Launched in 2024, Tilia is the fourth fragrance from men’s fashion Maison Marc-Antoine Barrois.
Tilia refers to linden trees, also known as basswood or lime tree, depending on where you live, but Tilia, the fragrance, is the imaginary name of an imaginary star and the first sun in a constellation of imaginary stars created by Bisch.
Tilia opens with a burst of linden blossom that smells bright and lightly floral, with citrus and green facets. Soon, it gets honeyed and powdery, bringing to mind nectar and pollen. A note of broom echoes the honeyed aspect of linden as its apricot facet gives Tilia a gentle fruitiness. Heliotrope is almond-sweet and powdery; it’s joined by a note of heady jasmine that links to the orange blossom facet of the broom to create a lush, floral bouquet. At the base, vetiver gives Tilia earthiness that begins a transition from feminine to masculine, as it settles on a warm, rich, woody accord. Ambroxan is woody, too, and its animalic, ambery and mineral facets complete the fragrance.
The drydown is warm, sunny, radiant and tenacious. If lilacs are the smell of spring and the honeyed, jasmine-tinged scent of linden is the smell of summer, then Tilia is the smell of everlasting summer.