Laboratorio Olfattivo is the newest house on our shelves, and one we've wanted for a long time. It's an independent Italian house, founded in 2009 by Roberto Drago and Daniela Caon. The idea is in the name: a laboratory. A place where perfumers get to try things.
And some of the perfumers who've come to try things are about as big as the industry gets.
Viaggio in Italia: Jean-Claude Ellena's Italy
Jean-Claude Ellena spent more than a decade as Hermès' in-house perfumer and is one of the most influential noses alive. His style is famous: few materials, nothing wasted.
For Laboratorio Olfattivo he made Viaggio in Italia, a small series of parfum colognes meant as portraits of Italian happiness. Sunshine in winter, basically.
- Bergamotto is the elegant one. Calabrian bergamot, sharpened with bitter orange, warmed by a little cardamom and held together by white musk.
- Arancia Rossa is blood orange, orange blossom and a twist of passion fruit. Ellena's favourite orange story is a Christmas one: oranges given as a gift of light in December. It lasts longer than most colognes.
Vanagloria: Dominique Ropion's vanilla
Vanagloria is Dominique Ropion's study of vanilla, built around Bourbon vanilla pods cold-extracted with CO₂, so you get the whole bean and not just the sweet part. Saffron and pineapple open it and push the vanilla toward leather. Frankincense and tonka follow, before it settles into deep vanilla and musk.
The opening can feel strange. Wait for it. The drydown is the point.
Laboratorio in Nero: the dark side
- Nektar started with a trip to southern Oman, where perfumer Pierre Guéros found the sidr tree, whose flowers give one of the Middle East's most prized honeys. Honey with an edge: leather, frankincense and cinnamon bark. More golden than dessert.
- Tonkade is imagined as a slow dance. Tonka runs through the whole thing, with dried fruit, cardamom, cedar, vanilla and frankincense. Sweet, spicy and a bit mysterious.
Laboratorio in Fiore: sun-loving flowers
- MyLO is built around the white lily, bright with citrus and warm with vanilla and white amber. A clean, happy floral that doesn't try too hard.
- Nun is named after the ancient Egyptian primordial water, which gave birth to the lotus. Juicy pear, white lotus and jasmine over soft woods.
- Décou-Vert is lily of the valley, torn green leaves, lilac and jasmine. Like walking past a florist on a wet spring morning.
Where to start
If you like fresh and clean, start with Bergamotto. If you like warm and sweet, Vanagloria or Tonkade. If you like flowers, MyLO. Several come in 30 ml, and all of them come as samples.
See the full Laboratorio Olfattivo collection, or come by the store at Badstuegade 16 in Aarhus.
