L'Artisan Parfumeur Fleur de Narcisse (Exceptional Harvests Collection 2006)

L'Artisan's Fleur de Narcisse was released in October/November of 2006 in a limited edition of 3,000 bottles and modeled along the same premise as a single vintage, single varietal bottle of wine -- for example, if the soil and weather conditions conspire to create a particularly striking grape for a particular geographical region and year, then the harvest is often set aside to be showcased either entirely on its own, or with minimal interference from blending.

While relying heavily on regional and/or vintage harvests for wines is common, it's not normally practiced in perfumery, though it's also not unheard of. Chanel famously utilizes rose de mai and jasmine year to year from the same fields in Grasse, France for its Chanel No. 5 extrait.

In the case of L'Artisan's 'Exceptional Harvests' series, the company sought to set themselves apart from their peers by producing limited edition fragrances built around one special essence from one region in one particular year; hence, Fleur de Narcisse, crafted around the narcissus absolute gathered from the 2005 harvest of narcissus poeticus flowers planted in the renowned volcanic soils of Lozère, France.

Narcissus Poeticus (or poet's daffodil) is the most graceful and beautiful, but also the most poisonous, of the daffodil family, and while narcissus absolute was widely utilized in traditional French perfumery, and is said to be used as an ingredient in a full 11% of today's fine fragrances, Wikipedia states that "the scent is powerful enough that it can cause headache and vomiting if a large quantity is kept in a closed room."

Now that's what I call a ringing endorsement! But nonetheless, I think I'm in safe territory when I say that L'Artisan's Fleur de Narcisse, constructed around the potentially toxic narcissus, is a rich, complex and almost heady brew with excellent longevity (6-8 hours) and a vapor-trail (i.e. sillage) that ghosts your exit like an invisible air kiss goodbye.

Listed fragrance notes for Fleur de Narcisse are: narcissus, hay, hyacinth, blond tobacco, iris, blackcurrant bud, moss and leather. The promotional booklet that's packed into the box along with the fragrance states that Fleur de Narcisse explores "the narcotic depth and sumptuous distinction of perfumery's 'noble flower' . . . highlighting its honey-sweet base note tinged with sublime blond tobacco, fresh hay and soft leather undertones."

That's a serious enough mouthful for any fragrance to live up to, but I have to say that the honey-sweet base note is one of the more surprising and attractive qualities to Fleur de Narcisse.

Yesterday, I took a friend out shopping in downtown Seattle, and about four hours after I'd first (generously) applied the Fleur de Narcisse to my skin, I was walking through the Nordstrom designers section and was struck by the scent of something golden, sweet and almost gleaming. I immediately thought to myself, "Wow, these stores are getting really good at this environmental scenting technique!" . . . and then I stopped dead in my tracks (right by the rack of Fall 2009 RM, of course), closed my eyes and breathed in deeply. Right. That wasn't environmental scenting -- that was the warm, delicious honey note of Fleur de Narcisse hovering about me as I moved through the store.

Hay, tobacco, moss, leather -- all these earthy notes are present, but the sweetness of the narcissus itself brushes the dirt off the mix to reveal its bright, sunny center.

The packaging for this limited edition fragrance is special in its own right: the box is fashioned out of a beautifully mottled wood featuring a green cloth ribbon and antiqued metal fastener, the interior paper cushioning the fragrance bottle is a printed silk paper, the glass bottle is etched with stylized narcissus flowers, the gold cap is engraved with the name of the fragrance and the year of its release, and the individual number of the bottle from the limited edition run (mine is 1666 out of 3000) is etched unobtrusively onto the bottle itself.

There weren't any corners that were cut or materials that were cheaped out on to shave a few dimes and nickels off the final cost, so if you're looking for a gift item that wears its sense of quality and high attention to detail on its sleeve, the L'Artisan Exceptional Harvests package is definitely worth exploring.

Other opinions:

For The Love Of Perfume: "Fleur de Narcisse was composed to be unisex and not one I expected to like after glancing at the notes. Yet it is glorious!"

Perfume Smellin' Things: "Fleur de Nacrisse is a painting in which the artist takes creative license with his subject and manages to evoke the real flower without being at all realistic in his method . . . It fearlessly and strikingly combines the wraithlike, fresh beauty of narcissus with a full-bodied, sensual forcefulness of leather."

Legerdenez: "A smoky, difficult virility blossoms into a green floral and fades to a distant snowdrift of ivory soap . . . The dregs of this fragrance are heavy on the leather and blond tobacco of real man land."

Perfume Posse: "A series of complex things all running together to create this whole other thing . . . Fleur de Narcisse is like that, hard to see up close, but exquisite when you pull back and quit trying to see its parts."

Me? I'd have to sum it up as an artistic interpretation of the sharp, bittersweet green of the daffodil flower mixed with the idea of a hot June sun, rolling grassy hills, wind-borne pollens and the sweet scent of honey from nearby hives. There's a rustic, pastoral vibe to the piece that will appeal to those who appreciate the smell of the wide-open outdoors more than the delicate scent of flowers in a vase.

Surprisingly, considering how good the fragrance is and that it's a limited edition released over two and a half years ago, you can still find Fleur de Narcisse at Lucky Scent, Aedes De Venustas, Barneys and on the L'Artisan Parfumeur website.

***Note: yes, I know, the flowers in the photos are not narcisse, and have little to do with the official scent notes, but I picked them up at the market and they were just so gosh darn colorful . . . !