Oakmoss centred chypre with a musk of juniper berries offset against citrus. There's a slight pepperiness hidden in there, a hint of amber and a woody base. But this is really all about the oakmoss, so the success or failure of this composition for you will entirely depend upon how you feel about that particular ingredient.

Me? I'd bathe in the stuff, had I the chance, and have been known to press my nose up against the mossed trunks of trees when it's wet and the ground is loamy, just to inhale a lungful of the scent.

It dies down quite quickly but lingers close to the skin for a decent period after that. There's something almost crystalline in the clarity of the composition that reminds me of the work of Jean-Claude Ellena, which is a pretty high bar to hit. So lovely stuff overall, with the slight caveat that I'd have liked the projection of the opening to have lingered a little bit longer.

How long does it take to create an award-winning chypre accord? At least two years, according to the British perfumer behind the critically successful Chienoir, Amanda Beadle, @bedeauxx on Instagram. Chienoir (pronounced Shen-wah, I think) was the winner of the 2018 Art and Olfaction Awards, which celebrate excellence in independent and artisan perfume from all over the world, and it's easy to see why. For the chypre accord in Chienoir, Amanda fused opoponax (instead of the typical labdanum) with patchouli, oakmoss absolute, and bergamot, a blended quartet of natural ingredients that took over two years to perfect. Taking the opportunity to attend an event (July 2023) where Amanda showcased Chienoir, it was clear from just smelling the isolated accord just how much work had gone into balancing these four key ingredients. (Other notes include neroli, sweet orange, pink pepper, tobacco, juniper berry, and musk.) Chienoir was created to represent "the essence of an English vineyard: mossy woodland, green vines, white flowers, and the deep, chalky, downland terroir." For me, Chienoir is like standing at the top of a vineyard during the golden hour, surrounded by the wide expanse, the moss, and the woodlands. As you look down across the vines from an elevated location, the sun, setting in the distance, casts its sepia hues across the landscape, and the earthy scent of nature fills the air. The sparkling citruses of neroli, sweet orange, and bergamot create that feeling of resplendent evening sunshine. The patchouli is earthy like soil and really speaks to the idea of terroir and the mineral aspect of the earth imparting its qualities into the produce. The aromatics of pink pepper, juniper, oakmoss, and musks give it the sense of being out in the open air, of oxygen, as if all of a sudden you find yourself bathed in nature. It’s incredibly durable as a fragrance, and in testing, it has given me over twelve hours of enjoyment with a hefty sillage. I'm not sure why others are complaining about the performance; you only need a couple of sprays of this. I love the fact it retails in sizes of 100, 30, 15, and 2 ml, which gives everyone the opportunity to try this critically acclaimed perfume. Follow me on Instagram: @TheScentiest