Black Iris

Black Iris is the first release in Borsalino's B&W collection, put together by Chantal Roos with dsm-firmenich perfumer Nicolas Bonneville, and it is far more considered than most heritage-brand licensing exercises. The opening is bright and dry rather than sweet: Italian bergamot with green Guatemalan cardamom, and a geranium essence that adds a metallic, faintly rosy sharpness and keeps the citrus from being merely pleasant. The heart is the reason to try it. Iris concrete gives a cool, rooty, almost grey powderiness, carrot seed pushes it further in that earthy direction, and then a speculoos vanilla arrives underneath and warms the whole thing with a spiced-biscuit sweetness that is used sparingly enough to read as texture rather than dessert. That balance between cold root and warm biscuit is the fragrance's whole idea. The base is modern and functional: Cetalox supplies the ambery lift and diffusion, ambery woods fill it out, and Virginian cedarwood keeps the drydown dry and pencil-shaving clean. Reported performance is divisive, with some wearers getting all day and others finding it close to the skin within the hour, so this is one to test rather than blind buy. Autumn and winter are its best seasons, and it moves from a desk to a dinner without complaint. The lane is heritage-licensed woody iris, priced around GBP 69 for 50ml in the UK.