Hello, Fragrant Friend 👋,

✨ Big news: We’ve found our perfect design partner! After reviewing 100+ top studios, we’re beyond excited to team up with Tsubaki Studio 🇲🇾—a multi-award-winning creative house whose aesthetic and vision truly resonate with ours.

🧪 On the scent side, Chester is finalising the first modifications for our Reflection-inspired fragrance. It’ll be ready in the coming days—and yes, your ideas helped shape it 😍.

🧴 Behind the scenes, we’re sourcing bottle and cap samples that match our emerging brand direction. Every detail matters—and we’re getting closer to something we like.

Thanks for being part of this journey. More soon!

🗓️ Contents of this Issue

1. Note Worthy: Goutal Acquired, Signature Lost, and Oxford Scents 💶🇬🇧 

2. Strictly Independent: Odur 🇨🇭 

3. QUIZ: Fragrant Exports of the Comoros Islands 🇰🇲

4. Scent MythBusters: The olfactive pyramid is the only valid way to understand fragrance 🔍️ 

Note-Worthy 🔎🌸

• #GOUTALACQUIRED: Interparfums has scooped up the global IP rights to Maison Goutal from Amorepacific Europe—while the latter will continue to operate the brand under licence for now. From 2026, Interparfums will steer Goutal’s next chapter, with Camille Goutal still on board to shape the olfactory direction. Known for poetic classics like L’Eau d’Hadrien and Petite Chérie, the brand's $10–12M annual sales signal strong revival potential in the luxury niche space.

• #SIGNATURELOST: Once a hallmark of artistic intent, the olfactory “handwriting” of perfume brands is fading fast. Eddie Bulliqi reflects on how houses like Creed, Tom Ford, and Jo Malone have drifted from their once-distinctive scent styles—swapping identity for reinvention. With consumers craving novelty and brands chasing relevance, the age of signature is giving way to shapeshifting creativity.

• #OXFORDSCENTS: The University of Oxford is opening its doors to olfaction with a two-day course, Crafting Olfactory Experiences, this April. From scent-saturated galleries to multisensory museum design, participants will explore how smell enriches cultural storytelling. Led by curators, artists, and scent experts, the course includes smell workshops, case studies, and a visit to the Ashmolean Museum. Whether you’re a perfumer, curator, or scent geek—this is your chance to learn how museums use fragrance to make memory tangible.

Strictly Independent 🎨 🌟 

Odur is the kind of Swiss secret that makes you wonder how many other alpine treasures remain undiscovered. Founded by two childhood friends who promised to maintain their friendship for a lifetime, this brand captures the essence of Switzerland's imposing mountains and valleys in every bottle. When we first met our friend and reader Rahul wearing Terra at our first meeting, the scent stopped us in our tracks—an aura bomb that somehow managed to be both grounding and elevating at once. We knew immediately this was something special.

Odur – Swiss Alpine Alchemy

• For Fans Of: If you appreciate the natural sophistication of Profumum Roma, the artisanal craftsmanship of Orto Parisi, or the environmental storytelling of Stora Skuggan, Odur's creations will transport you to the Swiss Alps with their first spritz.

• Founded: By Patrick Stebler (druggist and sensory designer) and Claudio Zier (entrepreneur and fragrance fanatic) in 2017 in Graubünden, Switzerland, where they still produce, package and ship every bottle with passion.

• Perfumer: Giovanni Sammarco (a former civil law doctorate who followed his passion for perfumery to Switzerland, read our interview with Giovanni here and Rahul’s latest interview here)

• Number of Scents: 5 (PINUS, ERVAS, CALMA, TERRA, SUVI)

QUIZ 🎲 

Scent MythBusters 🎭️ 

TL;DR

The classic Western pyramid (top, heart, base) isn’t the universal guide we think it is. In Indonesia, perfumery centers on sensation—how a fragrance makes you feel rather than how it’s structured. It’s a powerful reminder that scent can be experienced intuitively, not just analytically.

The Misconception 🕵️‍♀️

To understand a fragrance, you must analyse it using top, heart, and base notes. This Western model, developed in the early 20th century, is so widespread that it's often mistaken for objective truth. We've been taught to view scent as a linear progression, rather than a complete, sensory experience.

The Reality Check 🛑

In Indonesia, one of the world’s richest aromatic cultures, perfumery works differently. As our friend and perfumer Riyal Noor puts it, it’s about the overall experience—not what appears when, but how it all lands emotionally.

Some examples:

• Language of Sensation: Instead of “woody” or “earthy,” patchouli is described by its stages of drying and distillation.

• Emotional Anchors: Noor’s perfume Sunset isn’t about note pyramids—it captures the bittersweet calm of evening, inspired by a memory with his father.

• Cohesive Composition: Rather than layered architecture, Indonesian perfumes aim for a seamless, unified scent.

Why This Matters 🎯

The pyramid shapes how we talk about—and even experience—fragrance. But focusing too much on structure can flatten the emotion behind a scent.

The “Indonesian model” invites us to:

• Smell with instinct, not instruction.

• Embrace personal sensation over technical analysis.

• Explore new creative paths that don’t follow the typical blueprint.

So, is the myth busted?

Absolutely. The olfactive pyramid is one tool, not a universal law. And stepping outside of it might just lead to deeper, more meaningful scent experiences.

Next time you try a perfume, skip the note breakdown for a moment. Ask:
“What sensation is this creating?”
“What story is this telling me?”
You might smell something new entirely.