Lorenzo Villoresi Iperborea (2010): Not An Oriental Garden {New Perfume}

Several years in the making and now just out is Iperborea by master-perfumer Lorenzo Villoresi who is also a winner of the prestigious Coty Prize.

Contrary to some niche perfume houses which are able to convey a sense of selective taste while suggesting near-industrial output, the house of Lorenzo Villoresi seems to be intent on opting for the luxury of artisanal pace.

As announced before, the new fragrance wishes to reference the myth of the Hyperboreans,

"There, beyond the north wind, where the ocean breeze carries the fresh aroma of sea-spray, in the everlasting spring, the fresh north wind carries the radiant perfume of blossoming petals, hidden in the snow along the rugged mountain walls, beneath the morning dew, searching for the first ray of sunlight"...

"Iperborea is a fragrance with a top note of fresh, sparkling, green flowers, with citrus notes and light fruity hints, which opens into a radiant heart of blossoming petals; lily of the valley and magnolia, mimosa and cyclamen. Hints of musk and aromatic woods emerge from a soft and intense background of white spring flowers, characterised by precious extracts of orange blossom and jasmin."

Judging from the description of the notes of the eau de toilette on paper, it is striking to see how the composition appears to be shot through by flowers from top to bottom with the base notes reading like top notes...and actually, according to the Italian version of the site and the summary above, they are indeed the top notes but seem to have been accidentally inverted on the English version of the site.

We already knew that Lorenzo Villoresi wanted to create an antithesis to the trope of the oriental garden. We did not expect the composition of Iperborea to be so lavishly and systematically floral to demonstrate this point.