Paraphrase Perfume

I think vanilla has been wronged. It is the most popular flavor on the planet, it has become so ubiquitous that it’s name is synonymous with neutrality.
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Transported from the Aztec kingdom, planted around the world, nearly wiped out until a 12 year old enslaved boy, Edmond Albius discovers it can be hand pollinated to produce fruit (which it still is today). Vanilla is truly a marvel with a story to match.

In this spelling, virtu comes to mean an appreciation and veneration of fine things, of the arts. It is a knowledge of the rich history of culture and what has contributed to it. Vanilla for me, is the most deserving of reverence and to be understood for just how magical it is….. So Vanilla Virtu.

This scent really was a wandering path for me that deepened my own appreciation for vanilla as a material and scent profile. I had taken a few attempts at it from different angles, which is how I often work. Picking a focus and building around that focus. Finding the supporting materials that let the main facet shine. First I was working on a vanillic amber, then a woody accord that was heavily vanilla based, then finally holding up vanilla as the primary material, which is when the name came about. Even with it’s wild and incredible history I was still obviously resistant to exploring a scent dominate by the note. So I created an alternate history, vanilla appearing in a different place and different time, how would it be viewed? How would those people react? Would they see it for the jewel that it is, even in their damp and sodden medieval lives? It helped for me to reframe the scent and how I felt about it.

The scent overall is sweet and rich, vanilla and tonka bean as well as bran absolute provide a bready, grainy background that pairs perfectly with the tonka. All of this supported by damp woods, incense and saffron with a touch of cumin to give a bodily life, a rich medieval existence.