Encian
Note Profile
About
Encian is gentian - the German and Slavic name for the root of Gentiana lutea, the great yellow gentian of the Alps. It smells of damp earth and bitter roots, green and almost medicinal, with a quiet honeyed warmth and a dry woody floor underneath. It shares orris's powdery rooty quality with the temperature turned down.
Scent Profile
Damp earth is the dominant impression, rooty and cellar-cool. Over it sits a green, vegetal bitterness that reads almost medicinal, and a herbaceous, dried-plant character. A powdery orris-like rootiness runs through the middle - the same register as iris root but colder - and the base is dry and woody. Underneath there is a quiet honeyed warmth and a hint of dark dried fruit, with a damp mossy edge from the cellar quality. The bitterness that both sources name first has no facet in the 32 and is recorded nowhere in these numbers.
ScentWheel
Read off the wheel, not a label applied to the note.
Origin
The rhizome and deep tap root of Gentiana lutea, harvested in autumn from Alpine, Pyrenean, Apennine and Carpathian meadows between about 1,000 and 2,400 metres. The plant takes about a decade to reach maturity and wild collection is regulated across much of its range. The root is dried and solvent-extracted rather than steam-distilled, which is why the material is sold as an absolute, resinoid or tincture. The same root gives Suze, Salers, Aveze and Angostura their bitterness.
Usage in Perfumery
Used sparingly to put a bitter-earthy oddity into green compositions, chypres and iris accords. It pairs with vetiver, oakmoss, angelica root and bergamot. Jean-Claude Ellena built Hermes Eau de Gentiane Blanche around it, which is the proof that an obscure root can anchor a mainstream fragrance. It announces itself quietly and then lasts far longer than its opening suggests.
Similar Notes
Perfumes featuring Encian
A selection of reviewed perfumes where Encian appears prominently.
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