The Miller Harris Stories Collection started with a simple idea: give two different perfumers the same evocative passage of text from a novel and see what they create. The results, Scherzo and Tender, could not be more different and were an exercise in showcasing how both Mathieu Nardin (Scherzo) and Bertrand Duchaufour (Tender) interpreted the text (from F.Scott Fitzgerald’s Tender is the Night) in entirely unique ways. I personally love this idea, after all, aren’t perfume’s just smelly stories that stir emotion, surprise and transport us in the same way as a novel?
Miller Harris have now added a total of four fragrances to the collection (and have since discontinued Tender) with the two latest being Staccato and Mìneir. For these new additions the text that serves as inspiration for each scent is different, with the “addictive and smoky” Staccato channeling Edith Wharton’s The Age of Innocence and the “aromatic marine” Mìneir diving into the pages of Virginia Woolf’s To The Lighthouse. Despite my love of reading I must confess that I don’t know either novel but that is not going to stop me exploring their olfactory counterparts!
Let’s Sniff!
Staccato
The Notes
Top: Cinnamon Leaves, Cardamom Co2, Organic Ginger, Clove Buds, Saffron
Heart: Rose, Sambac Jasmine, Leather, Honey
Base: Tobacco, Ambergris, Cade, Benzoin Siamm, Cedarwood
The Perfumer
Karine Vinchon-Spehner (Robertet)
How Does it Smell?
Edith Wharton’s text certainly gave perfumer Karine Vinchon-Spehner a head start, referencing roses, coffee and ambergris, all of which are delightful things to include in a perfume. It’ll be no surprise then that Staccato is immediately rich and warm with a central rose accord adorned with fiery spices. Up top it’s all roasted cinnamon and freshly zingy ginger, settling into a smoky-leathery rose that softly smoulders like an incense cone
There’s a reassuring familiarity to Staccato. It feels like a mix between L’Artisan’s (frankly iconic) Tea for Two, with its rich honeyed tea and biscuits, but also evokes the delicate, smoking greenery of Comme des Garçons Amazingreen, with something leaf-like hidden amongst the delicious, smoky roses. This may all make it sounds heavy and thick, but Staccato is actually fairly transparent and therein lies its appeal – this is a rich, spicy, leather-bound rose freshened up by green and citrus notes. It’s a little bit of an oddity, but in an intriguing one for sure.
He tried to analyse the trick to find a clue to it in the way
the chairs and tables were grouped, in the fact that only
two Jacqueminot roses (of which nobody ever bought
less than a dozen) had been placed in the slender vase
at his elbow, and in the vague pervading perfume that
was not what one put on hankerchiefs, but rather like the
scent of some far off bazaar, a smell made up of Turkish
coffee and ambergris and dried roses.
?
Mìneir
The Notes
Top: Green Grass, Crispy Sage, Eucalyptus, Cardamom Guatemale, Mint
Heart: Sea Salt, Cold Air, Dark Cashmere Wood, Cedarwood, White Flowers
Base: Moss, Myrrh, Papyrus, Patchouli, Dry Woods
The Perfumer
Emilie Bouge (Robertet)
How Does it Smell?
Aquatic fragrances have a bad wrap, largely because they don’t feel “luxe”, which makes it hard for a luxury, boutique brand like Miller Harris to position an oceanic fragrance as something unique, niche and exclusive. When we think aquatic we think of Cool Water and L’Eau d’Issey, two fantastic fragrances, yes, but ones that are so linked to a specific point in time (the ’90s, which are making a comeback, let’s be real_ that they convey a somewhat dated fragrance POV. With that in mind, you’ll be pleased to know that Mìneir is actually the second, excellent and luxurious aquatic that Miller Harris has added to their collection (the first being the salty, bracing, iodic L’Eau Magnetic).
Mìneir mạy be somewhat of a linear fragrance (meaning that it doesn’t develop hugely and what you get initially it largely what the scent smells like for its duration on the skin) but that doesn’t mean it isn’t complex. There is, in fact, a huge amount going on here. It opens slightly salty and sweet, with subtle hints of cool menthol (that must be the eucalyptus) merging with cool, grey spices. There’s an airiness to it but also a soft, powdered wood feel, with hints of earth and moss. It’s wonderfully multifaceted and it almost has a deeply evocative, gloomy feel to it. Almost as if, to fully enjoy it, one has to go to a windy clifftop and stare dramatically at the ocean. It’s very much Madonna walking into the sea at the end of the Power of Good Bye video, if you catch my drift (pun intended) and I’m here for those vibes.
But what after all is one night? A short space, especially
when the darkness dims so soon, and so soon a bird
sings, a cock crows, or a faint green quickens, like a
turning leaf, in the hollow of the wave. Night, however,
succeeds to night. The winter holds a pack of them in
store and deals them equally, evenly, with indefatigable
fingers. They lengthen; they darken. Some of them hold
aloft clear planets, plates of brightness. The autumn
tress, ravaged as they are, take on the flash of tattered
flags kindling in the gloom of cool.
The Verdict
It’s true that these both take a very different approach from Scherzo and Tender, both of which were polar opposites derived from the same inspiration point and I’ll admit that neither Staccato or Mìneir feel quite as innovative or unique as either of those. That said, I have found myself wearing Mìneir fairly often – there’s something about that spice-laden, aromatic, ozonic fragrance that feels like cool rocks on the skin and it works beautifully in cold weather. Like many of the Miller Harris fragrances in my collection I can see myself reaching for it quite regularly because it hits that perfect balance between intriguing and wearable. Miller Harris have always done quality and beauty in a effortlessly wearable manner and these new additions are no exception.
Availability
Both Staccato and Mìneir are available in 100ml Eau de Parfum for £180.
Disclaimer
Samples [full bottles] via Miller Harris. This is not a sponsored post. Images are my own.
The Candy Perfume Boy 