Nero – green and elegant and loaded with nostalgia

Photo: perfumeniche

One of my strongest food memories from childhood has to be black licorice. Every Christmas, some distant relative would send us a big box of English candies, bars, and toffees. My favourite was Licorice Allsorts. I couldn’t wait for that box to arrive. In my child’s heart, there was always a fear that   Licorice Allsorts didn’t make the cut or, worse yet, the package got lost in the mail. Oh, the relief when the gift box arrived, and Licorice Allsorts were in it. I could relax and enjoy the coconut rolls, where a bite of licorice is wrapped in soft coconut, the jelly buttons, where licorice jelly is coated with candy beads, and my favourite, the basic Allsorts. Those slices of black licorice sandwiched between slivers of creamy sugar fondant. They were like tiny, little licorice petits fours. In time, I grew older, the gift boxes stopped arriving, and Allsorts were a thing of the past until I discovered licorice-centred fragrances, like Nero.

The licorice plant is an herbaceous perennial native to Southern Europe, North Africa, and West Asia. It’s been used in traditional medicine and herbalism for thousands of years, so maybe it’s not surprising that one of my favourite olfactory interpretations of licorice comes from Farmacia SS. Annunziata. Dating back to the 15th century, it is one of Italy’s oldest apothecaries.

Nero opens with sparkling, bright bergamot and herbaceous dill, creating a delicate, fresh, green opening. The dill has a spicy aspect that warms Nero. As it develops, a note of sweet basil joins the dill. Their anethole aspect creates the most evocative licorice accord I've ever experienced.  A touch of citrus keeps it bright. Slowly, a note of creamy, sweet vanilla makes its way up to the licorice, making Nero irresistible. It teeters on gourmand but is held in check by the green notes. As it settles at the base, the vanilla gets stronger. It's joined by patchouli, which is sweet and woody. Musk smoothens the blend.

In Nero, the notes are so well blended that it’s comforting and soothing without any sharpness and dries down to an aromatic, creamy, elegant seducer of a scent.

For me, Nero is not the literal smell of licorice candy, but a beautiful memory of it.

Check out Nero in our Shop.