Our Favorite Destination-Inspired Fragrances
A picture may be worth a thousand words, but nothing evokes the memory of a place like an aroma. We asked Chandler Burr, who organized “The Art of Scent, 1889-2012”—opening this month at New York’s Museum of Arts & Design—to describe his favorite destination-inspired fragrances, as only a curator of olfactory arts can.
Chantecaille Kalimantan
Inspiration: Borneo
Fragrance Notes: Thyme, rosemary, vanilla, agarwood, and cedar
What Burr Says: “A beautiful patinaed wood, like an Indonesian house that has stood for generations in the heat.”
Dolce & Gabbana Light Blue Pour Homme
Inspiration: Italy
Fragrance Notes: Sicilian mandarin, grapefruit peel, juniper, and bergamot
What Burr Says: “The aroma of the eternal sun-washed Mediterranean wrapped in clean 21st-century form.”
TSL Paris Eau de Parfum
Inspiration: Paris
Fragrance Notes: Violet, rose, iris, and orange blossom
What Burr Says: “Glamour with an abstract floral concept of rose and violet—a more contemporary Paris.”
Un Jardin Sur le Nil, Hermès
Inspiration: Egypt
Fragrance Notes: Green mango, lotus, vegetal rush, sycamore wood, and frankincense
What Burr Says: “The breathtakingly lovely scent of the sun radiating from the tangy green peel of an unripe mango on the upper Nile.”