despite good sillage and equally good longevity. I am already looking forward to using this scent in spring and summer and will certainly spray it on clothing to be able to enjoy it well and for a long time myself.