Created by Jacques Polge and Christopher Sheldrake and launched by Chanel in 2008 as part of their Les Exclusifs de Chanel, Sycomore is a five-star stunner. In his book Perfumes: The A-Z Guide, Luca Turin says, “If putting this on does not make you shiver with pleasure, see a doctor.”

Sycomore opens with a nose-tickling freshness from aldehydes and camphourous juniper berries. A gentle hint of rose adds floralcy and richness. Suddenly, there’s a note of mouth-puckering grapefruit, which at first seems out of place, but is really a facet of the vetiver that lies at the heart of Sycomore. As it blooms on skin, the vetiver shows off all its aspects – rooty, smoky, woody, anisic, balsamic – which is why it often smells differently every time you wear it. Did you catch a whiff of the rooty phase, balsamic phase or the smoky phase? Cypress is at the heart, too, giving it a piney, spicy freshness, making Sycomore dark green and pungent. A woody base of creamy sandalwood softens it and refines it without diminishing any of the effects of the other notes.

Sycomore is a gorgeous vetiver fragrance with a rich, refined drydown.

Notes: Aldehydes, juniper berries, rose, grapefruit, vetiver, cypress, sandalwood.