An elixir blending the aphrodisiacs of many cultures throughout history, AZIYADÉ draws us into a sensuous feast where the pleasures of love are intimately entwined with those of the palate. More than a fragrance, AZIYADÉ is a flavour. The flavour of the yielding flesh of AZIYADÉ, the heroin of Pierre Loti’s eponymous novel, the story of a harem in the twilight of the Ottoman Empire – though we now know that Loti’s heroin, the very embodiment of love, started out as a hero…


Is AZIYADE a forbidden fruit? The fragrance opens with pomegranate: for the Greeks, to taste it was to drink the blood of the drunken god Dionysius in order to experience the cosmic union… Candied dates, almonds, oranges and prunes are set alight by aphrodisiac spices: cardamom, favoured by the Ancient Egyptians to make their kisses more burning; Ceylonese cinnamon, an essential ingredient of erotic feasts for the Romans, who dedicated it to Venus Libentina in her temples; ginger, used in China to stimulate mucous membranes, and finally Egyptian cumin, used in the sacred prostitution rituals of the Sumerian empire.


AZIYADÉ’s oriental sillage draws us into the smoke-laden atmosphere of erotic celebrations. Tobacco leaf is conjured with raw Indian patchouli, used in magic rituals to stimulate sexual desire. Vanilla, an aphrodisiac in the Aztec empire, exhales its tawny accords, rounded out by the unctuous notes of carob pods. Tears of Arabian incense blend love and sacred ecstasy: did Queen Hatshepsut not display her naked body, rubbed in incense, to honour the god Amun-Ra?

Drunk on luxury and pleasure, AZIYADÉ delves deeper still into sensuousness. Its animal accords recreate the penetrating scent of the mythical Tonkin musk; the absolute of Moroccan cistus unfurls its resinous facets. Overdosed and concentrated, the refined materials of AZIYADÉ require slow maceration to develop into a naturally dark-coloured nectar.


More than a sillage, AZIYADÉ leaves a trace.

Ingredients:
Top notes: almond, dates, orange, plum, pomegranate
Heart notes: caraway seed, cardamom, cinnamon, ginger
Base notes: incense, labdanum from France, musk, patchouli, tobacco, vanilla