Boronia

Boronia is a very unusual fruity-floral composition based around a small, shrubby flower native to Western Australia, the eponymous boronia. Some varieties of the shrub can smell warm and woodsy, but this particular variety smells fruity and spicy, like a handful of ripe apricots dusted in cinnamon and lemon peel. There is even a minty freshness to the topnotes reminiscent of cassis leaf. The boronia also lends the perfume an ionone-rich feel, the silvery powder of violets and iris joining with a distinctive plum jam note to create an almost winey floral bouquet.

The hay-like tones of a golden immortelle provide a textured backdrop to the florals, giving the scent a pleasantly rustic, early fall harvest feel: dried grass, hay, tobacco leaves turning to brown paper in the sun, and the dusty red earth of the Australian outback. Black tea and apricots create a suede impression, but it’s a credit to the perfumer that the foodier notes of caramel, fruit, and cognac are never allowed to turn Boronia into a gourmand. It is fruity and rich, yes, but balanced by the tannic sharpness of tea and hay, the scent manages to stay elegantly dry. If you love the autumnal, plummy darkness of chypres such as Voleur de Roses and Mon Parfum Cheri Par Camille, then you will love Boronia too.