Grenadille d'Afrique

A tribute to the ancient African Blackwood and his majestic home.

From crackling sap to balsamic resin. From smoky wood to sun-scorched stone. From purple sunset to inky night. GRENADILLE D'AFRIQUE expresses not only its namesake tree, but also the primordial landscape in which it grows.

"It's a surprising and exciting fragrance, without compromise," explains perfumer Alberto Morillas. "The ingredients are simple, stripped back, and unadorned. It's through this density and simplicity that the fragrance transforms into art."

It begins with the African blackwood tree, a rare and expensive member of the rosewood family, whose Latin name, Dalbergia melanoxylon, translates to "black wood." The name is belied by the wood's color palette, which ranges from deep purple to brownish black, also known as grenadilla. The ancient Egyptians, who called it h'bny, crafted the most precious furniture from the heart and solid wood. In Tanzania, the Makonde people, who know it as mpingo, use it to create spectacular and highly prized carvings of the Tree of Life.

Thus, in 2016, Alberto Morillas transformed GRENADILLE D'AFRIQUE into an elegant and surprising olfactory sculpture. Permeated from root to twig by an aromatic juniper-scented sap, the mythical African Blackwood tree is constructed around a trunk of Haitian vetiver. With its complex facets of wood, smoke, earth, and flint, it is the vertical axis that unites the fragrance's vegetal, animalic, and mineral notes.

At first glance, it's hard to tell whether the scent transports you to sunset or sunrise. Sparkling bergamot captures the sun's last rays, while a purple haze of lavender and violet casts its moonlit, dusty light over the savannah grasslands. Later, vanilla develops, transformed into combustible resin by a lash of ambery cistus labdanum, and exudes a balsamic warmth. Bleached wood, skin-soft bark, and sun-warmed stone release the heat of day into the inky night, cooled by a mossy breeze.

Morillas describes his creation as "fossil wood rubbed in a vanilla accord," a highly contrasting composition that highlights its dark heart with luminous notes. GRENADILLE D'AFRIQUE explores a new region on the perfume map, where woods and resins meet ink and stone.

Notes: African black wood accord, vetiver, cistus labdanum, juniper, vanilla, white tea, bergamot, lavender, violet.

100ml format

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